Rockler mini lathe

[Daniel Heine]

Hello,

Has anyone here had any experience with the Rockler branded mini lathe? I'm thinking of buying a second lathe so my son and I can both be turning at the same time. I think it would also be nice to have a mini to take to demonstrations, shows, etc. If youy have used this tool, please let me know what you thought of it.

Thanks,
Daniel Heine

[Kurt Whitley]

It looks a lot like the Turncrafter Pro which PSI sells. It is generally well thought of.
I have seen this lathe demonstrated at Rockler. Two things I did not like were that you need to use an allen wrench to loosen/tighten the motor for speed changes and the lack of a crank handle on the tailstock.

Cheers,
Kurt

[Shane Sura]

Are you talking about the M-Power Lathe? If you are it is a great mini lathe. There are two complaints I have had. First the headstock does not lock. You have to use the punch out tool in a little hole on the head stock to losen anything. I have already widened the holes so much that I have to use a strap around the outside of the headstock to losen my chuck. Secondly the head and tail stock are not perfectly lined up. This kind of sucks when using a forstner bit. Otherwise I have been able to make due. The tail stock does have a crank it just screws into the end. However the tailstock will slip when pushing tool hard. I hope this helps.


Shane

[Gordon Seto]

I won't think I would call a lathe great if the head and tail stock do not line up. It would be difficult to do precise work if that happens. That induce vibration. My 2¢.

Gordon

[Shane Sura]

Great as I stated was based on price, comfortable of use and great for beginners which I am. The line up has not led to vibration at all just a little pain with using a drill bit. Other than that everything seems to be fine.

[Corey Hallagan]

Uses some of the same castings as the Jet and the Turncrafter Pro. The PSI lathe does have a crank handle and does not require a wrench for speed changes. I have been using the Turncrafter pro for 18 months and i like it alot. Well worth the money. No line up problems either with the TC Pro lathe.

Corey

[Gordon Seto]

When the head and tail stock do not line up, you will not notice it if you are turning between centers. It only matters when you are using a chuck or something like a pen mandrel and tailstock (drilling) at the same time. The effect will be like turning off-center. If I just drill the center hole for hollowing, then I would not care whether the hole is true. But if the hole is not round, I would have hard time matching the tenon of my other part. To me, that is an important factor.

On the other hand, if you only turn bowls. The tailstock is mainly a safety device, then this may not be a problem. But I won't consider a mini a bowl lathe.

When there are choices, more or less in the same price range that do not have this alignment problem, I would consider something else.

Gordon

[Nathan Camp]

When the head and tail stock do not line up, you will not notice it if you are turning between centers.

When there are choices, more or less in the same price range that do not have this alignment problem, I would consider something else.

I bought one of these last year. I was very happy with it, but quickly out grew it, and got a Jet 1442.

I never had an alignment problem with mine. The only drawback was changing speeds. Now that it's easy to change speeds, I realise how much of a problem that is.

But overall, I was very pleased with it.

Nathan

[Richard Leshner]

I just got the Jet mini at Rockler for 199.00 for the 20.00 difference I'd go with the Jet.

[Doug M Jones]

If you watch the prices at Amazon, they regularly have the Jet Mini for $189 or less with free shipping. I have been very pleased with mine.