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Thread: Harbor Freight Lathe

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Pleasant Valley MD. U.S.A.
    Posts
    566
    Lowell for the money starting out this is a good lathe; the other thing I forgot to mention was I built a ply box into the bottom of the frame of my lathe filled it w/ 500 lbs of sand bags or you can bolt it to the floor or both; I was then able to turn large logs after balancing them between centers. You'll want to keep the belt clean and check it on a regular basis, I still have the original belt on mine coming up on 4 years old. I thought I had a better photo of the base but you can see some of it here in this photo.
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    My Handle is Splinterz25 on most forums.

    Jack Of All Master Of None

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    No David, I was just curious why it exists.
    I think the reason it exists is the reason almost every thing for sale exists - so someone will make money.

  3. #18
    there is nothing wrong with the HF 12 x 34 lathe within it's limitations. The cost at $319 minus the 20% off coupon is about 1/3 the cost of the identical lathe with the decal Delta or Jet on it. For those working on little Pen lathes, the HF offers so much more elbow room. It is too light for some off center turning. It is not indexed and has no speed below 600rpm. A member of my club managed to turn an 16 inch platter on his. (However, he used a router mounted on the lathe and hand turned the blank until it was fairly balanced before using the 600 rpms.

    I have two HF 12 x 34 lathes. They are great for spindle work. For bowl work, they have limits. I had two minor issues,( both my fault) that necessitated replacement parts. Other than taking 15 minutes on hold to reach a live person, the customer service was great and I had my parts in less than 6 days. The prices of the spare parts were quite reasonable compared to other companies I dealt with. ( A part for my ford farm tractor costs more than it's weight in silver)

  4. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    No David, I was just curious why it exists.
    Is the cucumber bitter? Cast it aside! Are there thorns in the path? Go another way! Do not ask why such things exist.
    Marcus Aurelius wrote that as "note to self". I find it to be good advice

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Hellertown PA
    Posts
    143
    Depends on what you want it for. Heck, they have lathes in the $800 range, with a few gadgets on it, so this plain Jane will do the same thing if variable speed does not bother you and such. Carl.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Posts
    44
    How times have changed. Someone gave me a stack of woodworking books from 1999 and 2000. The 12" lathe was $129 and the 14" was $139

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