MC 900 or 1000

[keppar]

Hi all.
I'm new to turning and wish for some advise on which type of lathe to buy.After reading many threads, I believe the MC900 or 1100 would suit for the moment.
The differnce in price will be only $90 Would it be benificial to get the 1100.
Also I,m concidering the Hamlet brand of chisels Exccalibur range.At this moment I can afford only 4 or 5 so which sort should I get.

Thankyou

[Bruce Micheal]

Keppar
I have a MC 900. For me it does the job, although I have had some minor dramas with it.
Search the threads for this lathe and I'm sure you will find plenty of info about both the MC900 and 1100.
Your choice of tools is fine, but why the expensive ones?
There is nothing wrong with Austraila's P&N brand.
Once again search the forums for the best ways to sharpen and look after your tools.
I'm no expert by any means on the tools required for what you want/think to turn, but for my initial purchase, I got a 3/4 inch roughing gouge, 1 inch skew, a 1/4 inch parting tool, 1/2 inch bowl gouge and a 1/2 spindle gouge. These have served me well for starters and now I have quite a collection of sometimes, unused tools. Consider enrolling in classes etc or getting involved in a turning club, I wish I would have in the begining! Also I wish I would have used/searched this forum before hand!
:)

[smidsy]

Keppar,
I have the MC900 and I am more than happy with it - the main difference between the two is that the 1100 will take work that is a little longer in length. If you think you'll use the extra length go for the 1100, otherwise go for the 900.

As for chisels, save your money for now and get one the $90 chinese sets that Carbatec and others sell. An integral part of this hobby is learning to sharpen chisels and you do not want to be doing that with Hamlet chisels - the chinese sets are good enough to do some great work on but cheap enough to be expendable as you learn to sharpen.
Get started with the cheap chisels and as you get in to it and decide exactly where you want to go with your turning you can buy the Hamlet chisels to suit.

Cheers
Paul

[RETIRED]

I'm no expert by any means on the tools required for what you want/think to turn, but for my initial purchase, I got a 3/4 inch roughing gouge, 1 inch skew, a 1/4 inch parting tool, 1/2 inch bowl gouge and a 1/2 spindle gouge. These have served me well for starters and now I have quite a collection of sometimes, unused tools. Consider enrolling in classes etc or getting involved in a turning club, I wish I would have in the begining! Also I wish I would have used/searched this forum before hand!







Yeah what he says. :D

[gatiep]

Keppar:


I would suggest the MC1100 over the MC900, only because it has a greater swing, longer bed and the headstock can move all the length of the bed. The moving/swivelling headstock is an advantage when turning bowls at 90 deg to the bed. The MC1100 has a 1 hp motor as opposed to 3/4 hp for the MC900. The differences are definately worth the $90 odd and it is still a very low priced lathe.

I teach woodturning and use a mix of MC1100s and MC900s with great success. On tools, for starters I suggest the Carbatec set known as TJ6 at around $99-00 for the 6. It consists of a 3/4 roughing, a 5 mm wide diamond shape parting tool, 1" oval skew, a 10 or 13 mm spindle gouge, 10 or 13 mm bowl gouge and a 1" round nose scraper. They are HSS and a lot of weekend warriors use them. I suggest you practice your grinding and sharpening skills on them and once proficient, you get some Hamlets ( virtually no difference in price between them and P&N, but the quality and feel is notable superior ).You'll notice that I mentioned grinding and sharpening skills, as in the beginning people regrind their tools rather than sharpen them and with time and practice they acquire sharpening skills.I suggest that once proficient you get a Hamlet 3/4" roughing gouge, 1/2" spindle gouge, 1/2" bowl gouge and possibly a 1" oval skew, depending on how much you use your skew. Some people use the skew a lot and others hardly ever touch it (:eek: ). Replace the TJ6's as you can afford to, no need to morgage your house. A scroll chuck, preferably a Vicmarc 100 ( 120 is a bit overkill on a MC900/1100 anyway ). or at the low end the Carbatec chinese copy of the Bonham, known as a KR-100. Here again the price difference is not major but the quality is! A white stone on your grinder is preferably for sharpening HSS tools and a good grinding jig, ( about $130 from Carbatec in Perth ) will get you sharpening your tools properly soon. ( Again no need to morgage your house on a sharpening jig. Please note I didn't call it a grinding jig ). Other little bits and pieces are kind of a luxury and mostly not essential...........What I'm saying is, they make life easier but are not absolutely necessary to enjoy woodturning. I have seen guys with 50 chisels of which only about 5 are in everyday use. Bear in mind that there is always someone who'll come up with a slight design difference......it's called marketing and making money.

