lathe to start with

[Christopher Kanda]

I am thinking of buying a wood lathe but don't know where to start. I am looking at the grizzly's but i don't want to buy one now and in a year need to upgrade. What do you recommend as a good starting out point? I don't want to get in over my head. Thanks everyone.

[Jim Becker]

Jet or Delta Mini/Midi lathe is the typical and most recommended starting point. The Grizzly machines tend to look nice in the catalog, but have feature deficiencies, such as too high a lowest speed, etc.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Christopher.....I started with a Jet VS Mini.....now using it for a buffing station and have a PM3520B. If I was in your shoes, I'd look at a Jet Mini or Rikon mini. If you want to do longer spindle work both of those lathes can be bought with a bed extension.

I like most Grizzley equipment and there are a lot of happy owners out there but some of their lathe designs don't make much sense to a lot of folks.

As stated by Jim...look for a lathe with a very low speed capability. It makes roughing an out of balance blank a whole lot less exciting. Excitement while turning is not something you want to experience!

Good luck with your decisions.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I started with a Delta midi that I gave to my nephew so he could start turning and then bought the Rikon midi for it's 12" swing. I still have it and use it for small projects while the Nova DVR XP is the big lathe for me. Start with a Jet, Delta or Rikon and you will keep them when you upgrade to a bigger machine.

[Neal Addy]

I fully agree with looking into minis. Jet makes a very good and reliable lathe. You won't go wrong with either their 1014 or 1220 model. Delta and Rikon are also worth a serious look.

Don't take the name "mini" lightly. They are serious lathes. I own both a mini and 1442 but there is nothing in my gallery (see homepage on my profile) that couldn't have been turned on my mini.

Keep in mind that the lathe can often be the cheapest part to getting into turning. You'll also need a collection of tools, sharpening system, safety and dust control, etc. These can easily exceed the cost of the lathe.

Before you do anything be sure and visit your local turning club. They can provide a wealth of good info and answers to your questions. It would be worth your time to attend a meeting or two and talk to the members.

Check here: http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/LocalChapters.asp

[Steve Mawson]

Jet is 10% off on April 12 at Woodcraft. I think both the stores and out of the catalog. Not a huge savings but at least pays the sales tax.

[Russ Sears]

Jet is 10% off on April 12 at Woodcraft. I think both the stores and out of the catalog. Not a huge savings but at least pays the sales tax.

Plus Jet is offering a rebate. I'm pretty close to picking up a Jet mini and getting into turning. LOML is interested in it and I'm sure I can quit any time if I have too :p

[Ken Fitzgerald]

LOML is interested in it and I'm sure I can quit any time if I have too :p


That's what I thought. Only took me 18 months to get back to finishing my shop. $700 worth of lights sitting in the corner gathering dust while I turned by 2 construction lights mounted on a stand......Yeah....You can quit...........:rolleyes:

[John Yogus]

I would have to recommend the jet 1014. I've had one for a while now. I have the extension with it. You won't be disappointed with it. I've turned pens on it as well as a few baseball bats. A little more lathe would be nice for the bats, but it did them relatively easily. My first lathe tools were harbor freight. They got me threw learning how to sharpen without feeling like I was throwing away money. Penn State Industries has some nice chisels for decent prices.

[Paul Douglass]

I don't know the answer to this but how about the Steel City lathe. I have one of their table saws and love it. I have not seen their lathe.

[Neal Addy]

The Steel City variable speed mini lathe may be OK but I wouldn't recommend their 5-speed mini. The speed range on it is crazy. 500, 1300, 2100, 2750, 3600 RPM. Nothing in between those gaps? What's up with that????

Someone didn't understand the needs of woodturners. This is a common problem with many manufacturers for whom lathes are "just another tool product".

[Gordon Seto]

The mis-match of speed range is very common. The Shopfox mini has more or less the same wide gap between 1st and 2nd.
From the current Rockler flyer, the new Jet mini look alike Excelsior has 760, 1100, 1600,2200 and 3200 rpm speed range. I don't understand why they have to made good things worse when cloning.

[Wayne Cannon]

While I have a large lathe at home, I've taken a number of bowl, spindle, hollow form, box, and thread-chasing turning classes on the Jet Mini VS lathe. It's a very nice lathe, surprisingly stable. After my experience with it, it's the one I recommended for my 34 year-old daughter. The belt-based 5-speed Jet Mini is also a very nice lathe.

[Richard Kagen]

I bought the Jet 1220 at Woodcraft with $25 Jet rebait and they gave me the 10% off even 2 weeks before the 4/12 (tell them to use the "work order" feature on their system.

For the $300 net, I am very impressed by how solid and well finished the little machine is. I have Grizzly drill press and their "Ultimate" 14" band saw and neither felt as good coming out of the box.

I will warn you that I walked out having dropped $650 making the lathe purchase less than half of my spend.

They sold me hard on the Wolverine and an 8" low speed grinder. It made sense as my 6" grinder would have needed new wheels for $65 and the whole new grinder was only $90-ish. I am looking to get the Wolverine set up today, but I bought into the idea that having a good, repeatable, fast sharpening system will make learning much easier. Seemed to make sense to me.

I am off to set up the Wolverine, sharpen some tools and make some shavings

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Richard...I have the Wolverine system for 2 years. You won't regret buying or using it. It'll take a short amount of time to learn but after that...in a minute or two...you have a repeatable grind on those tools and you are back to turning. Worth every penny in my shop and IMHO.

[Gary Kvasnicka]

My wonderful wife gave me a Rikon mini for Christmas, and a beginning lathe class at the nearest Woodcraft. So I was only pushed into the vortex about 3 months ago. I am very happy with the Rikon. I can only compare it with the Jet mini that I used during the class, biggest difference other than size, is easier speed (belt/pulley) changing.
I have spent about 3 times the cost of the lathe on tools, chuck, sharpening, pen starter kit, etc. Although, I know my skills have not yet outgrown the Rikon(I hope they will!) I really want a Powermatic 3520B, or if I win the Lottery a Robust.
Every time I go in the shop, to work on something else, I end up finding a chunk of wood that just begs to get on the lathe, if for no other reason just to find out what's inside. I might have to put the lathe in the closet so I can finish all the other projects I have going.

[Christopher Kanda]

Thanks for all the ideas. I guess my question now is what size bowl (diameter) can you turn on the mini lathes?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Christopher,

Most mini's will turn 10-12" bowls in theory. This works only if you have a bandsaw to round out the blanks before putting them on the lathe. Realistically...most will turn 9-11". Not huge but....I've turned some nice small bowls and hollow forms on my Jet VS Mini. A lot of guys have both a large lathe and a small lathe if they do demos. IIRC Travis Stinson has a Jet Mini and I think Jim Ketron has one. They use them when they go some place to demo...instruct....they are relatively light weight and portable.

[Jeff Wright]

I have spent about 3 times the cost of the lathe on tools, chuck, sharpening, pen starter kit, etc.

Of that three times the original cost spent for accessories, how much of that can be used later on an upgraded lathe like the PM mustard-colored one? Or, will one have to respend to acquire all new accessories?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeff....If one chooses accessories wisely, they can be used on the PM.

I started with a Jet VS Mini (still have it). The folks who gave it to me also gave me a SN2 chuck. When I upgraded to a PM3520B, I ought an $18 insert for the chuck...it now works on my Mini and my PM.

Both lathes have a #2 morse taper....everything that worked on the Mini works on the PM.

I bought a longer secondary tool rest for my Jamieson hollowing rig. I can use it on either lathe now....cost me about $79 IIRC.....