Walker Turner lathe

[Chris David]

All: My search for my first lathe continues. You were helping me on a thread I posted a while ago. The two we discussed earlier were sold before I had the guts to pull the trigger. Something just came up for sale in my price range that caught my attention. It is a Walker Turner L1152. It has #2 morse taper centers. Spindle is 1" O.D with 12 treads per inch, right and left hand threads. 15 1/2" over gap, and 12" over bed. It does have a reeves drive. Do you think this would be a suitable machine?


If the reeves were to give me too much trouble, I would have no issues dumping it and putting in a 3phase motor with a vfd for speed control.

[Richard Coers]

As far as I am concerned, the only woodworking machine that has made great leaps in upgrades over old iron is the wood lathe. Modern lathes are so far superior to old machines they really aren't in the same category. Electronic variable speeds with such a wide range in speed, increased capacity over the bed, far superior bearings, increased torsional strength. and longer tailstock travel for boring. Why buy an old machine and then spend another $750 for speed control?

[Chris David]

Richard, thank your for the reply. I can't argue with what you are saying, and I appreciate that you are trying to help me. The truth is, I have a soft spot for old machines. Tinkering with them is half the fun of ownership to me. I just got done restoring some old Dewalt radial arm saws and had a blast. I am just looking for a lathe to do some occasional furniture spindle work. Giving an old machine a new lease on life makes me feel good, and they are cool to look at, like a classic car. Restoring those saws now has me wanting a metal lathe too so I can learn to make parts. I just wanted to make sure that the lathe I am looking at is not plagued with well known shortcomings. For what it is worth, I just priced out a new 1hp 3phase motor and a VFD, and they total about $350. It would be neat to rig up a potentiometer to this machine's original handwheel crank for the reeves drive to control the speed through a VFD if I ever chose to go that route. Again, I appreciate the reply, and will be reaching out to the forum community for more advice as I try to learn the skill of woodturning.

[Dave Mcintire]

The 1” - 12 thd spindle is kind of an oddball and it may be difficult to find things to fit.

[David M Peters]

You might get better advice about this machine from a vintage machine group. I think most people here use modern lathes.. I'd give the same "don't bother" advice, too.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I sure like the looks of those but am a mostly novelty turner with an antique toy lathe.
walker turner l1152 lathe - Google Search

[David Walser]

Chris -- If you have a soft spot for vintage machines, you can find several that would make a good lathe for your use. It won't be as nice as a modern lathe, but you can still produce excellent work with a vintage lathe. Similarly, my daily driver is a 1990 Porsche 928 S4. It's not nearly as good a vehicle as my much newer Toyota. That's okay with me. I simply enjoy my commute more in my 928 than I do in my Avalon.

Having said that, I would encourage you to consider only lathes that have a standard spindle size. Many vintage lathes have spindles that match the sizes in common use today. (Maybe that's why they're commonly used today?) One of the most important things turners do is mount their work to the lathe. Today we have mounting methods, such as 4-jaw chucks, that weren't available when many of the vintage lathes were made. Even if you're using a vintage lathe, you'll want the flexibility of using modern work holding tools and methods. That's far easier if your lathe has a standard spindle size.

[Jason Edwards]

I like old iron too. My daily summer driver is a 57 Belair. Anyway, converting the old WT lathe to a VFD might be a fun project for somebody that likes old iron, but the comments other made about the spindle size are spot-on. Same thing holds true with aftermarket toolrests. I think the WT has an 1 1/4" post and almost everything is 1" now.

[Dueane Hicks]

Walker turner machines uses Proprietary bearings that are VERY hard to find. This size does not have a alternative bearing that you can buy that will work in their machines. I ran into this restoring old Walker Turner bandsaws, and drill presses. Not to mention the lathes use the same ones.