Thread: Lathe to accessories cost ratio?

Originally Posted by Willy Nelson

What I do is save up the proceeds of woodturning, and then buy something directly with it, I have bought bandsaw, dust extractor, pushbike, tools etc this way, sort of justifies the time and other expenses. Mind you, I am going to have to turn hundreds of burl platters to pay for the new Vicmarc VL500/600 that I didn't know I needed until some fool posted images of one!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto...

As they are not likely to spend $6K on their first lathe, newbies will quickly get to 1:1, and should be warned so, especially if they don't already have a good bandsaw, a chain saw and safety gear, a suitable bench grinder & adequate dust protection.

My ratio of lathe to chucks cost alone are not far off 1:1, my dust extraction and filtering system about the same. Bandsaw + chainsaws + safety gear the same again. Grinder+ jigs + diamond & CBN wheels + power tools a bit under 1:1. And, then there are the abrasives, adhesives and finishes, that is before starting on the turning tools, rests and lathe accessories.

All up I would say at least 1:5. I do at times use some of the above for other things, but mainly for turning and could have done with lesser equipment for those other purposes.

But, should the VL600 eventually get released and be irresistible, I expect my ratio would be back much closer to 1:1...