Thread: First lathe

Originally Posted by Hangfire

Hi all, I am thinking about trying out wood turning, hobbyist level. I have been looking at buying new/2nd hand and trying to assess what a minimum spec is to achieve something worthwhile.
I have found 2 carbatec units, both with a set of chisels.
1 midi 400 bucks
1 900 mm 525 bucks.

The 900 is an old model, but is marginally more powerful and has the variable speed motor, the midi uses belts.

Can anyone make recommendations as to if either is good deal? Or if I should really be looking elsewhere/buying new....

Don't really want to spend a fortune, nor join a shed at this point.

I'd say start with a men shed, or other club in your area.

The OP didnt get a good response from the local MS. Some of us may have a better experience in our own space and time

Having no access to a mens shed (nearest is over 500km away) and wanting to try turning I purchased a WL18 combo kit about 9 months ago
Its seen a lot of hours so far and worked well. Be sure to lube it correctly as described The manual variable speed continuous velocity clutch system in the WL18 works well. The chuck is fine but one thing I would say is that I only used about half of that chisel set. I turn local hard and reclaimed unwanted woods however so you may have a different experience with this chisel set.

I use one of the small spindle gouges often however I would put some money aside for a quality bowl or spindle gouge for later down the track if you want to turn further plus a good sharpening jig so as not to waste good steel in the beginning

What would a good sharpening system look like? On a realistic budget....

Hi HF. I was in a similar position to you a couple of years ago. Wanting to have a go at turning I too had to think about what was the right way to go. Buy cheap new, love it and need to quickly upgrade or spend more, not enjoy it and lose on the resale (or at least have it haunt me from the corner of the workshop). I went 2nd hand and had to wait until a reasonable one came along. Paid $200 for an Aussie made lathe (Golding) that came with a few chisels (mostly home made from files). I love turning (more spindle work than bowls but getting better at them). Cheap entry let me get better tools and new chuck. Slowly added more chisels as I understood what I actually used. Not only will the wood come, you also get better at scrounging for it. Working in the round is so liberating for this middle aged carpenter.

Originally Posted by Fallen Woodwork

The OP didnt get a good response from the local MS. Some of us may have a better experience in our own space and time

Having no access to a mens shed (nearest is over 500km away) and wanting to try turning I purchased a WL18 combo kit about 9 months ago
Its seen a lot of hours so far and worked well. Be sure to lube it correctly as described The manual variable speed continuous velocity clutch system in the WL18 works well. The chuck is fine but one thing I would say is that I only used about half of that chisel set. I turn local hard and reclaimed unwanted woods however so you may have a different experience with this chisel set.

I use one of the small spindle gouges often however I would put some money aside for a quality bowl or spindle gouge for later down the track if you want to turn further plus a good sharpening jig so as not to waste good steel in the beginning

Don't disagree. I wasn't all the fussed with a couple that I visited. One was so popular you had to book time weeks in advance. The other was so stuffy and they spent all their time have "smoko" it was a waste of time, but I did find a private non mens shed that was really good.

However. What a men shed does is give one an opportunity to see what they actually like doing and what they will need to buy. You might find all you want to do is tiny stuff and then a midi lathe is all you need. Or you like doing sculpture type bowls and such, which will require a vicmarc 300 longbed... Try before you buy allows you to focus very limited resources, i.e. time and money... You might, as many have found, you actually don't like turning at all. I've seen a lot of dormant lathes over the years...

YMMV

Originally Posted by Hangfire

What would a good sharpening system look like? On a realistic budget....

Grinder is a must. The cheapest is a 6" grinder with a fine wheel and wheel dresser. That will get you functional. From there the skies the limit. Your sharpening will evolve more than your turning skill over the next few years. Probably the most important part of turning is learning how to grind the chisels and gouges. The beauty of modern chisels is you can blue the tip and not hurt the steel too much.

What do I look out for with a grinder? Would a hammer barn ryobi be up to it?

Originally Posted by Hangfire

What do I look out for with a grinder? Would a hammer barn ryobi be up to it?

