looking for lathes for the school

[curtis rosche]

my shop teacher is looking at trying to get some new full sized lathes for the school.

what would be the best lathes to get , he is looking to get 3.

also what would be the best place to get them, since before he could get them he would need quotes.

[curtis rosche]

also, maybe, what are some good tools to get, bowl gouges, spindle gouges, hollow form tools, ect..

[Jim Becker]

Curtis, folks are going to need a lot more information to make pointed recommendations. In general, I'd suggest true variable speed and as heavy as possible for stability...and durability. Typical machines in this environment today include the big and mid-size OneWay machines as well as the PM 3520. Robust might also be a good choice.

As to sourcing, your school district may have purchasing requirements that specify who and how. You somewhat indicate that when you say that the teacher will need to get multiple quotes. There may be sources that specialize in the educational market and have access to special discounts or programs for institutions, too. If grant money is involved, that may also be a factor, depending on the source.

[Jack Mincey]

Curtis,
I'm very happy with the 3520B we added to our school shop last year. The local clubs Jet mini is still very important in the shop. It is the lathe of choice for students just getting into turning. The PM can be intimiadateing to new turners. A catch on the Jet mnin simply stops the lathe or sends the object being tured into orbit. A catch on the PM can left the turner off thier feet. If money isn't an issue then any of the high end lathes would be great as well. As for tools our 4 Thompson gouges are used more than any other tool in the shop. The 3/8" and 1/2" V bowl gouges being our favorite. We are still using old delta scrapers and parting tools and they work great. I let the students sharpen them on our old craftsman grinder. I sharpen the gouges to prevent them from being messed up. As for hollowing tools all ours are home made in the shop. I have been using John Jordans large set of hollowing tools with his arm brace for a few months now and love it. I think a captive system like the Jamison might be better suited for school. We bought the oneway coring system for the school shop and use it a lot. It is great to get 6 or 7 bowls out of one burl. You then can turn 4 or 5 small hollow forms from the scrapes you have from roughing out the blanks. We got a $1000.00 grant from AAW last year which helped by the coring system and the Thompson gouges. You have to go to the AAW site and look around to find the info on applying for the grant.
Good Luck
Jack

[jason lambert]

The 3520b I just got one it is the best bang of the buch. One way is nicer but hte real digital speed read out might actually be nice for beginners. For example you could make a diamater chart vs. top starting speed just to keep things safer.

Usally a school system will put it out for bid I would try to get it off someone local since it is for a school.

[Daniel Heine]

DVR XP. Plenty of power, and big enough for some very ambitous projects, but not as intimidating as American Beauty or PM. A lot less money too.

I would also suggest that students turn spind;e work with a dead center in the headstock, and a live center in the tailstock, not the standard drive center. Why? This way, when they get a catch, the wood just stops turning instead of throwing the tool across the shop and/or hurting someone. I have been doing this at home, and it has really helped me to perfect my technique.

If the budhet does not allow for a full size lathe, my next choice would be the Steel City VS mini lathe.

Dan

[Jack Mincey]

Curtis,
Here is the link to info at AAW for the grant.
Jack
http://www.woodturner.org/resources/eog/

[curtis rosche]

what about, like the stubby's, or robusts?. thanks for the link jack

[David Walser]

Curtis,

What types of turning will the kids be learning in shop class? I suspect that school would want a good, all-around, lathe that will allow for spindle turning and for bowls and other face turning. In addition, it should be durable and easy to maintain. Lot's of lathes might fit that description. I still think the PM 3520b is the best value in a full size lathe. (For a school, though, I'm concerned about the sliding headstock. What are the chances some kid would accidentally allow the headstock to go crashing to the floor? That's exactly the kind of thing I would have done at that age.) The new WoodFast is a proven design that's virtually bullet proof, so I'd think that's another option.

I'd give Craft Supplies USA a call and discuss the pros and cons of the lathes on the market. They handle (or have handled) most of them and should know how they would perform in a school environment. They also might be willing to give the school a good price.

[David Walser]

I think the Stubby and the Robust are both viable options. My concern about the Stubby is that it has the ability to reconfigure itself in ways other lathes just cannot. If you're goal is to teach the basics of turning, I'm not sure you'd want to introduce things that are so specific to just that one lathe. Some of the learning would not be transferable to the lathes that are available in most other shops. The concern with the Robust would be cost. I wouldn't mind owning one. I just don't know if that's how I'd spend my school budget.

[curtis rosche]

we dont do spindle work. unless there is a f%$# work project that some one choses that nedds it. which never happens, cause the people who do flat work at our school dont seam to like turning. they would be used for 95% faceplate turning.

[jason lambert]

There are screw in stops on the 3520 that will not allow the headstock or tailstock off the bed. They allow it to go to it's max distance but need to be removed to get the tail and head off so I don't think that is a big issue.

[David Walser]

There are screw in stops on the 3520 that will not allow the headstock or tailstock off the bed. They allow it to go to it's max distance but need to be removed to get the tail and head off so I don't think that is a big issue.

True. If you think it's not an issue though, it's obvious we didn't hang around when I was a teenager. Being a "hands on learner" and very curious, I would have experimented with those screws until I understood what they were for -- with likely disastrous consequences. I got straight A's in math (algebra, trig., and calculus), but I proved time and again to my poor shop teacher that nothing was safe with me in the room. I wasn't malicious and I didn't intentionally break any rules. I just routinely did things that were so obviously stupid to do that no one thought to warn me not to do them. Maybe I was unique in this regard. I doubt it. I think I was just an extreme case -- I seem to recall friends doing things equally as stupid, just not as often as I did.

[jason lambert]

This is true I should try not to assume people are not "that" stupid. In that case they probably should be holding a sharp tool agenst a moving object.

Weld the peg in place on the motor side there is not down side. Or take the release bar off.