Thread: Choice of lathe for beginner

hi Jordan

I think your better off going for a lathe on its own. Those combo machines are somewhat less than ideal . Others with more experience will add more comments no doubt.

Because I prefer older stuff , I went for a used education dept. lathe . My thinking was, if it can survive many years of abuse by spotted faced teenage brats , then it must be well made.

I would go for a slightly bigger lathe than your pics there. The Hercus 260's are ideal as it's Australian made and parts are still available from the manufacturer in Adelaide and a vendor on this forum. Mike

Thanks alot for your advice, Ill most likely take your advice and steer clear of the combo machine. A hercus 260 would be good, although havent seen any around brisbane lately, And also I dont have alot of room..

The Atlas lathe looks like a Chinese copy to me, but if I was going to buy one of the 3 it would be that one as long as it's in good condition. For $500 (or less if you can get him down) I think that is not a bad price.

I have had a play with a combo machine at the shop, and I don't think much of it.

Dave

My choice of a lathe for a beginner was a Jet Mini lathe which I am very happy with. I love how smooth my Jenavene is and how smoothly she hums along. You may prefer something larger but there is an option for an extension with the Jet. They also make them bigger.......

Marg.

I'm not sure if a wood lathe would do metal maching to well Marg.
Jordan go the atlas for 2 reasons. A your buget is $1500 that would leave you with 1k for tooling and materials which is where a lot of the cost is
Pete

Hi Jordan,
Welcome.
I had a look at the lathe mills also and felt they were pretty limited(thats not to say there isnt someone out there turning out great work on one). The way I look at it is you would be able to turn work much larger than you would be able to mill.

Does the Altas come with any tooling? as others have said that adds a lot to your cost if you buy a new lathe. In this price range it would be easy to double the price of the lathe in tooling and measuring gear.

Stuart

Yeah duh to me .....sorry fellas I got a bit carried away with my love for my Jet lathe and did not notice the post was about a metal lathe ....oops....

Marg.

go the atlas, i know jack sh#t about lathes but anyone can see thats the better deal.400mm between centres ain't much but yuou have to ask yourself what are you going to be turning over 400mm?

Thanks everyone for all the comments! I ended up buying the atlas lathe, got it for $450 in the end, just got it home turns out to be 500mm between centres.. I'm looking foward to giving it a first turn.

thanks again everyone.

Good to see you got your new lathe home.
I think it will be a great lathe to get going on, and out of the 3 I think you picked the right one. Good to see you got it down a bit as well, $50 covers the fuel at least.

If you are after tooling and don't know what to get just ask, but a few sticks of HSS (High speed steel) will get you going for around $10 a stick. Again if you want a few links and advice on how to sharpen them just let us know and I am sure we will all help out.

Dave

Pictures! we demand pictures!

$450 sounds like a bargin to me. Did it come with much in the way of tooling?

Stuart

I just thought I would throw up a link Jordan's lathe as it's getting sold.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f223/a...00-ono-142421/

Sorry it had to go Jordan, but if anyone is looking for a lathe, it looks like a nice little unit and the price is right.

Dave