What kind of wood lathe do you have?

[Kyle Stiefel]

Just picked this up from the freight terminal 2 days ago. It is sooner then anticipated as I don't have electricity to the shop yet and won't until March but had to jump as I had a 10% off coupon and I had doubts another coupon would come up in the spring time when I would be looking. Looking forward to it. I coming back to the sawdust after a decade of moving etc where I couldn't have a shop and sold all my equipment. I had a Jet about 15 years ago similar to the 1640 if not that model but several generations ago. Finally planting down again.

G0800.jpg

[Roger Chandler]

Kyle....that black beauty is a beast of a lathe! You're headed for some high performance, powerful experiences! Congratulations on your G0800.....I love mine!

[Richard Madden]

The only lathe I have owned is a Nova 1624 which I've had for at least 12 years. Many times I have wished I had variable speed, but I've always managed without. No complaints on the Nova, in fact still using the original belt. I'd love to have a Robust AB, but I think back many years when my son got interested in golf and he wanted a set of Callaway Big Bertha clubs. A lot of money for a set of clubs for a middle school student. I remember telling my son "it's not what you have, but how you use it that counts". Needless to say he started off with a much cheaper set. I try to live by that myself. Go with what you can afford and be safe and enjoy.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

Homecraft model 46-110 10" lathe. I've had it forever. I don't turn a lot but this one does what i need it to do.

[Chris Hachet]

Oliver 159 from 1951, i run the thing for hours at a time. At some point am going to add a grizzly G0766 or G0733.

Chris

[Curtis Myers]

My primary lathe is a PM 3520b with bed extension. Plenty of length, plenty of power, excellent lathe.

Attachment 421186

JKJ

John,

Your dust collection behind your Powermatic is interesting. What type and size are the black hoses? Are they ridged enough to hole themself up? Do you have more pictures of the duct collection for the lathe you can share?

All the Best
Curt

[Ted Calver]

Here's mine, no need for another: PM4224 first iteration with bed extension. My first was a Jet mini variable speed, again first version. I still have it and use it for really small stuff.

[David Castonguay]

My first, and only, lathe is a Powermatic 3520b that I bought at an auction when a local school was closing their wood shop program. It was virtually new and I paid $2001.01 in a silent auction.

It is a great lathe to learn on. Some people recommended that you can turn small stuff on a big lathe, but you can't turn big stuff on a small lathe. I believe them. I only have room and budget for one lathe in my shop.

Pay attention to local papers and craigslist for auctions. Here in Vermont, we periodically see people closing down their personal shops, closing a woodworking business and (regrettably) closing a school shop program.

Be prepared to invest in tooling along the way, although you can do a lot of good work with a 5/8 bowl gouge, a skew and some scrapers; the desire to turn other things like spindles and peppermills means exponentially more tools. Bite the bullet and get a good slow speed grinder with CBN wheels and good sanding system.

Lots of fun for you on the horizon.

[David Hill]

My turning started when I wanted to see what things the Shopsmith that I got from my FIL could do. Discovered that I really liked it, so much that I bent the spindle as I moved to bigger pieces--amazing what a bad catch could do!
While I got that repaired I bought my first "real" lathe--a HF 12 inch that I really liked, but grew tired of working around a motor that I stalled a lot--that and replacing the drive belt. Made a lot of things, but looked forward to bigger/better, since I really like making bigger projects and learning that wood was easy to come by here.
Next was a succession of lathes: a Craftsman 15 inch (made by Palmer that had a really small drive belt that was a challenge to change), an old Oliver (bought as a refurb project--was a sweet, heavy 12" swing), then came a Shopfox 17-58 was ok but had no spindle lock and chewed up drive belts like crazy. As I progressed I sold the ones before--didn't lose money.
Finally bought my first new lathe-- a Nova 16-24, still have that one--really liked the power. Then as my craiglist habit continued--I found a Laguna Platinum 18/47 that has a 2 hp motor and variable speed (not Reeves drive) that had only an hour on it--great lathe, was to be my forever lathe with the Nova---so I thought until my wife caught me looking at a Robust American Beauty on CL--3 hp, tilt away tailstock--a real looker. It was in an area not far from the gkids--so she said "Lets look", Turned out she had known the owner through coworkers where she used to work-small world--when it came to discuss price, she didn't bat an eye so a deal was made. (Going to keep her! the lathes too)
That was a couple years ago--no more upgrades

[Randy Heinemann]

Apparently Nova isn't one of those companies that feels any obligation to its customers. For me, in the future, I will take that into account when upgrading to a new lathe (or buying any other products). While I realize that Nova has no obligation to replace any parts out of warranty, even though they agreed that it was likely the part merely failed rather than being abused in any way, they wouldn't budge on their policy. It's the first Nova product I have ever bought and will likely be the last.

[Gordon Stump]

picpegs.jpgMy first "lathe" was a kit for a drill press. Then I bought a Harbor Freight which I gave to my son who makes pens. It is one of the HF tools that is a good value proposition. My current lathe is a RIKON. The Vega mini duplicator goes on the back so I can turn from the front. For my little niche stuff it is good. Merry Christmas

[Stan Calow]

Jet VS mini for about 10 years. Had a good reputation and came with a free bed extension. I assumed I'd trade up when I got more experience and had more time to focus on it, but I haven't and probably won't.

[Rod Sheridan]

Diann has a Rockwell lathe, made in Canada, probably in the sixties.

I’m becoming more interested in turning and am considering a Oneway.......Rod

[ChrisA Edwards]

Picked up a used Oneway 1224 a couple of years ago, after taking two classes at my local Woodcraft. It sat, unused, until a month ago.

I did outfit it with a vacuum chuck setup and for this Christmas, made four simple segmented bowls for gifts.

Now I want a larger bowl capacity, so I working on the wife to let me buy a bigger toy. Currently thinking about a Laguna 18-36.

Of course, if anyone is interested in the Oneway 1224 110V, it'll be up for sale.