Contemplating a lathe in a small shop

[hugh lonner]

Hi all,

I have a small - one car garage shop and have nice equipment (good table saw, jointer/planer, band saw, and a competent drill press) but gave up my lathe when I moved to my current house since I didn't have space. It was just an old craftsman mounted on a large table. At that time all my tools were entry level and since I've slowly upgraded all the tools to Laguna/SS types.

I do miss having a lathe - especially as a way to generate gifts for friends such as pens that don't take a year to build. I have been toying with the idea of a lathe that I could just put on my workbench (a Roubo I built) and then slide onto a set of shelves on wheels when not in use (I'd line a shelf up at the height of the workbench). My back isn't great so lifting a 100+lb lathe woudln't work well. Is this crazy or reasonable? I just can't see how to fit a lathe on a stand into the space I have.

In case you want to spend my money (or in case it changes the portable answer) I'm considering the Laguna 1216, the Jet 1221VS, and the Rikon 70-220VSR which due to the Laguna and Jet sales are all right around $700 right now. I'm leaning towards the Laguna with the bed extender just because I love my Laguna 14BX, but that isn't final. Price is a little flexible, but I don't see spending over 1k and given space restrictions haven't seen anything super expensive that made sense anyway.


Background in case it helps... I am not a turner and really only used the previous lathe for pens, knobs, etc. I'd now do pens for presents and probably some pepper grinders, etc. I may get into bowls, platters, but have no idea and mostly my woodworking focus will be on furniture and those will be more likely to have large curved parts via the bandsaw or bent lamination although I am aware it could change.

Any advice is most welcome!

[Jamie Buxton]

I have a mid-size lathe with an extension bed. It sits on my bench when I'm turning. It stands on end on a shop-built cart for storage. There's a spot behind the man-door which is just big enough. The cart also holds turning tools and the grinder.

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's a pic of the lathe stored. The required footprint is only 10"x18". It would be smaller if I didn't include the grinder. Also, I never lift the whole weight of the lathe. I lean it up on end, so I'm picking up only half of the lathe's weight.

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[Bill Bukovec]

Here's a pic of the lathe stored. The required footprint is only 10"x18". It would be smaller if I didn't include the grinder. Also, I never lift the whole weight of the lathe. I lean it up on end, so I'm picking up only half of the lathe's weight.

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Great idea!

[Mike Tilley]

Storage looks good but how do you get it to your work bench to use it?

[tom lucas]

I like Jamie's idea, especially if you want a longer bed. You could make it easier to deploy by putting the lathe on a hinged board that swings down right on top of your workbench so you don't have to lift it.

[hugh lonner]

Thanks for the replies! That is great to hear that the idea is not crazy. Does a benchtop lathe need to be bolted to the benchtop for use for things like bowls?

Also it seems like the three lathes I mentioned above are relatively equal (correct me if that is wrong please). There is a 3/4 hp rikon (70 12 18 vs) for about half the price that seems like it would be fine for pens and seems like a smoking deal, but is it safe to assume it is underpowered and I'd regret it at some point? It also doesn't have reverse. The fact that it is almost half the weight of the others makes me pause although it certainly means it would be portable. I don't want to throw money away, but I also don't want to buy a lathe as a relatively new turner only to wish I'd bought a better one 6 months or a year later.

[Thomas Canfield]

You need to allow rear clearance for a lathe if you plan to do bowls to allow swinging tool from back side to get into a steep sided bowl. You might consider having a lathe that would pivot at head end with tail end then out into the open space to provide the clearance rather than swing down. That might also reduce the depth required for wall storage, but require a ridged type end support for operation.

I recently bought the Rikon 70-220VS and found mechanicaly it to be a solid machine that I like to operate (4th mini/midi to own). I am currently waiting on a replacement controller in shipment under warranty. I find the 12"D x 20"L to give a lot of flexibility in turning bowls and end grain vases/hollow forms. Check out the electrical issue when making purchase. Rikon supposedly has made a fix on current units.

[Jamie Buxton]

Storage looks good but how do you get it to your work bench to use it?

The cart rolls to the end of the bench. The cart height is the same as the bench. Then the top of standing lathe leans down to come to rest on the bench.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have the old Rikon 12" lathe and I am pleased with it. I have not turned om the new Rikon models. I have turned on the new Jet 12". I own a couple old 10" Jets. And a 16" Jet. I personally like the Jet build quality better. Given the choice, I'd go with the Jet 12". Just my opinion.

I do bolt my minis and midi down. The Jet 10" vintage lathes are way underpowered, so they can't really turn a bowl, so I would guess that you would not have to bolt them down. I have mine mounted on rolling tool boxes. Throw a bunch of junk in the cabinets and the lathes run fine.

[Clint Bach]

Hmmm... If you have it on a rollng shelf why move it to the bench top? Why not use the shelf. Perhaps just beef up the rolling shelf. Same storage space and no lifting.

