Thread: Lathe on Sale at ALDI

I go to a woodcarving/woodwork group that has a store room half full of these "lathes" all with different brands. It is normally along the lines that grandad or dad has passed away and we would like to donate it to your club so it can be of use. I think it is often that they have tried to sell it on gumtree and had no takers and the group I attend is closer than the council dump. If you try and do the kiss test on any of these lathes you will see where the custom of kissing a person on the forehead started. I have an old 4 speed Woodfast lathe the old green ones and it is 10 times the lathe that the aldi style lathe is and it does not try to kill you. You see them come up for very little money as no one wants a lathe without EVS control.
All the best.

I assembled it. It's pretty clunky. I have no idea of its performance. I don't even have any chisels.

How important it is to get the centers exactly aligned?
There isn't any adjustment for this as such. I loosened the 4 bolts holding the bearing and pulled and pushed it until I got it aligned when looking from the top but it is slightly out when looking from the side.
See photos.
Is this acceptable?

The door to change speeds is opened and closed awkwardly with a bolt. However if you don't put this bolt back in properly then the micro switch doesn't engage and so you can't turn on the motor.

I changed the belt to the lowest speed and turned it off and on a few times to make sure it actually runs.

I'm saving for some chisels and a face shield.

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The centre points look OK to me. You know they should be aligned, and the lathe will probably flex in use so that any effort to get them aligned will be somewhat undone.

I rounded the door bolt head, and drilled a cross hole in it for a pin, so it was like a race car , pull the pin and open the door, instead of undoing the bolt each time.

Originally Posted by arose62

I rounded the door bolt head, and drilled a cross hole in it for a pin, so it was like a race car , pull the pin and open the door, instead of undoing the bolt each time.

Thanks for the good idea.

It just dawned on me that maybe I couldn't get the centers perfect with the belt on. Perhaps it's possible while the belt is off.

As you say, probably everything else moves a bit under load so it wont stay perfect.
It sounds like it's good enough now to have a go anyway.

I don't know what size chisels I should buy. The 3 from Carbatec recommended to me on this thread are described as small chisels. I don't know if that's appropriate or not.
My wife wants me to turn a cake stand. That's basically a platter on a small pole with a foot.

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Came across this by accident and it reminded me of this thread

Originally Posted by Spyro

Came across this by accident and it reminded me of this thread

Yeah, waste of money buying a lathe when you already have a drill, vise and spanner in the shed. Should have just bought the chisels! Do you have a music making device in your shed? Perhaps one of our Russian members can send you something appropriate to play in the background?

Aaaaah, yep, no idea what you're talking about.

WOW!.......I cannot belive that a crappy $150.00 lathe would generate
so much interest , over 10, 000 views , and lots of comments too !

Yeah but it's MY crappy lathe.
My local ALDI has 4 left so you can still join the crappy lathe club with us.

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Hi Crappy Lathe Club Member,

Originally Posted by DaveVman

I don't know what size chisels I should buy. The 3 from Carbatec recommended to me on this thread are described as small chisels. I don't know if that's appropriate or not.

Those are mini chisels, aimed at pen-makers. Other folks offer "starters kits", for example Gasweld do a couple - one for $49, and one for $129. My approach was consistent with my lathe, buy something cheap to learn on, and then buy seriously when I had some knowledge. In particular, you not only need to learn to turn, but also to sharpen your tools, and sharpening consumes the tools, so I'd rather grind away at something cheap than at something expensive while I am learning.

Originally Posted by DaveVman

My wife wants me to turn a cake stand. That's basically a platter on a small pole with a foot.

That's a 2- or 3-part project - faceplate turning (the foot and the top platter), and spindle turning for the support pole/piece. I found spindle turning easier to learn, as the grain is consistently presented to the tool, and the diameter of the piece is (generally) smaller.

Starting with the post, the first tool you need is a roughing gouge, to take the wood from whatever shape, to round. A big, sturdy roughing gouge is pretty much a no-brainer, and generally, the bigger the better (but more $$). Then a spindle gouge to add whatever fancy curves you (or your wife) want.

A post above makes fun of spanners, but I've used them quite often as sizing tools, and if you are going to be fitting the post into holes in the foot and platter of your cake stand, then accurate, regular tenons are going to be needed, and there's more than one turner out there who's sharpened the leading edge of a spanner to make a sizing tool.

I'm not sure I'd try the platter part on your Crappy_Lathe_That_You_Should_Not_Have_Wasted_Your_Money_On; I don't even think you could physically fit a piece of the appropriate size (Note to self, next lathe needs swivel head), so maybe turn the post, and place a glass platter on top?

This post had me search back through these forums, and I started with my SuperCheapAndNasty Crappy Lathe in Jan 2003, and I still have, and use, my very first turning. When I started pen turning, I made my own tools, using concrete nails.

Very first turning on left, beat-all on right was also done on the same lathe as yours.
EarlyMallets.jpg

My set of small turning tools, made on my first Crappy Lathe
MiniChisels.jpg

Alignment

Side to side will be effected by a plate under your tail stock. Your bed rails likely have flex but if you change the plate under your tail stock (or add one under whatever it is that is there atm) to a longer one it will reduce play. The longer and snugger it is the less play.

To get up and down alignment you can shim the tail stock or feedstock as the case may be and according to lathe design. In your case the headstock may not be adjustable in height.

The shim idea was passed on to me by a well known turned and I used it on my Nova 3000

DaveTTC
The Turning Cowboy
Turning Wood Into Art

To the so described crappy lathe buyers. The cash you have saved by not buying a vicmarc or its equivalent you could buy as a noted turner advises, a half inch heavy bodied spindle gauge (irish grind) and a three quarter inch skew. (Say Henry Taylor or as good). You could also get a set of eight super heavy duty Chinese tools to practise sharpening on. One other item that will assist you, this is good advice that has helped me, is a taunton press dvd by another bald headed turner titled "turning toys". Regards

Originally Posted by DaveVman

Yeah but it's MY crappy lathe.
My local ALDI has 4 left so you can still join the crappy lathe club with us.

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Errr ! I might pass on the offer , but thanks for the invite ........

Here's a timely thread which you can cut and paste in a year's time:

Woodlathe decision- Carbatec vs Hafco

until then, enjoy your new lathe.