Any good.

[Wongdai]

After Derek helped me make a chisel I have been lusting after a lathe to make tool handles and the like.

Unfortunately, I know nothing about lathes.

Can someone tell me, is this one any good, and worth the money. If so, how should I assess it to make sure it is in ok condition?

WOOD TURNING LATHE WOODFAST CAST IRON BED | Tools | Gumtree Perth (http://perth.gumtree.com.au/c-Stuff-for-Sale-tools-WOOD-TURNING-LATHE-WOODFAST-CAST-IRON-BED-W0QQAdIdZ201711350)

regards

[cultana]

Not sure about other members but from my limited understanding I would not bother and for that price I would spend the extra $ for the HF WL-20 model. If you don't need the bed length of the WL-20, (1100) go for the WL-18, (900).

[rsser]

How to judge a lathe, inc 2nd hand, has been covered often here. Go back in the threads; IIRC hughie had a good chklist not so long ago.

[NeilS]

On the lathe itself, if everything is in working order then the price is about right. Good solid Australian made lathe that will last for years. Used a similar model constantly myself for many years.

However, I wouldn't be buying a lathe to just turn a few handles. Start by using a friend's or Club's lathe. That way you will have someone to help you start turning. If you develop the turning bug from that you can start to think about what type of turning you would like to do and then buy a lathe suitable to your needs.

Should that not be your style and just have to stat with your own lathe, definitely do your homework on this site by looking through past threads on the topic before you take the plunge.

If I was only going to be turning a few tool handles and had about $400 burning a hole in my pocket I would probably buy a new Woodfast M305 Midi Lathe (http://www.woodfast.com.au/index.php?p=1_5). Would have good resale value should you decide to upgrade later or lose interest.


.....

[rsser]

Neil's advice is good.

And there's not just the lathe cost but also some tools - not that you'll need much for chisel handles.

Those handles won't take you long to make BTW so maybe also consider finding a turning mate and having a handle day.

[stuffy]

Personally Wongdai, I think that looks like a great buy. M908 woodfasts of that vintage are a very solid lathe. Not much to go wrong with them.
The motor looks a bit rough and the bench frame looks a bit light, other than that check for any play in the headstock and tail stock spindles and that they align accurately and your on a winner.
Ask for the drive centre and a faceplate if possible, genuine Woodfast replacements aren't cheap.
I have a mc900 Woodfast but if I had the money I'd grab this one and swap the headstock, tail stock and banjo to give me the extra 2" of spindle height.

Remember you can turn small things on a big lathe but you can't turn big things on a small lathe.

I'd be happy to do some turning with you if you can get down my way. (Mandurah). Just PM me.

Steve.
:)

[DJ’s Timber]

That lathe is a good solid machine, for $400 it is a fairly good deal.

All you really need to check is that the spindle will spin freely with no apparent grinding or noises from the bearings. Best to do this with the belt completely loose and held off the spindle to see that it spins freely and also with it tensioned up and the motor running to see if there is any noises with tension on it from the motor.

The one other main test is to put a spur drive or live centre in both the headstock and tailstock and then bring the tailstock up to the headstock till both spurs or live centres are almost kissing and see if they're are aligned.

[China]

For $400 you will be hard pressed to buy anything of that quality new, that will clean up nicely with a bit of elbow grease and last you for many years, if the bearings are crook haggle the price, they can be replaced. If you decide woodturning is not for you once cleaned up you will easily get your money back

[Wongdai]

Beatiful. I'll give them a ring tomorrow and see if they still have it for sale. Fingers crossed. :)

[bookend]

See http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/advices-new-lathe-newbie-22354/

Gateip's post is superb.

[Wongdai]

Well, the lathe is still there. Apparently no-one has come contacted him. I am going to see it tomorrow night. Very excited.

This is what I will check:


Spindle noise, with belt free
Spindle freeness with belt free.
Existance of morse taper
Good chuck
Has faceplate
Has Drive Centre
And alignment between head and tail using a drive centre.
Anything else?

I'm loving the learning curve.

:)

[Wongdai]

I couldn't wait, so went and saw it today.

I really wanted it, but passed it up - but only just.

The lathe ran nicely and there was no bearing noise. Head and tail stocks lined up nicely. The end stock had a live centre on a morse taper. The head stock had a gigantic chuck thing, also on a morse taper.

He had no tools, no faceplate, no dead centre for the head stock. No C spanners for tightening the chuck.