Okay - it all gets a bit much but here goes. Not saying this is the way to go but if you get one piece of good information as a fellow beginner thats good enough for me

You want a slow grinder - they say a slow grinder will only allow you to make mistakes slowly
I went for a wet stone from timbecon to start with as I could use it for other sharpening
I went for this when it was on special https://www.timbecon.com.au/sherwood-wet-stone-sharpening-system-200mm-160w-variable-speed

I also got their generic grinding jigs for chisels and knives etc and a platform for sharpening gouges
Oh - I also purchsed a timbecon heligrind kit which I was not impressed with. It was very poorly made and looked like someone else had already received my one and sent it back only for timbecon to flog it off to me Views expressed are my own opinions and do not reflect woodwork forums (They said they had a bad run that didnt meet their expectations and asked me if it looked like the box had already been opened - it did) Anyway, sent that back , got a refund and I'll leave it at that

I soon got tired of the water and the mess it made flicking off the wetstone wheel with regular sharpenng so got a slow grinder with CBN wheels
Heres the timbecon one with the newly designed heligrind
https://www.timbecon.com.au/sherwood...-heligrind-kit
Rikon do a good slow grinder. It will accept CBN wheels with a 5/8 arbor just dont ask the sales man if a 40mm wide CBN wheel will fit. they will say it doesnt... It will, you just have to take of the gaurds
200mm (8″) 1HP Slow Speed Bench Grinder 80-808 by Rikon – Beyond Tools
Many distributors for rikon - you should find one close to you and could wait for the cyber sales if you decide to go straight for CBN
There are other brands of slow bench grinders that will be around around the 1800RPM mark

As for the sharpening jig - After messing things up with my cheap chisel set sharpening by hand I then purchased some crown gear. I went for the oneway sharpening system
Wolverine Grinding System with VARI-GRIND jig : Amazon.com.au: Home Improvement

The setup blocks that it comes with make it impossible to mess it up. You get a elsworth grind and a standard bowl gouge block if I remember correctly. Perfect grinds every time.
Now - you may come across those with much more experience who say you should learn to sharpen by hand. I would love to one day but while I have my learning wheels on this jig ensures I dont waste good steel

I found a 40/40 setup block too
Ron Brown does a lot of other setup blocks - he may possibly have been the first to design these
40-40 Grind Set Up Block : Amazon.com.au

https://www.amazon.com.au/Ron-Browns-Best-Quick-Sharpening/dp/B07DR6KG8S/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=wolverine+jig&qid=1637487311&sr=8-5

Originally Posted by Fallen Woodwork

Okay - it all gets a bit much but here goes. Not saying this is the way to go but if you get one piece of good information as a fellow beginner thats good enough for me

All good stuff FW for Hangfire to consider along his woodturning journey, but he has to start within his budget.

A $50 150mm bench grinder with the addition of a $50 toolrest will do the job to start with. The toolrest can be subsequently moved across to be used with bigger/slower/fancier/whatever grinders later on with much better grinding wheels and, unlike some pieces of equipment that become redundant, there are always other uses for a 150mm bench grinder in a workshop.

Without a local Shed or club to learn from, I highly recommend a jig for bowl gouge sharpening. But, there are plans out there for bowl gouge jigs that can be made by the DIYer at minimal cost. I started a thread on this... DIY gouge jigs

Slow grinders may be more forgiving in that mistakes happen less quickly, but the cost of lost steel with a starter tool kit is not much compared to the additional cost of a slow grinder.

Could you recommend a basic grinder so I know what I am looking at?

Originally Posted by Hangfire

Could you recommend a basic grinder so I know what I am looking at?

Our local Men's Shed has one of these...

Ozito 150W 150mm Bench Grinder - Bunnings Australia

It is not an all day every day grinder, but it's OK for the money. Just had to remove the inbuilt tool rest (as in hacksaw it off the wheel guard) to accommodate a better tool rest.

And, keep an eye out for 2nd hand ones like these, they don't have to look pretty to work...

Ryobi Bench Grinder | Power Tools | Gumtree Australia Monash Area - Glen Waverley | 1284462792

Heavy Duty Hamilco Bench Grinder | eBay

Originally Posted by Hangfire

What do I look out for with a grinder? Would a hammer barn ryobi be up to it?

As you're starting out I think KISS is the way to go. Keep it simple son. Any grinder that satisfies your budget will work. In a few years you might still be using that one, or you might be onto some exotic contraption and process that costs the same as a nice down payment on a house... Don't put too much mental effort into it at this stage... YMMV