How large apiece do you usually turn

[Paul Crofton]

I have been wanting a 766 Grizzly for some time. About pulled the plug a year ago but the tax man hit me hard. Situation has finally settled down and in the market again. How often do you turn over 16, 18, 20 inch. Wondering if I would be happy with a smaller lathe and capable of outboard turning. You thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

[Brice Rogers]

I think that a lot of it depends of your source of blanks.

I own a Griz 0766 and the largest I've turned is about 18". I actually enjoy turning bigger things. But perhaps 90 percent is under 15". But the griz is positioned price wise similar to a lot of smaller lathes. And it has a 3 HP motor. It is nice to turn an 18" platter and nice to know that if I got a slightly bigger piece that I could turn that too.

[Peter Blair]

Paul I'm not really one to give advise but I can tell you what I do. I turn wood I collect and a 15 or 16" platter or bowl is as big as I want to go.

[Roger Chandler]

I have the G0766, and have maxed it out a few times. I want to turn some table tops, so I have an even bigger G0800 lathe on order. It has an available bed extension that will allow 36” turnings. Not everyone has my zeal for this however, so if you are likely to always turn under 16” then you might be satisfied with a smaller lathe.

There are other considerations than just size...like motor power, how stable a lathe is and a bigger lathe will give you a greater turning experience, especially a well built and precise unit.

[Reed Gray]

I never did well with selling bowls over about 14 inches. Those are more of a specialized market. Best sales were from about 8 to 14 inch. Having the extra horse power is really nice for production work though. Just because I can turn 25 inch diameter, it doesn't mean I will turn that size.

robo hippy

[John Keeton]

From spending several years on this forum one would conclude that most folks rarely turn over 16” in diameter. But, it doesn’t matter what other folks turn - the question is what do you want to turn. My interests are varied and that is evident from my website, so there really isn’t a “what do you usually turn” for me. However, the reality is that your turning will depend on the availability of wood. I was fortunate to get a couple of nice 24” platter blanks and one of them has been turned. It was enjoyable and I look forward to coming up with an idea for the other one.

So, the best advise is to do some consideration of your own desires, not those of others, and keep in mind that wide platter stock is hard to source.

[John K Jordan]

I have been wanting a 766 Grizzly for some time. About pulled the plug a year ago but the tax man hit me hard. Situation has finally settled down and in the market again. How often do you turn over 16, 18, 20 inch. Wondering if I would be happy with a smaller lathe and capable of outboard turning. You thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

My suggestion is if possible get a lathe with a capacity larger than the things you might "usually" turn. You can certainly turn tiny things on a big lathe but having the capacity to turn larger things is wonderful even if used only occasionally.

The larger lathes are generally much more massive, extremely helpful when turning even a smaller off-balance piece. The larger lathes are generally made with more robust bearings, heavier spindles, better banjos, smoother operating tailstocks, and sometimes better controls and features such as indexing. I suspect the market for smaller lathes is somewhat driven by cost and the manufacturers build them accordingly.

I do have smaller lathes including a couple of Jet 1642s, but I use the PM for nearly everything because of some of these reasons.

Another option for someone who mostly turns moderately sized things (most of us) but occasionally might want to turn something larger is to get a lathe like the Powermatic 3520 (or 2020) and a bed extension. I have one for my lathe. This gives great flexibility since it can mounted to either to let you turn longer things or larger things (up to 38"!!): http://www.rockler.com/bed-extension...ic-3520b-lathe Since the headstock slides you can easily move it to the far end of the lathe for outboard turning. The bed extension comes with a tool post extension to put the tool rest at the right height for larger diameter work.

I personally prefer to turn smaller things although my PM will handle up to 20 inches diameter without the extension. A 20" bowl or platter has limited practical use in most houses - the one I kept here we've only used twice in 10 years since it's just too darn big! (We use some smaller ones often). The lathe can easily handle very tiny things and with the bed extension, quite long things.) The little things will all fit on a penny:

