Wood Lathe

[Drich]

The wife and I are taking a turning class at the local woodcraft store. She wants to be able to make a few bowls and i like the idea of the turning pens for a quick project. I like the specs on this General Lathe but was surprised that I could not find any videos on them. I like the idea of a spinning head stock so one could do a larger bowl. Is the General line any good? They seem to have been around for a while. I really don't need much bigger than this as I don't see my self turns table legs and space will be limited.http://www.general.ca/products/1_general/25_lathe/25-200.html

 

[Birdhunter]

The Oneway lathes are excellent.

 

[PA floor guy]

Yep. Oneway is a Great lathe. I have a delta, and just bought a mustard monster.  Powermatic 3520B.  It's all the lathe you will ever need.

 

[DrD]

Never used a General; they are a longtime supplier of wood big woodworking equipment.  Were I to drop over $2000 (US) on a lath, I would second the nod to Oneway, and I would also look at Powermatic, Nova and Laguna.  Moving up a notch, and big$$ are the Robust, Vickmark, and VB.  All have their own features, advantages and benefits with prices to reflect.

I have been turning for about 20 years and have been more than satisfied with the smaller Delta midi lathes - I have 2, one with dial adjustable speed, the other strictly belt/pully changes.  I do pens, smaller bowls, limited spindle work.

Welcome to the world of turning; like Festool, it is addictive.

Don

 

[NHSP759]

I took a turning class last year and had a ball. That came a while after the purchase of my of a Rikon Midi 70-220VSR lathe. I got a killer deal on it, the electric speed control is beautiful and I can get a bed extension if I so chose to do some legs. Great machine and a great price. Sorry I can't with your query though, I've never used that tool before.

 

[jbasen]

I recently replaced my old Delta midi lathe with a Jet 1221VS.  I looked at a lot of different lathes before choosing the jet.  It has all the features you would want in a
lathe and more power than most of the other midi lathes including the General.  Periodically Jet will run a 15% off sale.  Hope his helps

 

[Birdhunter]

I believe there have been a couple of lathe reviews recently. I think Fine Woodworking did one. And Oneway came out tops.

 

[Drich]

I did watch a few videos on the One way. They look very nice but out of the price range for just wanting to start out with one. I think it is down to that jet or the general. I know jet did just have a 10% off sale here a week or so ago. Thanks for the help. Going to watch a few more Video reviews. I have about 45 days till the new shop is done.

 

[Birdhunter]

My philosophy is to go for the very best I can afford and avoid having to sell a compromise product at a loss and buy the better product later.

 

[jbasen]

Just wanted to let you know that I just got a new sales brochure from woodcraft in the mail and they have the Jet 1221VS lathe on sale for $100 off from 5/28 - 6/24.  [thumbs up]

 

[ear3]

I have a Rikon mini -- though with the bed extension I can turn up to 36" between centers.

My one recommendation no matter which lathe you get is to pay attention to the stand.  I got the Rikon stand that was marketed for the lathe, but found that if I tried to turn larger blocks that approached the 12" swing capacity, the stand would vibrate dramatically, really affecting the quality of the cut (not to mention safety).  It was only after I built my own solid lathe stand that I felt comfortable turning pieces at the upper end of the lathe's capacity:http://festoolownersgroup.com/works...rganization-build-thread/msg403488/#msg403488

If you have the option of getting variable speed control, though, I would say go for it.  It can get to be a pain changing the belts when working a big chunk down to a manageable size.

 

[lawhoo]

I just got a new job and am thinking I might celebrate by buying a new tool.  Ordinarily, I'd be thinking of Festools, but I'm most tempted to get a lathe, since I currently have nothing to turn wood.  I've done a very limited amount of turning in the past and found it really relaxing, although I really see myself doing more cabinet work and furniture building than turning of bowls and spindles.  I'm usually of a mind to get the best tool I can reasonably afford---which would probably mean something like the Jet 1221VS, which Woodcraft happens to be selling for $100 off starting 5/28.  But it's still a lot of money, and I'm not sure whether I can justify the expense.  How much would I really use it given the sort of woodworking that most interests me.  So I'm looking for advice/feedback on how useful others find a lathe to be.  And I wanted to pass on news of the Woodcraft sale to anyone already planning to get the Jet.

 

[jbasen]

I just got a new job and am thinking I might celebrate by buying a new tool.  Ordinarily, I'd be thinking of Festools, but I'm most tempted to get a lathe, since I currently have nothing to turn wood.  I've done a very limited amount of turning in the past and found it really relaxing, although I really see myself doing more cabinet work and furniture building than turning of bowls and spindles.  I'm usually of a mind to get the best tool I can reasonably afford---which would probably mean something like the Jet 1221VS, which Woodcraft happens to be selling for $100 off starting 5/28.  But it's still a lot of money, and I'm not sure whether I can justify the expense.  How much would I really use it given the sort of woodworking that most interests me.  So I'm looking for advice/feedback on how useful others find a lathe to be.  And I wanted to pass on news of the Woodcraft sale to anyone already planning to get the Jet.

