Lathe-Suggestions?

[Michael Robinson]

Hello, newbie here.

Wanting to begin to experiment with turning. Don't want to spend a huge amount. Any suggestions for a full size lathe?

Many thanks for all help.

Cheers,

MikeR

[Wayne Bitting]

Hi Mike - said those same words years ago "I don't want to spend huge amount" I just took delivery of my third lathe in 2 years (two of which was this year alone!!!) The JET 1642EVS-2 was what this great bunch of guys talked me into as the best bang for the buck - $1550. Before spenidn all that cash do you know anyone who you can get some time with just to make sure the hobby fits you? Good luck and welcome to the creek!

[Glenn Hodges]

Join a club, ask to turn on the members different lathes, and take all offers. Ask them what, when and where they paid for their lathe. This will give you an idea about the difference in price and the amount you will be willing to pay for a quality vs a poor quality lathe. A poor quality lathe will put a bad taste in your mouth about turning, and be a bad investment. If you have a passion about turning start out with the most expensive lathe you can. If you had posted where you lived you would have probably receive invitations to turn on some nearby lathes, but I noticed you did not put the town you are from by your name. You now have my 3 cents, and I hope it helps good luck.

[Michael Robinson]

We're in Bayside, NY (Queens county, part of NYC)

Thanks for the input.

Cheers,

MikeR

[Steve Schlumpf]

Welcome to the Creek Michael!

Hard to suggest a lathe at this point as there are a number of them out there that are really good - really depends what it is you want to turn. Course, that's hard to say at this point until you actually turn something! Have to second Glenn's advice and suggest you get with some of your local turners and find out a little more about turning and what you may be interested in turning.

Lots of luck, and again - Welcome to the Creek!

[John Bartley]

..... Don't want to spend a huge amount. Any suggestions for a full size lathe? .....

MikeR


Mike,

A suggestion from another newbie turner here (welcome to the slippery slope BTW :) ), there are always good used full size lathes available for sale. If you have a bit of patience you can get one in good shape for not too much money. It took me several months of looking, but here's a General that I found for $375 as pictured and including a copy attachment (which might not be usefull but was free ...). It's 12" across the ways and 15" thru' the gap, which should quilify as full size :).


http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u205/JohnBartley/WoodWorking/GeneralLathe/th_001.jpg (http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u205/JohnBartley/WoodWorking/GeneralLathe/001.jpg)

cheers eh?

[joe greiner]

Hello, Mike, and welcome aboard. You've already been warned that this disease can be quite addictive, so I appreciate your caution.

The AAW Resource Guide map shows 3 chapters in the NYC area. Visit https://www.woodturner.org/ and boink the AAW Local Chapters selection on the menu. Then select the Local Chapter List, and scan the lists for New Jersey and New York. I'm not familiar with your geography, but my likely candidates for those 3 would be Hillsdale NJ, New Rochelle NY, and Lawrence NY. There may also be some unaffiliated turning clubs closer to you. Visiting one of the clubs should give you a wide range of opinions, and possibly some hands-on experience.

The popular wisdom is to buy your last lathe first. But this only works after you've fallen in. Aside from a used high-quality lathe, I'd suggest Harbor Freight's model 34706. Yes, I know, "Horrible" Freight gets some bad ink, but this one is a bit of an exception, even though it's far from perfect, and if I live long enough it's not my last lathe. It's practically identical to Australia's MC900 except for the paint color, and they're both lower-quality clones of the Jet 1236 more or less. HF very often has discount coupons; I got mine about 1 1/2 years ago with an additional store-opening special for less than $200, including sales tax. They also have a set of HSS chisels for about $40; also far from perfect. You might also consider some carbon steel chisels; they don't hold their edge as well as the HSS, but they're slightly sharper. I have yet to exploit the lathe's pivoting headstock for large bowls, and I wouldn't use the flimsy auxiliary toolrest anyway - better to use a separate robust tool support.

You'll also need a bench grinder; learning how to sharpen the chisels is half the battle IMHO. In any event, there's still some fine work produced on crappy cheapo equipment. Just remember it's a poor mechanic who blames his tools.