tiny_things.jpg handle_shuffle_hoe_comp.jpg

Just for fun, some of my reasons for turning smaller things:
- wood is a WHOLE lot cheaper and easier to come by
- smaller blanks take up far less space
- you can keep a larger variety of species in a smaller space (I once counted over 125 species on my shelves)
- unlike big green bowl blanks, smaller blanks can be dried and kept on hand for decades without degrading
- can be far quicker to complete a turning
- can use dry wood and complete a non-warped turning in one "sitting"
- less sanding, less expense for sandpaper and finishing supplies
- tools can be cheaper: compare a 3/8" gouge to a 3/4" gouge.
- it is much easier to make perfect finishing cuts on shorter surfaces
- you can make multiple smaller things or one large thing from a given chunk of wood
(I have one large block of bloodwood that could make one big bowl or at least 20 ornaments)
- it is FAR safer to turn a lidded box or an 8" bowl blank than a 30" blank
- healthier: no power sanding and clouds of dust needed on a magic wand
- most people who turn large have a limited portfolio: bowls, platters, vases/etc.
- many people who turn small make a huge variety of different things
- turning small, especially spindles, can teach the fine tool control that will allow turning anything
- some of the best and most creative turner I know personally love to turn small things
- if selling things a huge bowl might bring a lot of money but harder to find a buyer (I once sold $1750 in "magic" wands in three hours.)
- most people don't have a lot of space to display and store large turnings
- you can make far more people happy with 10 lidded boxes than with one big bowl!
- charities can benefit from small things: the two clubs I attend typically bring in $5-6000 selling Christmas ornaments!

JKJ

[Bob Bergstrom]

I think it is not so much the capacity, but the ease of using a good solid lathe that will provide a pleasurable experience no matter what your turn. Buy a good quality lathe that is well made and enjoy using it.

[Clint Bach]

Earrings to drum shells. Chucking up a djembe gives me an especially soothing feeling. It's hard to describe. Small lathes don't do drum shells well.

C

[John K Jordan]

Earrings to drum shells. Chucking up a djembe gives me an especially soothing feeling. It's hard to describe. Small lathes don't do drum shells well.

C

Clint, do you have a blog or writeup with pictures somewhere on making drum shells?

JKJ

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Sometimes it is more like the statement frequently attributed to Sir Edmund Hillary about scaling Mt Everest. "Because it is there" I have two rather large pieces that I eventually want to turn. a pice of crotch walnut from my own tree that could potentially be 23 inches in diameter and a piece of Sassafras from the biggest sassafras I ever encountered, it is probably capable of an 18 inch bowl. But those are more "bucket list" turns, than my usual sized stuff. I have not turned a bowl in 40 years, I turned many dozen small ones years back. I started to turn a piece of mulberry last week, but the grain is so convoluted that no mater how it is mounted, I will be cutting one corner "up hill" into the grain. So back to the wood pile. I intend to attempt a black walnut bowl about 9 inches this afternoon. we shall see.

[Clint Bach]

Clint, do you have a blog or writeup with pictures somewhere on making drum shells?

JKJ

No, no blogs or anything like that. I tend to hide in the bushes and jump out and scare myself occasionally LOL. Just big conical jam chucks and slow speeds. I'm still working on getting things right. I don't want to blow up something like that!

C

[Jeffrey J Smith]

When I picked up a new, larger lathe 6 years ago, I couldn’t wait to max it out. On the trip home I was grateful to a number of new friends I met along the way to be gifted piles of great turning stock. The first turning day, after a smaller bowl was completed (about 16”) on went the 24” monster piece of walnut burl. After coring it out (a whole new adventure) I turned a magnificient wide rimmed shallow 23-1/2” bowl. Still have it, haven’t finished sanding yet.
Got the big one out of my system. The smaller bowls from coring were actually more fulfilling for me. I haven’t had the urge to go much larger than 16” since. The big one hangs on the studio wall.
Am I sorry I got the larger lathe - not in the least. the beast will do virtually anything I could ask of it, and with all the power, torque and grace of a clydesdale. I haven’t turned a pen in years, do a few bottle stoppers now and again; and the beast handles them with just as much finesse. Besides, there’s a piece of California Koa (black acacia) that could be roughed down to a 24” bowl when (and if) I’m ready to take it on...
Having officially retired just a couple of weeks ago, I’m glad I took the opportunity to stretch the budget while I still had an income. It would be impossible today.

[Brian Bumpers]

Like most of us, what I turn varies with the wood that falls in my path. I tend to enjoy the larger pieces more due to the unique challenges they provide. When I built my large it was with large items in mind but I have yet to finish anything larger than 26”. I’ve got a few blocks sitting next to the large that should result in a 30” or so bowl but I’ve got to make some changes to my tool holder before I get started.

[Marvin Hasenak]

I am in the other spectrum, most of my blanks are 1.5x1.5 square and about 3 to 5 inches long. And the big stuff, like bowls and platters, they were for doll houses and I used even smaller blanks. The bowls and platters take very little time to turn, but the rewards are bigger than turning a real bowl or platter.