Thread: First Lathe Advice

Arry first consideration is budget, how much do you want to spend.

Second is what do you want to do with the lathe, spindle turning requires a long bed , faceplate turning reguires a decent centre height.

Do you want to buy cheap and keep upgrading or buy good and buy once.

As an all round lathe on a moderate budget of 2k the Nova 1624 lathe with the Robert Sorby starter kit and the Vicmarc VM100 scroll chuck

You can go cheaper if you want and that would be the lathe, you can also get better and again that is the lathe.

Jim has provided the perfect advise here. Your budget is the key though. If you were to have a decent budget then I would go for the Vicmarc range of lathes.

A lot has to do with what you want to turn and of course your budget. H ave look at this article below might be of some help.

As one who whent down this road I'd have to say take Jim's advice
I started off cheap and it cost me

I have the nova 1624 and it's a grate allround lathe

The Woodfast range are good. Many on this forum swear by them (not at them)
Have a look at their site:
Woodfast Machinery Co. (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. -
cheers,
Jim

Thanks heaps guys, I will have a look and unpack all of this information.

Cheers

PS I failed to mention that whilst I would love to spend that kind of money. SWMBO would kill me.

Budget would be $500 to $1,000.

Is that just a waste of money or can I get something sort of decent?

Maybe even second hand?

Cheers

I started on an MC900 and still have it. I imagine one day that I might upgrade, but for a beginner it isn't a bad lathe. I got mine at Carba-tec, but others stock the same one.

http://www.carbatec.com.au/carba-tec...dlathes_c14630

Your budget won't buy you much from the showroom but could get you a ripper used machine if you look around enough - thanks to the demographics of woodturning, deceased estate auctions throw up some top machines

Think about joining your local woodturners club. Then you will not only get exposure, training and experience but you'll get a good idea of your interests. Club members are often trying to sell their equipment for one reason or another too so you might be able to pick up something that way.

As others have suggested, your interests are important to lathe selection and that's where exposure to other club members can be really useful.

There's plenty of examples of other turner's work here too.

When I first started turning, I looked around on ebay and other sites for months and months without finding anything suitable in my area. Lots of cheap and very nasty lathes, but nothing approaching decent. That's when I bit the bullet and bought a new one. At the time though I didn't know about this forum. I reckon if you keep an eye on the marketplace here you may well get something decent second hand. May also luck out on a bargain on ebay too. A lot of the ones that do show up on ebay come with a few chisels and a chuck as well.

Thanks soooo much guys.

So is a MC900 a decent lathe?

What can't it do?

I have had a look on Gumtree for a decent 2nd hand, problem is I am a lathe virgin so I have no idea what is good and what isn't,

Perhaps if I buy a new one like the MC900 at least I get a warranty.

I do not know what to do now.

Any decent 2nd hand brands to look for?

cheers

The mc900 is what i use currently (different company badging but its the same exact lathe), quite happy with it, the benefit of having its drive the way it is means no pulley changes whitch is a nice feature, just a lever to move in use. i picked mine up after i looked around at the machinery shops and finding if they had any display models or old stocks, lucky for me they did.

What can't it do.. well its top speed is around 1800-2000, some of the better lathes spin up to 3600+. I've not tried larger turnings on it and its bed to centre height is 150mm iirc, whitch allows me to turn 300 diametre or just under without swinging the head, something i've not done yet but will be soon. It can't reverse the drive for better sanding (although for a beginner its not something to worry about). It doesn't have a handwheel (not crutial but sometimes nice to have), and it is not indexed (can buy chucks with indexing though if you have a need, or get creative and index from a handmade plate)

i've done pens, small bowls, some light segmenting work, salt n pepper mills, lidded boxes, tool handles. i'm only beginning to stretch its limits really, my pop died and left me an ancient one (20 yrs old at least) whitch i made into a disc sander, after it proved too innaccurate for me.

I think i spent well under a thousand on the mc900 it was missing a tailstock centre when i bought it so i got a jabobs chuck and a 60 degree live centre as well, and a cheapy scroll chuck, and a few more chisels.

All in all for a beginner i think its an excellent choice, looking forward i might get myself a small woodfast for my small pen specific stuff, and upgrade the mc 900 much further down the track to something with more centre height and a bit sturdier, but thats quite a ways off, i'm letting my skills develop more and i dont see me totally outgrowing the 900 for a while. I've had it a bit over 12 months now and still enjoy it very much.

all my posted work has been done on it.

keep a thought for where your going to use it too, i brought mine home in the back of a little mirage and set it up in my little garage wood corner, when i get my shed back i can move it easy, mini's (lathes) are easier again, but some of the heavier models might require beer favours.

my 2cents for what its worth hope its a help.

Neal.

thought i'd add some pics to show what its capable of, i'm no pro. some of the tooling is specific (pens), but otherwise its allowed me to get turning affordably, and for me i'd rather turn AND save, not save for a turn =).

Neal.

I've also got an MC900 from Carbatec. Agree with Thompy on its faults, especially lack of hand wheel. The other problem is the slowest speed is 500 RPM. This is a problem when turning heavy, slightly out of balanced wood as it is still scary fast. However it does suit my needs and at the time was the right price for my budget. I found the guys at Carbatec very helpful when I went for a look and of memory the store in Perth has a good show room.