Gloat and question

[TYLER WOOD]

Just a gloat for this weekend.

3/4 hp buffalo lathe 4 speed (900-3200) (don't know much about it yet)
5 piece crown chisels
apron
face shield
delta grinder with sharpening wheels

TOTAL PRICE
$0.00!!!!!:D

Gotta love friends with things stuffed in storage.

Now for the question. Does any one have info on a buffalo lathe? It was manufactured in 87, I cant' read the model number cause I haven't gotten it cleaned up yet. But any reivew or concernes about this variety would be appreciated.

The great thing is, now I can save up and get the better lathe later down the road instead of buying a cheaper one now and regretting later!

[Gordon Seto]

Don't know anything about this lathe. But the slowest speed of 900 concerns me. It is too fast and dangerous for bowl turning, especially if the blank is out of balance. When the lathe shakes and vibrates, stand aside out of harms way and shut down the lathe. Have an emergency shut off at both ends, so you don't have to cross the firing zone to reach the switch.

Save spinning

Gordon

[Mike Ramsey]

Don't know anything about a Buffalo....but congratulations on your
FREE stuff!!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on the lathe and stuff! If you get the chance - a photo would help.

[Mark Pruitt]

...the slowest speed of 900 concerns me.
...and me as well. True, you can't beat free; but I would definitely exercise caution with 900 being the slowest possible speed.

BTW, congrats on the score!

[TYLER WOOD]

Understood on the high speed.

Is there a way to change the spindles out to get lower speeds? Say take the belt spindles off a replacing them with different spindles? Or are the directly correlated to that specific motor?

This was not meant to be for bowls initially, but later on down the line I had thought to try them. Would a 6" diameter bowl be able to be turned with the blank starting out round, or octagonal be ok?

[Mark Pruitt]

Tyler,
With a bowl that size you could pull it off, but it is critical that the lathe be rock-solid steady. You didn't say if it includes a stand. If it does, and the stand is a frame made from sheet metal, you can weigh it down by placing a plywood shelf on the stretchers and placing bagged sand on the shelf. If there is no stand included, you will need to mount the lathe on a very solid surface.

[TYLER WOOD]

So what would be the max size recommended if the blank is relatively stable?

This did not come with a stand, will be building on
I plan on 3 layers of 3/4" plywood with 2X12 runners and 4X4 posts as legs with 2 shelves between the legs to add sand bags to. If my woodworking skills don't let me down this should give me about 50 pounds of wood+75 of sand=125. Think that would suffice to keep it down. The lathe wighes probably only 50-60 pounds.

Unfortunately the bed is not cast iron, but is square hollow tubes, about 3x3 with a 1/2" steel plate at the bottom welded to the headstock and the end of the tubes. I was suprised when I saw it I did not think it would be very stiff, but moving it around the bed seems to be relatively stable.

[Mark Pruitt]

Not being able to see the lathe, and being unfamiliar with the brand name, it's hard to be very specific in answering all of your questions, but as to weight, I will say that my first lathe was a Harbor Freight 34706 (still have it actually) which included a leg assembly fabricated from sheet metal, and the gross weight was about 160 pounds IIRC. That was not stable enough to satisfy me, so I added another 240 pounds of bagged sand. That should give you some idea of what I consider minimal, but I can also say that there are others who are OK with less weight.

I kind of have this inkling that after getting very far into turning, you might want to replace the Buffalo with something else. (In fact, most of the people who post here seem to have started off with something small and moved to something big later on.) Anyway, my point is, when you build a stand, try to anticipate what you might need in the future and you'll possibly save yourself some time by not having to build yet another stand.

[Gordon Seto]

Unfortunately the bed is not cast iron, but is square hollow tubes, about 3x3 with a 1/2" steel plate at the bottom welded to the headstock and the end of the tubes. I was suprised when I saw it I did not think it would be very stiff, but moving it around the bed seems to be relatively stable.
Tyler,

Can you post a picture of the lathe? One of our Club member couldn't secure blanks to his HF lathe (don't recall which model, but not the Jet 1236 clone), his mentor suggested him replacing the lathe immediately. He ended up donating that lathe to the Club. On that particular model, the head stock was made out of filmsy sheet metal, the way flexes when you try to tighten the tail stock. It is unsafe to use as a lathe. Our Club tried to auction off that thing for free, still nobody wants it as a buffing station.

