Thread: Planing to purchase lathe

On top of the lathe you going to need a Bench grinder for sharpening tools
A good Chuck, A Roughing gouge, Spindle gouge, bowl gouge, skew chisel,
and that's just the start,

Cheers Tony.

Thanks Tony
Bench grinder... check..
the rest.. to be put on purchase list..

Hi Prle77,
Not sure where you are, but go find a Wood Club & have a go with their Lathes, Tools & Chucks.
Personally I wood shoot for a bit better Lathe, as with that one, it has a two piece Tool Rest.
You also have Wood Working Warehouse, & they have Jet Stuff.
They are not going to be at the Working with Wood Show this Year, at Melb. Showgrounds, a real must in your Case.
I wood also lean towards, Unhandled P&N Tools, ( Australian.)
There is also Carrolls down this way at Drysdale.
I have nothing to do with any of the above.

Prle77,

Have a look here:

Buying a lathe and starting out in woodturning.

If possible join a men's shed, or get some instruction and time in front of a lathe before buying anything. Using a few different lathes and trying bowl turning, spindle turning, etc. will give you some direction and cost less in the long run.

If you decide you are crazy for making bowls (my addiction) you can buy a short bed lathe with a faceplate, a bowl gouge, a domed scraper, sand paper, and be in business.

Later can come the chuck, and with the grinder you can make a parting tool from an old stout bread knife, and tools for making recesses or spigots to mount timber on the chuck.

If you go in the direction of spindles, you need different equipment, and if pens, different things yet.

Prle 77,
My advice is simple - before you go out there buying gear, you should (must) be taught how to use a lathe and tools. It is this prior learning and discussions with your teacher/others that you will get to the point of what to buy. To go out and spend before learning properly means that you are buying blind and you will regret what you buy down the road a little. So IMHO learn and then buy. It will definitely save you $s. Regards, Drillit.

Hi guys
appreciate feedback
As much as I would love to go somewhere and learn, I'm afraid that my time availability would not allow me to do it... Ie mon - Fri long working hours
weekend (helping SWMBO with her business really limit my free time.. )
Hopefully that will give me enough brownie points to be allowed future tool / equipment purchases
The only option left for me is to rely on your expertise, google and youtube to get points , ideas and so on...
I know its far from ideal but.. i don't think anyone would be available from 18:00 onwards on weekends...

Paul39 thanks for the link.. some useful info there

Prle77.
I have just got rid of my carbatec lathe like that. Not a bad lathe but would really not think about it again. Try and purchase a lathe you can expand into, that is the more you learn the better lathe you will need, so buy the best you can afford first off, even if you go a bit over budget.

Heya Cookie48
I was looking at better lathes while I was there but after this one price skyrockets to few thousands plus... thus seriously blowing the budget
There were few nicer ones there but at a very hefty price tag
My thoughts are.. for the first lathe it might be better idea to buy a cheaper one and learn on it and if I do make something catastrophic and destroy it... it may not hurt as much
I would seriously hate something happening to $3000 - $4000 equipment...
destroying the sub $1000 seems so much easier... Not that I want to destroy anything but knowing my luck it might happen as well..

Originally Posted by Prle77

.......
I would seriously hate something happening to $3000 - $4000 equipment...
destroying the sub $1000 seems so much easier...

I understand your logic to get something cheaper and give it a try before you are really committed to wood turning. I also agree with what you are saying. I might offer this piece of advise and see if you can join a wood turning club.

This should give you some idea on tools and lathes. Some advise on what and how to turn to prevent any mishaps. Well at lease minimize them.

Originally Posted by Prle77

and if I do make something catastrophic and destroy it... it may not hurt as much

Be cautious over extending a lathes capacity, they're only iron & aluminium & can be replaced - flesh & blood can't be when it really gets nasty.

Prle77,

If you had just a couple of hours in front of a lathe, any lathe, that would give you enough information to know if you wanted to do more, or if you could take it or leave it, or "I don't like this at all".

I have heard of a person who bought a nice, new, complete turning outfit, had a chunk of timber come out and hit him in the chest, and was so frightened by the experience that he sold everything and a considerable loss.

One of the members near you might give you the opportunity for a fee, or a case of his or her favorite beverage.

If you must go it alone with the help of some books and videos, buy a decent cast iron used lathe and only the tools that you need to do the thing you are most interested in doing. If the lathe does not come with a chuck, use a faceplate for a few bowls.

Spindle turnings need only a drive and tail center. Live tail center is better than a dead one but with a bit of lubrication the dead center will do.

Have a look at this:

wood lathe in Melbourne Region, VIC | Free Local Classifieds Gumtree Australia

The Chinese sheet metal headstock and square tube bed lathes are not worth much but they will hold a piece of timber and rotate it. Chinese cast iron are a lot better, but looking at the generic lathes here in the US, the quality control is left up to the purchaser. Harbor Freight is quite willing to refund or exchange, but you have the burden of taking the box of bits home, assembling it and returning if it is not functional.

The top 3 lathes in the site below are decent, the 14 x 40 & 14 x 41 lower down I would not buy. I bought one for $10 in working condition, and another was given to me. They are worth about that.

Wood Lathe - Harbor Freight Tools

The 8 piece High Speed Steel chisel set is decent, handles are small.

I am sure the equivalent of Harbor Freight is sold in AU, painted a different color and called something else.

Buying used, you could get a decent outfit together for $500 and if you lost interest could sell it for the same.

As long as the headstock spindle bearings are good and the lathe runs smoothly and quietly, and the head and tail stock centers meet within a mm or so, you have a functional lathe. If there is rust, as long as the tail stock and tool rest moves, the rest can be taken care of by some steel wool and light oil. The worse a machine looks the cheaper it will be.

I have a collection of fairly ugly, nice working machines that I bought for 15 to 25 % of new. Several are 50 or 60 years old and made when the manufacturers were not afraid to put some iron in the mold.

I have to take them all to pieces to get them home. When I put them together I clean and oil, rub off the rust, and put a new belt on.

Hi guys
appreciate suggestions...

Think I will go the way of finding a woodturning club and so (and somehow try to free s ome time so I can go there) and try few turns or so
Also that will give me oportunity to get as many instructions and suggestions from experienced woodturners...

Please correct me if I'm wrong..
The main reason why I was going for this particular carbatec lathe was
a) long base allowing me to do table legs turning
b) variable speed
c) head can turn around allowing bigger bowls to be turned
d) it looked quite sturdy
e) price tag.. Definitely price tag..

Although it doesn't come with chuck, I was planning my budget to allow for the chuck purchase, live tail center and two to three turning tools

I do have access to some nice offcuts of american oak (approx 45 - 50 mm thick variable widths and lenghts) which I was planing to use to make shallow bowls, plates at the begining and later on the idea was to laminate those offcuts and start making some bigger items..
Additionally I am very interested in metal spining (seen few youtube videos) which gave me lots of ideas(combining metal spining idea - aluminium in particular with posibility of doing home aluminium anodising brought me lots of excitement... ) the options ... endless...
Since I have bit of electronic background... combining turning skills with anodising skills with electrical knowledge would result in very fancy looking table lamps with LED lighting,...
The timber turning would keep SWMBO happy as she could use turned bowls as hamper plates... so got it all covered...
And I'm more than willing to learn...
Trying to setup small home workshop so I don't have to run around to get things done..
that way I can work after my standard work hours and enjoy my new toys and on top of that make something useful .. tripple whammy