Thread: Which lathe?

You cant go too far wrong with a VicMarc. A well respected lathe in Australia and indeed the world.

Cant wait to see what you turn

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Thank you both for the encouragement, and suggestion to document from the start - that will be something I will be sure to do

It's funny, you know - a week ago I was thinking that finding a lathe was going to be the trickiest part, yet that, thanks to the great community here, and a very kind seller, has proven to be really easy.

Now comes the fun, and interesting part of actually finding out what *other* bits and pieces are needed! It may yet be a little time before the first item actually gets turned

I think you're going to need a bigger shed....

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

.....Now comes the fun, and interesting part of actually finding out what *other* bits and pieces are needed! It may yet be a little time before the first item actually gets turned

When I wanted to try turning I actually purchased the tools before the lathe. It was a case of right place right time and one of the tools was a Spindle Roughing Gouge. Once I had a lathe setup I then purchased a live center and drive spur. With these three items I was turning between centers with the soul intention of practice.

Just make shavings, don't be concern about making anything. If it gets too tedious then look at making a snow man or a chisel handle or a bud vase.

With my pen making I use the roughing gouge and coming close to final shape I rotate the tool to present the cutting edge at 45 degrees to the wood, which is almost like using a skew chisel.

Originally Posted by Gabriel

I think you're going to need a bigger shed....

Wise words Gabriel. The other problem he will face is 'the bigger the shed, the more stuff he will want to put in it'

Just got back this afternoon from a drive "up the road" to pick up the lathe - with many thanks to the seller for making it available!

Long ways to go in getting everything set up - where I am now means no room for a shed as such, so it's going to be a small work area for now, but hopefully moving these next few months, and that will mean room for shed, which will lead to the usual "scope creep" TongueTied refers to above, I'm sure... because, well, bandsaw, and dust extraction, and more workbench, and router table, and stuff!

Well, that's the long term plan, anyway >.>

Many thanks to everyone here, and those that offered much wise advice - this is a great community to be part of, to be sure! Stay tuned in the coming weeks, success and failure will be posted for observation and/or amusement!

We're banking on it

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Good to see you made it back safely I take it all went well with the lathe pick-up ?
Good to catch up with you.
Cheers
Tony

Glad to hear you made it back, I am sure you'll enjoy the lathe - and turning in general!

Thank you Danny & Tony for your time, kindness and wise advice over the weekend, it's truly appreciated to say the least

Many more things to organise now, but it's slowly all coming together (in between that pesky thing they call work that one needs to do to pay for new toys and the like)