Joe

[Dean Matthews]

When I decided that I wanted to give turning a try I went and took a "beginning turning" class at the local woodshop. The cool thing about that is that the class was taught on all of their floor models. I got to try the Jet and delta minis, a oneway, a 16" jet, and a 16" delta.

When it came time for me to buy I had decided to get the 10" Jet. I was going to get the "full-size" 12" from Amazon but decided it wasn't going to fit in the shop at this time. When I went to the local store to buy the 10" Jet they were out of them. =( But they did have the new 12" Mini Jet for the same price. Woo Hoo!

I think all together I spent about $600 between the lathe, stand, some basic tools to get started, bench grinder, and the wolverine system. Not a bad investment in my mind so far. And to be honest... if I ever get a bigger lathe I will not get rid of the mini. It is a good size lathe for doing things like pens and whatnot and my wife even feels very comfortable on it (she is not into the woodworking thing but really likes turning so far).

When I buy tools I like to look for stuff that is a good price and is going to last a long time. So far it looks like I hit it with the lathe.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike.......... Welcome to the Creek and the Vortex.

I started on Jet VS Mini and have a PM3520B sitting in the carton on the pallets waiting me to finish painting the shop.

A lot of folks here have had good luck with the little Rikon. Be warned, when you first start turning, the lathe is the least expensive part....tools, grinder, buffing system......grinding jig system......dull tools are the pits!

[Burt Alcantara]

Turning is a disease.
It is worse then drugs and gambling.
All of your money will go down this big black hole.
You will drown in choking dust and shavings.
Your life will be an obsession of logs.
Then there are tools, tools, more tools.
Chainsaws.
Bandsaws.
Drill Presses.
Dust Collectors.
more...more...more...

Be afraid...be very afraid!

Still here? Look carefully through this forum. One thing you will notice is how everyone upgrades, so give that some thought. You will NOT buy one lathe. I would suggest just jumping into the next 2 or 3 levels about what you are thinking. Lathes keep their value so the most you would loose would be the cost of having fun.

I initially was going to start off with the tiny Jet. Fortunately, or not, my local Woodcraft had none in stock. A few weeks later the Nova 1624 was announced and I bought it. Now, less then a year later, I'm wondering how I can buy a 3520b.

Turning is a disease.

[Frank Kobilsek]

Mike

Bought the Jet Mini Thanksgiving 2003 and the Jet 1642 August of 2004, went to Crafts Supply for a week of class August 2005 (and spent as much as the 1642 cost on tools a gadgets while I was there), Christmas 2005 offered a place in a little gallery, Sold a piece for $300 Easter 2006, Attended 2006 AAW symposium, 2007 featured 4 big art shows (two that actually sold enough to be exciting) and the Ohio Symposium (Dad came along, he's 77 and falling quickly into the abyss) 2008 will start with a trip the John C Campbell Foolk School and I suspect some Mustrad come August.

Spending on tools has slowed but I really enjoy the turner interaction part of the addiction so club, symposium and classes are the expensive part now.

Go find a mentor and spend a couple evenings or Saturday mornings together. You will feel alot more comfortable about your investments.

Frank

PS: If you do choose to get a Mini of any brand its OK. You'll need it for the social part of turning later going to club meetings and events. We're kind of like old ladies that get together to sew or knit. ( that line is going to get me in trouble)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Michael I would suggest you get a Jet mini, a Rikon which has a 12" swing or a Delta midi. I bought a Delta midi about 2 yrs ago. These can be found at different times from $150 to $250. I fell into the vortex so hard there was no way out. I now have a Nova DVR XP and a C-man 15". Then if you find like I did that turning is for you you can get you a full size lathe plus like 99% of the turners do keep the little one for turning small stuff such as pens, Christmas ornaments, lidded boxes, etc. Just remember you can turn big and little on a full size lathe but can just turn little on a mini.

But the first thing I would do is join or go to a club meeting or find a turning mentor to spend time with as was suggested.