Thread: Neat looking lathe

What a little beauty

Symtec lathes were made in South Aus. They were superb quality machines, and expensive.

The designer and , I think , manufacturer had a brilliant copying set up that had to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately he died and many of his ideas went with him.

I looked at the lathe, tried to find more info, found two threads on this forum with allusions to boat anchors and more than what I wanted to know about AU sports.

Obviously a pretty machine. That it is not encrusted with Danish Oil says to me that it is better looked at and admired than used.

Is it mostly a copy lathe? Maybe an overpriced, high maintenance, hanger queen?

Could someone tell me why they are disliked?

I currently am the owner of a 1800 Symtec. I have been using it for the past 12 months and it works well - mine is certainly not as shiny and pretty as the one pictured.

Its swing is 400mm and I have turned up to this diameter. The lathe is fairly short height wise so i have had to chock up both the legs and then have used sand bags to provide further stability (I didn't want to dynabolt it down). I think this is due to many people with physical disabilities being able to sit down and use it with one hand. My lathe started its life in a sheltered workshop copying legs for tables and the sides of cots.

Although my lathe came with all of the copying attachments that appeared to work very well prior to myself purchasing it I have never used it as a copy machine. I scrounged an old woodfast Tool Rest and use it as a conventional lathe.

12 months down the track I am now addicted and am planning on upgrading to a new lathe with 600mm or more capacity swing. The Symtec in my opinion is a cheap introduction turning and continues to have a use in small scale production/copy turning.

I am aware that there has been much debate regarding Symtec lathes previously and this is just my still novice opinion.

Swino,

Thanks. 400mm is pretty decent swing. I guess folks look down upon the copy part of the lathe.

I have a Hegner 175 with 350mm swing. It came with a small copy attachment that can be used to make sets of bowls or plates. I have not used it.

I have piles of big timber, and am working on a 1000mm swing lathe made from a sawmill cut off saw arbor.

Hi Paul 39,

I'm not sure whether I used the right terminology. When I wrote that it had a 400mm swing I meant that its maximum turning capacity was 400mm with 200mm between bed and centre.

Is the price he's asking the going price for these, or is it on the high side?

The Symtec was never designed to be a copy lathe although it has a copy attachment it was designed primarily to be used by any one not just those skilled in the art of woodturning, unfortunately it received bad reviews from those who lacked in the ability of forewood thinking, this and it's high cost killed it. While it is not my cup fo tea, it did and in my opinion still does have place in the world of wood turning. One well known Australian maker of wood lathes uses the exact same system for their copy attachment, I seen work come off one of these lathes put traditional turners (myself included) to shame. The asking price on these is allways high they are now considered to be collector's items

Originally Posted by Swino

Hi Paul 39,

I'm not sure whether I used the right terminology. When I wrote that it had a 400mm swing I meant that its maximum turning capacity was 400mm with 200mm between bed and centre.

That is the correct terminology: 400mm swing (how big an object it will turn) or 200mm centre height.

Here is a UK Woodturning Glossary:

Glossary of Woodturning Terms

The price is perhaps a tad high. I've got a Symtec 1500 variable speed with all the goodies, that I haven't parted with yet. Still looking to sell it. I'll take $1000 if anyone is serious about wanting one.

Originally Posted by TimberNut

The price is perhaps a tad high. I've got a Symtec 1500 variable speed with all the goodies, that I haven't parted with yet. Still looking to sell it. I'll take $1000 if anyone is serious about wanting one.

Hi TimberNut
If you could email or PM me,we may be able to do a deal.
cheers
gidgee 1