I didn't make him an offer as I said I was going to think about it a few days. I will use this time to explore some of the new lathes put forward above.

regards

Wongdai

[brendan stemp]

I have three Vicmarc lathes but even still, if I lived closer I'd snap that lathe up quick smart. It is an excellent buy, from what I can see. A brand new version of that lathe would be $1500 plus. Do a quick U Turn and buy it.

[Wongdai]

Damn, this lathe thing is confusing.

OK, I will give him a call tomoz and see if he still has it.

[brendan stemp]

None of the reasons you gave for not buying it would have deterred me from buying it. Even if you have to put a new motor on it and buy a few face plates chucks etc you will still be in front. They are the sort of machine that should last forever and even if you want to toss in woodturning and sell it you will at least get your money back. Tidy it up a little and it will look like a very good lathe.

[stuffy]

:whs:

Hope my previous post didn't put you off. All you will need are some turning tools and you're ready to go. You can add accessories as and when you need them.

IMHO you'd be far better off with that than a cheap Chinese machine.

Best wishes

Steve
:)

[Wongdai]

Looks like its all going to work out in the end. I rang him today, he still has it. I offered him $50 less than the advertised price which he accepted.

I'm going around on the weekend to pick it up. :)

[Rookie]

Looks like its all going to work out in the end. I rang him today, he still has it. I offered him $50 less than the advertised price which he accepted.

I'm going around on the weekend to pick it up. :)

You'll do fine with that one because anything you need to get for it or replace will be ancillary to the unit, but the unit itself sounds fine.

I would now hunt around for a good woodturning club to gather some wisdom about chucks, centers, chisels etc, but most of all, turning techniques. You'll soon get sick of turning chisel handles so you'll need some good instruction to fast track the disease we know so well. I spent 12 months at a turning club getting some wonderful advice and it kept my enthusiasm up big time. Sadly I can no longer attend that club due to work commitments, but unashamedly will plug the several clubs at Manningham Woodcraft because they're a great bunch of blokes and women. Pity you live in Perth

[Wongdai]

Good idea for some maybe, but I'm not a club type of guy. Wish I was, but there you go.

I'm sure I'll muddle through, and anything I can't pick up there is good old utube. :)

Now I just need to buy some chisels to go with the lathe. Or are they called gouges or some such>?

[RETIRED]

Wongdai There is a lot of bad and dangerous turning practises shown on you tube.

Be careful about what you take in.:cool:

A good book to get is " Woodturning- A foundation Course by Keith Rowley".

[rsser]

+1 to Rowley.

And to some DVDs or lessons.

Muddling through sometimes comes with pain attached.

As for clubs, they vary in how they're run. You may find one that offers beginners courses.

[joe greiner]

What they said. The bad habits you teach yourself could unnecessarily kill your enthusiasm. And the fellowship in clubs will be at least as good as you've found here.

Cheers,
Joe

[hughie]

There is a lot of bad and dangerous turning practises shown on you tube.
Be careful about what you take in.:cool:
A good book to get is " Woodturning- A foundation Course by Keith Rowley".
[/QUOTE]

Indeed, digitally expensive, nothing like a bit of blood to knock the edge off the afternoon.

[Wongdai]

Well, it is sitting proudly in my shed now. Unfortunately my shed is reaching the limits of what it can hold.

So, I've been looking at starter sets for the chisels. The ones at Carbatec at Timbecon seem to be almost $300. Is this right? So much just for five chisels?

Is there a cheaper alternative to get me started?

[issatree]

Hi All.
I'm not a lover of Woodfast, but that's me.
I would certainly go for it at that price, as you will never pick up another one for that money.
I'm with Brendan on what he said.
I would buy Unhandled P&N Chisels & learn to make handles for them.
Richard Raffan's book "Turning Wood " has a Chisel Handle in the last pages to copy.
The owners may have other Jaws for the Chuck, if not go for a set of 35mm. Spigot Jaws.
Everything seems only to need a good clean up, & you are on your way.
Regards,
issatree.
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[cultana]

Well, it is sitting proudly in my shed now. Unfortunately my shed is reaching the limits of what it can hold.

So, I've been looking at starter sets for the chisels. The ones at Carbatec at Timbecon seem to be almost $300. Is this right? So much just for five chisels?

Is there a cheaper alternative to get me started?

