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adrian
23rd March 2004, 05:11 PM
Dumb question number 3,023,345.
Never having tried wood turning (but would like to) I am wondering what makes a good lathe. As I see it, you need a motor that's going to spin a lump of wood around so that you can grind it down to make a pile of woodchips. What sets a $300 lathe apart from a $3000 one. I can understand that horsepower would be a factor when dealing with the start of a rough blank but what makes an expensive one spin better than a cheap one.
What should a beginner look for, ie: lathe that best suits the average length and diametre of blanks for hobbyists who may wish to make bowls and plates.

Woodchuck
23rd March 2004, 05:58 PM
Hi Adrian,

I'm a newbie to turning also but it is addictive. What you say is true, the lathe is mostly for spinning the timber. I would think the quality of the tools you use to shape the timber would be of the greater importance. Least this is what I thought so I bought a cheap lathe & then got HSS tools.

I think the main difference would be in bearings, belts, alignment & finish. The quality of the motor also to a point, but then I have heard some of the cheaper alloy bodied TEFC induction motors are better than locally made ones. I don't know this for certain as I've just read it somewhere at some point.

Features could be important to you also depending on what you intend to do. Some lathes you need to change belt to set the speed, others use the reeves pully system I think it's called. Then there is the variable speed kind which you can adjust at the twist of a knob whatever speed you need.

I think speed range is important maybe also..something that goes from 500-2000 rpm. Maybe even lower for really big stuff. HP is important depending again on what you do, but torque would be more important I think maybe.

I think theres alot of threads on this sort of thing, try doing a search. But in the end, I think as long as it turns the timber at the speed needed, it does the job. But quality of hand tools is certainly an important facter I think as this is where the actions at.

A cast bed is nice, important too I think. Alot of it also comes down to the school of thought your from, buy the best, buy what you need or buy it because it's cheap. I think any & all of these work as long as it's what you need/want & does the job it's intended to do.

Good luck with whatever you do, Others here have a wealth of information & will correct me where I'm wrong I hope..lol

Cheers
Woodchuck

Jackson
23rd March 2004, 10:36 PM
Adrian - There are many reasons you might want to buy a cheap lathe to start with, not least the cost of beginning a new hobby. However, you get what you pay for, and you will simply not be able to produce the quality of product on a cheap lathe that you can on a good lathe. I started on a cheap Korean made model that served the purpose of getting me into wood turning. However it was unstable, prone to vibration and flexed under weight, and was generally limited in what it could do. I would have been better off sourcing an inexpensive rather than cheap lathe.

The Australian Woodworker magazine does an annual survey of lathes, listing prices and all features on a wide range of machines. It's worth the trouble finding a back copy or waiting for the next review before you proceed.

Your local woodturning club will also have a few lathes to play on as well as a few old heads to provide advice. They're the blokes worth talking to.

Good luck

Red neck
24th March 2004, 12:07 AM
Adrian,

I started by looking around at the cheap lathes from China and Taiwan. Whilst they had the features of the expensive models, they lacked the quality, stability and refinement of the expensive machines. I opted for a Record CL2. It didn’t have a cast iron bed, roller bearings or the powerful motor of the Novas, Vicmarcs, Woodfasts etc. But it was a fine lathe nevertheless limited only by its half hp motor. Only when I started turning large and unstable blanks did I find it had limitations so I bought a Nova DVR.

At almost double the price of the Record CL2 the Nova DVR would want to be a fine lathe, and it is. The electronic speed control, 1.75 hp motor and solid construction make it a joy to use. Controls for setting the tool-rest and headstock send home the message of quality on such machines. I did a little turning on the cheap Chinese lathes and although many features are copied from the more expensive Western machines, they just don’t quite make it. As Mark said above:

“…unstable, prone to vibration and flexed under weight, and was generally limited…I would have been better off sourcing an inexpensive rather than cheap lathe…”
Look around the Trading Post and weekend ‘classifieds’ for a good quality second hand lathe. Sure it may cost two or three times the asking price of a new Asian model but quality lathes won’t wear out. Besides many second hand deals I have seen include extra attachments, chisels and chucks further reducing initial set-up costs.

gatiep
24th March 2004, 02:04 AM
There is actually much more to woodturning than the price of the lathe only.
Three very distinct categories combine to get one to become a good craftsman ( woodturning ) rather than a person turning wood.