I learned to turn spindles and bowls many years ago in what today would have been called middle school.  It was never a passion for me, like it is for some, though I enjoyed it and once I had a dedicated wood shop I bought a small Delta midi lathe for it.  While my focus has been building A&C furniture over the years the lathe has proved to be a useful addition though I only used it periodically.  For example, I used it to do some restoration work on an antique we bought and that alone paid for the cost of the lathe. 

A few years back my wife and I wandered into Woodcraft on a day when they were holding a special event where they showed you how to turn a pen and the pen was then sent to a soldier overseas.  My wife really enjoyed doing that and once she retires in a few years wants to spend more time learning to turn small items.  This, along with an interest I recently developed in turning some wood jewelry pieces, was my reason for upgrading to the Jet 1221VS earlier this year when it was on sale.  I wanted a Lathe with some more capacity than my old Delta and I wanted a variable speed lathe that would be much simpler to operate for my wife and not require moving belts to different pulleys to change speeds.

I've enjoyed making jewelry on the lathe as a break from building furniture and have been very happy with the performance and features of the Jet.  I hope this helps answer your question.

 

[ear3]

When I think about my lathe usage, I guess there are two categories of things that I make.  The first is lathe specific projects.  Things like bowls or small turned items like hollow round boxes.  I do a few of these every year, but since I have a mini lathe, I'm limited as to the size of bowl I can make.  If you got a bigger lathe, you might find yourself making more of these.  The second category, though, is in some ways the more useful -- that is, turned elements of larger pieces.  Things like door/drawer pulls.  Or spindle legs for some of the old heirloom chairs my wife has that I've restored.  I could probably live without the bowls -- although I like turning, I don't think I have the same mania/passion that others sometimes have for it.  But having the lathe to finish off a furniture/case build has been an  absolute godsend, and has meant I haven't been flipping through catalogs or ebay trying to find just the right piece to fit the thing I'm trying to complete.

Make sure you get proficient on sharpening those lathe chisels, though.   

 

[lawhoo]

Thanks for the feedback.  I'm still on the fence on such a sizeable outlay for something that isn't green.

 

[DrD]

Good point Edward about sharpening turning tools.  Easy Wood and others now offer tools covering the gambit of turning needs which, when dull, only require the positioning of a new cutting face or simple replacement of the cutter.  And, bye the way, they work fabulously.  I rarely use anything else when turning.

Don

 

[jbasen]

Good point Edward about sharpening turning tools.  Easy Wood and others now offer tools covering the gambit of turning needs which, when dull, only require the positioning of a new cutting face or simple replacement of the cutter.  And, bye the way, they work fabulously.  I rarely use anything else when turning.

Don

Same here.  I've gone with Rockler carbide tools.  Rockler periodically has them on sale and you can get a great deal compared to the name brand manufacturers.  I still have a set of standard HSS lathe tools but they don't get a lot of use anymore.

 

[ear3]

I've heard mixed things about them, but glad to see they work for you.  Not quite the same, but I did get the Robert Sorby multi-tip hollowing tool for doing the insides of bowls and vases.  The swivel tip works well, but I find the teardrop scraper doesn't give me the same results I get from a traditional lathe chisel, and so I will rarely use that tip:http://www.robert-sorby.co.uk/woodt...lowing-tools/rs200kt-multi-tip-hollowing-tool

Good point Edward about sharpening turning tools.  Easy Wood and others now offer tools covering the gambit of turning needs which, when dull, only require the positioning of a new cutting face or simple replacement of the cutter.  And, bye the way, they work fabulously.  I rarely use anything else when turning.

Don

 

[monstrol]

I have found that I have a lot more fun when using the carbide easy wood tools when turning, either for work related projects or myself. My local saw blade sharpener turned me on to a boxes
of 10 inserts for $33.00. They are identical to the easy wood square insert for the large rougher.
Also there are some videos on the youtube that show how to sharpen the inserts on a diamond stone.

 

[DrD]

[member=5893]Matthewajones[/member]

[/quote]

I have found that I have a lot more fun when using the carbide easy wood tools when turning, either for work related projects or myself. My local saw blade sharpener turned me on to a boxes
of 10 inserts for $33.00. They are identical to the easy wood square insert for the large rougher.
Also there are some videos on the youtube that show how to sharpen the inserts on a diamond stone.

I would be interested in the source for that box of cutters, if you are at liberty to share.

Thanks, Don