shop fox mini lathe question

[CORY FETZER]

i am looking to get a new mini lathe for me and my 15 yr old son we want to turn small bowls pens and stoppers wonder if anyone has any coments on the shopfox mini lathe as we are on a tight budget and can not at this time afford a jet or the like the shop for is in our budget

thanks in advance

Cory

[Randy Meijer]

That lathe looks very much like the one sold by PSI under the Turncrafter brand. The PSI lathe only has a 1/4 HP motor which will be fine for pens, bottle stopper and other small items; but may be a little underpowered for bowls.

Take a look on Amazon.com. Frequently you can get unbelieveable deals there. Deep discounts and free shipping and sometimes additional discounts if you apply for their credit card.

[Corey Hallagan]

I would suggest the PSI Turncrafter Pro. It can be had for 159. and is a Jet Clone. I have been using it for about 8 months. Has a great warranty. I havne't made bowls but have done pens, vases, boxes, goblets and other larger spindle stuff. This one has the 1/2 horse motor on it.

Actually I went and looked at it and they now have it at $179. Here is the link:
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/tclpro.html

Corey

[Wayne Bitting]

Cory - I think you are only a couple of hours away and you felt like making the drive over to PSI (its on the Northeast edge of Philly) you can at least see the different makes and models and get a feel for what you do and don't like about them. Sometimes they have dent and dig ones for extra sale. I picked up their $30 pen chisel set for $15 because it didn't have the wooden box. Talking to the guys over there helped me out quite a bit when I was getting my stuff in order. I am now toying with the idea of buying one of their cheaper lathes for when I do pens, seems a waste to be runing my ShopSmith for things like pens.

wayne

[Randy Meijer]

The Turncrafter Pro would be a good choice in this price range..."BUT",,,it does not have an electronic variable speed feature. You must manually move belts for speed changes. The Shop Fox is a VS model so we are not exactly comparing apples and apples.

That being said, my choice would also be the "PRO". I would rather have the bigger motor. Some people would disagree and can't live without the VS. Personally, I don't change speeds that much and find it quick and easy to do manually after a little practice; but this is a personal choice so give the VS issue some thought.

[CORY FETZER]

thanks for all suggestions sounds like ill be making a drive to philly

[Corey Hallagan]

One other thought, that PSI Turncrafter Pro does come with in a VS Versions now for around 239.00. Pretty nice option for the price if you really want VS. When you get into that range I think you aren't far from a Jet mini without the VS. I agree with Randy, I do most of my turning in one speed however I do go down to low speed for sanding.
Corey

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Evening Cory. I just found the Shopfox LAthe on the internet. It IS the Wilton mini lathe that I bought at Menards last year for $64.00, with a different paint job. They are currently on sale for $79.99. That's the good news.

This lathe is ok for the following: Pens, Bottle Stoppers, and items about that size. Now for the BAD news.

I use it as a traveling lathe at ART Shows. Last week, I decided to turn a box and a bowl. The box is 1-1/4" dia and 2-1/2" tall. It turned ok! The box blank was 5" square and 2" thick. While trying to rough out the outside shape, I STOPPED the lathe................... SEVERAL times. No I didn't have a catch. It was sending off a curl , but the lathe did not have the torque to do the job!

There are 4 or 5 versions of this lathe out there selling for about $140.00. In my opinoin, if you want to turn bowls, go for the Rikon at $250.00.

Bruce

[Vaughn McMillan]

I'll echo Bruce's comments. I have the Wilton mini, and it's great for pens and stoppers, but it was somewhat underpowered the one time I used it to turn a (small) bowl. Still, for the $75 I paid on Amazon for it (I had a $25 gift certificate) it was a good deal.