1) The most important and possibly the most overlooked ingredient is proper tuition. A good teacher can help you further along the road to success in 10 hours than battling it out on your own for a year. Woodturning can be reduced to very few techniques, they are not dificult but it is essential to master them. Most woodturners scrape with mostly all their cutting tools rather than actually slicing the timber. I have seen people that are qualified woodworking teachers who cannot turn proficiently and they are usually the first to admit it once they see the correct techniques. I have been woodworking for more years than I care to remember, but never mastered the router. a) Because I'm not really into routers ( because I don't understand routers) and b) Because nobody ever taught me. Therefor a router is not my tool of choice. With woodturning the lathe, turningtools etc must be your tools of choice, there just is no other way that really works.
Good tuition is the number one step!
2)Get the absolute best tools that you can afford. You can have a very good Nielsen plane, put a piece of sheet metal in it as a blade and it wont do the job. The Nielsen plane is a Nielsen plane of good repute only because the blade, angles etc are all matched and high quality. Trying to short cut on inferior woodturning tools leads to frustrations and more people give up because of points 1 and 2 than anything else.
Good turning tools, sharpened correctly ( part of the tuition ) is the only way you can hope to reach proficiency
3) Now to your question. Buy the best lathe you can afford. It is much better to spend your budget wisely between good tuition, good turning tools and a lathe that you can afford. I do not believe that one has to have the most expensive lathe to enjoy woodturning. However buying a lathe, welded/folded/crimped together for $110 only leads to frustration and giving up. They make very good disk sanders if you modify them. They are not suitable to take the selfcentering chucks and other accesories.
The cheap chinese/taiwanese lathes make very good entry level lathes. You have variable speed change, MT 2 spindle and tailstock, cast bed etc. If you pay $350 to $400 for such a lathe to get you started, you can always get most your money back when you upgrade. It gives you a good platform to start on, you can decide wether you want to keep turning or not and it gives you time to save for a more expensive lathe, look around/ get to try different lathes and then make a more 'qualified' decision. The top of the range ( and price range ) lathes are all good, some even more so than others. It is extremely difficult to find a lathe that has 100% of the features, gimmicks etc that you want. Do you want to change speeds manually or do you want electronic speed control. These are all decisions that one can really only make once you can appreciate the type/quality lathe that you want. After all these years I have last week had serious discussions with a supplier about a top of the range lathe. Guess what: I want a different size motor and a modified speed range although the motor speed is electronically variable. The person was schocked because they never had that request before. The leader manufacturer of quality lathes didn't satisfy my requirements, not because the lathe is not the best, but because my turning requirements are different. We are individuals and have different requirements.....we don't all drive the same make of car. Horses for courses.
Buy the best lathe that your budget allows after paying for tuition and good tools.

This has been pretty longwinded, but the question is not just a simple : Which lathe do I buy...............................

There are two Schumachers in formula 1 racing....they didn't start driving in formula 1 cars...they were learners once like all of us in a family sedan, then they worked up the ladder gaining from experience and quality vehicles. Today at the highest competitions these top drivers drive diferent makes of formula 1 cars. The moral is, they started at the bottom, learned as much they could, practiced and preservered!

Spend wisely, your knowledge/technique, your tools and the lathe will outlast you! On top of that you'll be a happy vegemite and become a very competent woodturning craftsman!

JackoH
24th March 2004, 08:51 AM
Congratulations Gatiep.You said it all. Your treatise should be bookmarked and all newbies like Adrian who make this sort of enquiry should be directed to it as required reading!
:)

arose62
24th March 2004, 10:30 AM
Hi Adrian,

a year ago, I thought "I think I might like woodturning", and since I had no knowledge whatsoever, I decided to make a low cost entry.

I figured that the person wielding the tools had to be a big part of the equation, as millions of high quality chair parts etc. were churned out by guys pumping pole lathes with their feet, in years gone by.

So, a $100 lathe from SuperCheap Auto, and a set of cheap chisels (<$20).

Tuition from borrowing every library book on the subject ($0).

Wood - offcuts from building sites, then cut down trees found on footpaths ($0).

Already had a dust mask and face shield.

I figured this was a good way to find out if I'd like turning as much as I thought I might.

I've now made 83 "things" so far - mallets, small bowls, toilet paper holders, gavels, stool, jewellery holder, chisel handles, pears, awls, miniature goblet etc. and have decided that I *do* enjoy turning.

I've also been able to make my hobby pay for itself so far.

The next biggest expense was to buy a SuperNova chuck. (Cost more than the lathe! $240), but gives you a whole lot more options.

There are quite a few clubs around, where I'm sure you could get enough turning time to decide if you want to spend $$$, and heaps of advice on what to buy.

I'm now slowly building my collection of good chisels, one at a time.

Oops! Just re-read you original post, and noted that you're aiming at bowls and platters. My 2 cents is get a heavy lathe, as in my experience face work is more prone to vibration.

Cheers,
Andrew

adrian
24th March 2004, 07:09 PM
Thanks guys.

That gives me a start. I don't know whether I will be getting into it yet because I have so many half finished projects around the house and I have a sneaking suspicion that if I bought all the turning gear the projects wouldn't even be as close as the back burner.
In the mean time I will be a regular watcher of the Woodturning programme on Austar digital. I've only seen one episode but it looks good.