[Thomas Wilson80]

I do bolt my minis and midi down. The Jet 10" vintage lathes are way underpowered, so they can't really turn a bowl, so I would guess that you would not have to bolt them down.

I bolted my 10" Jet to my workbench and was able to turn bowls (granted it helped to round the blank on the bandsaw first, not only for balance but to maximize size). I turned several 8.5-9.5 inch bowls on my mini jet before upgrading to a larger lathe.
Tom


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[Michael Mills]

Does a benchtop lathe need to be bolted to the benchtop for use for things like bowls?

Most benefit from attaching. I saw a youtuber who ran a strap over the bed next to the headstock. It did not interfere with anything.
Given you want the lathe as close to the front edge as possible you would only need a slot (3/8 X 1.5"?) in your bench top to run the ratchet strap through.

[Jamie Buxton]

Hmmm... If you have it on a rollng shelf why move it to the bench top? Why not use the shelf. Perhaps just beef up the rolling shelf. Same storage space and no lifting.

Look at the photo.

[hugh lonner]

I think Clint's question was for me. Jamie your solution looks brilliant. It almost convinced me to go for a longer bed lathe. Clint, I was thinking of having it in the middle of a tall stack of shelves so it probably would not be a good location for turning since it would get dust on everything and there would be a shelf just above the lathe.

By the way I decided to go for the Laguna and picked it up yesterday. It is an impressive machine - well built and nearly silent when turned on. More compact than it looked in pictures and I think I will be able to either put it on a shelf or build a dedicated cart like Jamie did. There is enough space in my shop for a cart of that size - in fact it could live next to the workbench most of the time as long as it had wheels and could move out of the way when I needed to access that end of the workbench.

Now I'm eager to actually use it!

[Randy Heinemann]

I have a Nova Comet II midi lathe but would not recommend that. However, Powermatic just came out with the 2014 within the last month. From the few YouTube reviews I saw, it seems to be a great lathe for its size. It has capacity to turn up to 14" over the bed and the head stock can be moved to the other end for outboard turning. While it uses 115V electrical, it is equipped with a converter which allows the motor to operate like a 220V; so more power for the 1 HP motor (more like a 2HP maybe). Anyway if I were buying a small lathe right now, that could be a great choice. However, the price is much higher than the Laguna 1216; about double.

[hugh lonner]

So, I got the lathe and have finally gotten a chance to use it. It is set up on my workbench and day 1 was a disaster - I tried making three pens and all ended in problems, sometimes just preparing the blanks sometimes turning them. Day 2, however, I fell into a groove and seemed to remember whatever I'd known 7 years or so ago when I last turned, not that I'd known that much. Don't know if I did a better job of sharpening my tools or of using them - probably both.

The workbench probably has the lathe about 4 inches too high (or 2 if you like them slightly higher than the elbow sometimes recommended). I don't mind it, but now that I can see it in the shop I think the lathe is small enough that I am going to built it a stand of its own although I'm still very tempted by Jamie's stand idea.

One thing I'd forgotten was that I had a bit of a rash on my skin around the time I used to turn it went away when I got rid of the lathe. I hope it was just cocobolo that triggered it, but turning sure does create and spread dust in a way that other woodworking doesn't (at least the way that I do it - perhaps it isn't as bad if you are really good and create feathery shavings instead of the dust I create?)

Next up I want to try my had at bowls and perhaps segmented turnings, neither of which I've tried before.

[Thomas Wilson80]

I've never turned cocobolo but it is notorious for reactions. Hopefully you have good respiratory protection.

[Richard Coers]

So, I got the lathe and have finally gotten a chance to use it. It is set up on my workbench and day 1 was a disaster - I tried making three pens and all ended in problems, sometimes just preparing the blanks sometimes turning them. Day 2, however, I fell into a groove and seemed to remember whatever I'd known 7 years or so ago when I last turned, not that I'd known that much. Don't know if I did a better job of sharpening my tools or of using them - probably both.

The workbench probably has the lathe about 4 inches too high (or 2 if you like them slightly higher than the elbow sometimes recommended). I don't mind it, but now that I can see it in the shop I think the lathe is small enough that I am going to built it a stand of its own although I'm still very tempted by Jamie's stand idea.

One thing I'd forgotten was that I had a bit of a rash on my skin around the time I used to turn it went away when I got rid of the lathe. I hope it was just cocobolo that triggered it, but turning sure does create and spread dust in a way that other woodworking doesn't (at least the way that I do it - perhaps it isn't as bad if you are really good and create feathery shavings instead of the dust I create?)

Next up I want to try my had at bowls and perhaps segmented turnings, neither of which I've tried before.
Cocobolo is a sensitizer. So two kinds of people around it; those that are allergic to it, and those that will be allergic to it.