Try these, he is also one of the forum sponsors.
Gary Pye Woodturning :: Gary Pye Woodturning - 6pce Full Size Tool Set (http://gpwoodturning.sitesuitestores.com/cgi/index.cgi/shopfront/view_product_details?category_id=1107146793&product_id=1107445171)

This a reasonable basic set and you can cheaply practice sharpening chisels to ones hearts content knowing you are not blowing $$$ away. Also $110 cf $300. Even tack on postage will only add about $30 so cheap.

[NeilS]

Wouldn't recommend buying one of those sets to begin with as some of them you may never or rarely use, depending on what turning you will eventually do, and some you will want to replace sooner or later. Instead, buy a few individual good quality tools to do the job in hand (it won't be any cheaper, just better value for your $) and then expand slowly from there.

There are lots of good threads on this forum on which individual tools to buy first.

Edit: To make handles, I would start with four:

roughing gouge
spindle gouge
skew
parting tool (you could make this one yourself)

I like Issatree's suggestion on buying the unhandled P&Ns as an economical way of getting into quality steel.

.....

[RETIRED]

Wouldn't recommend buying one of those sets to begin with as some of them you may never or rarely use, depending on what turning you will eventually do, and some you will want to replace sooner or later. Instead, buy a few individual good quality tools to do the job in hand (it won't be any cheaper, just better value for your $) and then expand slowly from there.

There are lots of good threads on this forum on which individual tools to buy first.

Edit: To make handles, I would start with four:

roughing gouge
spindle gouge
skew
parting tool (you could make this one yourself)

I like Issatree's suggestion on buying the unhandled P&Ns as an economical way of getting into quality steel.

.....Agree with most of that but I would substitute a 3/8 bowl gouge for the roughing gouge.

You can use a spindle gouge to rough down.

[Wongdai]

I am thinking that for the $106 for Gary Pye's set, I would be battling to buy the four chisels separately?

[RETIRED]

Yep.

[NeilS]

I am thinking that for the $106 for Gary Pye's set, I would be battling to buy the four chisels separately?

Yes, your right. So, start with these two:

P&N Spindle Gouge 10mm Unhandled - Price: $43.85 (http://www.cws.au.com/shop/item/spindle-gouge-10mm-unhandled)
and, as has suggested, also use this for roughing down your spindle gouges for now. You can buy a roughing gouge another time.

plus

P&N Skew Chisel 18x6mm Unhandled - Price: $73.25 (http://www.cws.au.com/shop/item/skew-chisel-18x6mm-unhandled)

Then make your own parting tool from some blade steel (HSS or good CS). Some suggestions on how to go about that here (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/1-16-parting-tool-95537/).

Now the start up $s are about the same to begin with and you have at least two good tools that you are going to keep using while ever you are turning.

Unless you are going to be doing bowl/faceplate work right away, you can also leave the bowl gouge for now... as that's the one you are going to have to pay some serious $s for to get the quality. Secondhand is a good option for bowl gouges... as the average turner is not going to wear theirs out before they drop out/off.

And, if you buy the above and it doesn't work out for you, please let me have first option on buying the above P&Ns from you. However, I'm not vaguely interested in the GP set.....:U

.....

[Sawdust Maker]

Happy new lathe

Have a look at the Vermec site for unhandled P&N - they were the cheapest a couple of years ago. Vermec site here
(http://www.vermec.com/)
also here (http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/handles.asp)is a link to Thompson tools - he has an article on turning handles which isn't bad - check out the tool prices and you'll decide that the P&N are fairly cheap :o

get a bit of copper or brass pipe for the ferrule

[stuffy]

These sets are similar to if not the same as the GPW set and would make a good starter set.

timbecon 6-piece-chisel-set (http://www.timbecon.com.au/details/6-piece-chisel-set-9948.aspx)

carbatec-6-piece-turning-chisel-set (http://www.carbatec.com.au/carba-tec-6-piece-turning-chisel-set_c14100)

Scrapers, parting tools and skew chisels can be made fairly easily from old chisels or H.S.S. blanks. A thin parting tool made from a H.S.S. hacksaw blade is very useful. Old planer blades are good for small tools. An Oland type tool can be made economically. As a beginner you may be better off getting some experience using commercially made tools before making your own so that you understand the possible limitations of your own designs.

My favourite P&N tool is a 12mm detail gouge because it's so versatile. It's great for beads and coves on spindles, all sorts of detail on bowls and faceplate work and it's strong enough for end grain hollowing too.

Congrats on the lathe

best wishes

Steve
:)