If you are in that situation, don't bolt down the lathe to a solid foundation. It would only give you false sense of security. You would be better off observing those early warning signs, stop before you get hurt.

Otherwise, weighing down the lathe makes huge improvement.

Gordon

[Jim Underwood]

Does it look like this one?


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=38515

If so then it's a fairly low quality lathe. I started out on one similar to these until the bearings gave up, then I bought a Jet Mini.

I built a torsion box under mine to stiffen it up a bit. The folded sheet metal bottom provided just enough (3/8 lip) space to rabbet a piece of 1/2 ply and slide it in for the top of the box. This pic doesn't show the bottom I had on mine.

This lathe should be enough to get you started. I turned some fairly large spindles on mine.

[TYLER WOOD]

Went to harbor freight at lunch. Saw what model some people have been talking about with the sheet metal frame. YUP THE SAME THING!!!!! The only difference is the motor on the hf was a 1/2 hp and the color was green. Mine has a 3/4 motor and is black.

I'll definately look at strengthening the base with the plywood in the base. I also hace a friend that can weld, I may look at weling some steel plate to the headstock to strengthen it as well. Thanks for the heads up and the safety warnings!!!! This is exactly why I asked. Really appreciated!!!!

I am planning to upgrade, but this allows me to save longer than I would have liked to without a lathe. I figure some pens, candle holders, and other small solid forms before trying bowls. I will wiat to get a better lathe before trying out of round pieces, bowls and other larger diameter things.

[Marcus Ward]

I have the same lathe, I thought it had a lower speed on it but I will have to check when I get home. I got it free. My wife was hoping to turn some bowls on it but maybe she'll just be stuck making chisel handles for me. :]

[TYLER WOOD]

Marcus,
DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT TRY TO MAKE BOWLS ON THIS LATHE!!

This lathes bed is not strong enough or heavy enough to take off balance pieces. The speeds are too fast for anything over 5", and still it is shaking violently even bolted to some extra weight. This lathe is better off being used as a buffing station only. Sorry to burst the bubble, but I found out very quickly that this lathe should never have been built, let alone sold as a lathe!!!

[Marcus Ward]

Tyler - you think it would be okay to turn chisel handles or plane knobs? It seemed okay when my wife turned a candleholder with it the other day.

[TYLER WOOD]

Sure, spindles will be fine if you can get the head stock and tail stock to line up. It really wouldn't matter for doing stuff like that even if they don't line up perfectly. Pens would be a different story though, trust me again on this one. You take an hour trying to make it really really nice, only to find out things don't line up when putting them together.

tool handles, short spindles, if you lathe doesn't line up, and other small objects that don't require assembly would be fine. Sorry for the bad news. I felt the same way you probably are feeling now. I feel your pain buddy!!!

[Brian Weick]

Just a gloat for this weekend.

3/4 hp buffalo lathe 4 speed (900-3200) (don't know much about it yet)
5 piece crown chisels
apron
face shield
delta grinder with sharpening wheels

TOTAL PRICE
$0.00!!!!!:D

Gotta love friends with things stuffed in storage.

Now for the question. Does any one have info on a buffalo lathe? It was manufactured in 87, I cant' read the model number cause I haven't gotten it cleaned up yet. But any reivew or concernes about this variety would be appreciated.

The great thing is, now I can save up and get the better lathe later down the road instead of buying a cheaper one now and regretting later!



WHERE'S THE PICTURES!
Way to go tyler! :)
Brian

[Marcus Ward]

The original post was 9 months ago. I just replied because I just got the same lathe. I will try to find some pics. Good thing I didn't have to pay for it!!

[TYLER WOOD]

No pics, because at the time I was feeling to sorry for myself to want to post pics! Plus I have since upgraded to a General Int. 25-650!!! Also for free thanks to a gift from a loving parent!!!