Thread: Which Mini Wood Lathe ?

as for the lathe...i dont no because i haven't used either one.
bed extension, i rekon u should get it if you have enough money or leave it untill you are gonna need it.
chisels. the 6 piece set of hss from carbatec is a good set for beginners and good for learning to sharpen. $99
also you might want to get a scroll chuck etc ( dont no much about chucks but a good place to start is with a scroll).$110 cheapy- $350 expensive
pen mandrel....most turners will want to make a pen, then after that you'll want to make more.$20

Warning, turning is addictive

hope this helps

ps. timbercon, carrols, carbatec, gpw....all sell this stuff.

Cleve,

I'm not qualified to answer all your questions because I tried wood-turning for a short period and decided it wasn't for me.

However I bought the Jet JML1014 and think it is worth the extra over the Sherwood. You would get back more than the difference on resale. Remember also that the asking price is not necessarily your buying price. I paid $400 for mine from MWE at Padstow.

There is no need to buy the extension bed immediately. The lathe has enough capacity to keep you busy for a while in the learning phase. If you decide later to make table legs and such, you can buy the extension then.

As for extras, I bought the Nova midi chuck. In retrospect, if I were going through the process again I would make do with the faceplate and centres until I had enough experience to make an informed decision on buying the chuck. Not that there was anything wrong with the Nova midi but I probably should have bought one with a greater capacity.

From your description, it sounds as if you will be doing mostly between centres work for starters anyway.
A pen mandrel would certainly be a useful and inexpensive addition.

The good thing about buying quality is that you lose very little on resale. So if you decide not to continue or want to move on to a bigger and better lathe, your learning experience will have been quite inexpensive.

regards
Coldamus

I don't own a wood lathe, but have seen the little Jet close up, and it looked quite good. I do have a couple of Jet/powermatic machines, and they are well finished machines. The motors on these machines are good quality as well, which is a real issue for some of the cheaper clone machines around. MWE at padstow is the go in Sydney, however there is a jet dealer in qld that seems to have slightly keener pricing.

Nova style chucks can be had in Chiwanese form from ebay at reasonable prices.

Anyway.. as I said, I don't own one, so take my words on this with a grain of wood dust.

I am waiting for Skew's reply on this as he seems to have first hand knowledge of many lathes.

I think that he is a big fan of the Leda...

Cam

Yeah, I like the Leda minis. Good li'l toys.

I disagree with Coldamus about the JET being better than the Sherwood... the two models mentioned are really both the same basic generic model apart, perhaps, from the motor. Both are usually good. (They're like the MC-900's... same model, different colours and badges, occasionally cheaper motors.)

Apart from the motor, IMHO the only real difference between them will be in the items like price, dealer support, and what extras the dealer'll throw in to make a sale.

Now if we were comparing the elec. variable speed models, it'd be a different matter... I'd recommend the JET.

And I doubt that I'd go for anything much larger than the Nova Precision Midi chuc though. Maybe a G3... but I'm undecided about that. Definitely not a Supernova 2 though, too heavy for the lathe and will end up chewing the bearings.

Apart from the above quibbles, Coldamus is pretty much spot on. Stirlo covered the chisels... the only other thing I can think of is: keeping them sharp! If you have a bench-grinder, buy an Aluminium Oxide (white) wheel to go on it. If you don't have one, I'd suggest you buy a small 6" job (and white wheel) unless you'd also like to sharpen plane blades and other types of chisels, in which case an 8" would be better. (And more $$$. )

Told ya he'd be useful!

Mind you, I still reckon belt sander's are better for sharpening tools. (So you can ignore him on that if you have a stationary belt sander).

Originally Posted by CLEVE

Hi All
I'm new to this caper and am tossing up between a Sherwood MC-1018 & a Jet JML1014. Intend playing around with small stuff like fishing floats and other bits and bobs. Should I get the Bed extension now? How much should I spend on my initial chisels? What else do I need to get underway? Any other pitfalls I should be aware of?
Regards Cleve

I just bought the leda 1018. My father in law just bought the jet JML 1014. We both got out the same week. I am sorry beside his being DC motor the leda and jet to me look nearly identical. They sound the same. I love my leda I can't fault her. She is beautiful. To my husband and I we do not know alot about lathes so take what I say with a grain a salt and this is definitely not a knock on JET but we honestly think he got ripped off. The one thing that we both agree they are so quiet and nice to use after upgrading from a GMC. So that my 2 cents. Take it or leave it. I got mine from Jim Carrol and his service I can't fault him. I would highly recommend his service to anyone. bye
Toni

They look identical. Whats the price of each. Because they look like they're out of the same factory you'll need to find out which has the better bearings and electronics, if at all. Does Jet have a website in Aus that has prices listed - can't seem to find one

Yes there is. Gary Pye has already been mentioned. (gpw.com.au).

I have a Jet mini from him and love it.

Try a search. The Jet has been covered before.



Ken

Originally Posted by Toggy

Yes there is. Gary Pye has already been mentioned. (gpw.com.au).

I have a Jet mini from him and love it.

Try a search. The Jet has been covered before.



Ken

You might try and update your links gpw... goes to a printers site

Just one little typo! www.gpw.au.com That's right >au.com<

but it redirects to here anyway http://gpwoodturning.yahoostore.com.au/

Cheers,

p

The jet is a nice machine and is price competitive If you buy from the right place.
Aparantly the sherwood is a coppy and not from the same factory ( that said ... "my brother he make just same, you buy now" ) the chineese are getting better as coppyists.

The sherwood was going at $299 with the extension bed at the t&ww show and the jet was going for $400 with a nova midi chuck from gary pye

there were some other deals going round.
the extension bed for the jett is about $80-90.
the extension bed for the sherwwd is much cheaper.
The extension bed is worth having at the price as the basic lathe does get a bit short at times.

one of those cheap full size chisel sets will do till you learn to sharpen then you will know enough to sensably purchase better chisels.

BTW garry pye is a au.com address

that is www.gpw.au.com
Garry freights anywhere
I believe gary will be doing the sothern shows this year, not that that makes much dif to the deal you will get from him any way.
check out tim carroll too.
cheers
I'm not on gary's pay roll he's just a nice bloke worth supporting.

t

Thanks to all for the info. Am now awaiting quotes.
Regards Cleve