Tuition is good to get you going with the right techniques. Either enroll for classes or join a woodturning club. Each hour spent on good tuition will put you months ahead on trying to battle through by yourself.

What wood? Any wood is good for practice, dry or green and if it is free it is even better. Use pine to practice on, you dont have to use exotic stuff, but the main thing is practice, practice and practice........Then practice some more........all the books, videos, DVDs and classes will help you ziltch if you don't practice.

Enough from me...............enjoy the new hobby.........after a lifetime of turning I still do!

Good luck

:)

[gatiep]

Smidsy:

You have listened well..................a good student!

:D

[bsrlee]

Go to the library & read all you can on wood turning. It should give you some ideas on what gear you will eventually need for what you may be interested in - bowl turning vs spindle turning vs something really exotic.

Go to the local adult education/tech/whatever they call it now - after hours use of school classrooms & equipment stuff - see if they have a beginners wood turning class. Or look for a turning club in the area.

Wood turning can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing (gee - just like everything else :rolleyes: ) If you get it wrong you can have the lump of wood fly across the room, or launch the sharp tools in a spinning wheel-of-death - well maybe just severe owies - or give yourself a stiff uppercut to the jaw.

Anyhow, I don't have room for a lathe at the moment - that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it.....but I have been looking at a ML1100 too.

[smidsy]

Smidsy:

You have listened well..................a good student!

:D

Joe,
I hate to see grown men cry - especially me.
I only have 2 Hamlet chisels so far (the deep fluted half inch bowl gouge and a half inch skew) but they are beautiful chisels and I think it would be a crime to waste them on unskilled sharpening.
Keppar, if you can, find yourself a woodturning club. They will teach you things like sharpening, but they are also a great source of fellowship - it's always interesting to see what others are doing.
Cheers
Paul

[keppar]

Thanks all will take your advise

[Babytoolman]

Paul do you have the 900 on the sheet metal legs or the cast legs or on a bench? I just cant get the vibraqtion out of mine. One of the reasons o am going to the vicmarc.


Keppar,
I have the MC900 and I am more than happy with it - the main difference between the two is that the 1100 will take work that is a little longer in length. If you think you'll use the extra length go for the 1100, otherwise go for the 900.

As for chisels, save your money for now and get one the $90 chinese sets that Carbatec and others sell. An integral part of this hobby is learning to sharpen chisels and you do not want to be doing that with Hamlet chisels - the chinese sets are good enough to do some great work on but cheap enough to be expendable as you learn to sharpen.
Get started with the cheap chisels and as you get in to it and decide exactly where you want to go with your turning you can buy the Hamlet chisels to suit.

Cheers
Paul

[smidsy]

I have the standard legs and partly though laziness and partly because I need to move the lathe from time to time, I haven't bolted it down yet.
I have to say that my MC900 is actually pretty good in terms of vibration and the only time I have trouble is when turning really rough blanks.
To be honest I'm not sure the cast legs would be a good idea because cast iron by it's nature is brittle and I think the stock legs would stand up to vibration better.

I've thought about building a stand but I'm stuck on how to make it so that the area under the lathe bed doesn't become a rubbish trap.
If I build a stand I've got an idea to use a cheap trolley jack to incorporate wind down wheels so I can have the stand nice and heavy (stable) but be able to move it without having to remove the weight.

Cheers
Paul

[Red neck]

Smidsy,

Don’t underestimate the strength of cast iron. It has extremely high dampening properties compared to other steel products. It is very suitable for casting both difficult moulds and thin work pieces. Another quality is the lack of flaws in the casting when compared to other materials.

Steam locomotives relied heavily on cast iron components such as driving wheels often five feet in diameter and supporting 32,000 pounds per wheel.

Lathe beds constructed of cast iron provide good dampening qualities enhanced by the ability to machine cast iron to fine tolerances. Check out this link. http://www.teknatool.com/products/Lathe_Accessories/Other/cast_iron_stand.htm