Thread: Woodturning mini lathe

I only have a large lathe but I have herd good things about the jet mini and woodfast mini sorry I can't be any more help

Hi Brian,

I have had a Woodfast Midi M305 for 18 months and am
very happy with it. It has a 16" bed so is just a little
larger than a "Mini".

Allan

I'll declare a conflict of interest up front. I have a midi lathe which I should be selling (according to SWMBO) as I have replaced it with a larger one which turned up on eBay at - for me - a price I couldn't ignor. That said, I'm sure if I say anything that isn't right others will correct me and I hope they will!

Much like a larger lathe, hefty construction is important and all the decent ones have cast iron beds, headstock and tailstock. There is a mix of quality floating around with some nice machines from Taiwan, like Jet and some much less well machined ones coming out of China. The Woodfast is I think made in China but it is nicely made.

Vicmarc make a beautiful little lathe but it is pretty expensive.

Making sure the headstock and tailstock are aligned is important and if possible something to be checked on the actual machine you buy. This is something people are sometimes willing to compromise on with larger lathes because the more affordable models are less well machined. I don't think there is any need to compromise with the smaller lathes though unless you really are looking to spend as little as possible.

Variable speed is nice to have but by no means essential.

Most of the current models have an M30 3.5 thread spindle and MT2 sockets in spindle and tailstock.

+1 for Woodfast M305

Newly bought Jet 1220 Midi lathe. Fits in my very limited space in the garage and I love it. Changing speeds is not a problem. Comes well equipped. I am new at this and feel very comfortable with it. Unless you are into BIG things this should do most things. I do pens, small bowls and containers and spinning tops for my local "fans" who watch from the road. Got it from Gary Pye at a great price. Gone up a little since then.

I've got a little Delta and a VS VL100. Chalk and cheese - all the plastic bits on the Delta are breaking.

I had a look at 's new toy - a Woodfast - and it's much better than the Delta. And a lot cheaper that the Delta too from memory.

Hope that helps a little.

another +1 for Woodfast M305

Originally Posted by Rum Pig

I only have a large lathe but I have herd good things about the jet mini and woodfast mini sorry I can't be any more help

Thanks for info.

I thank everyone who replied to mini lathe purchase.The results lean to a Woodfast M305.I will persue price and quality and let you know what I bought,thanks again Brian.