Originally Posted by
Grahame Collins
Hi Alaks,
Sorry, but I doubt that Tafe will enrol you in the course until you are 16. To pick up the knowledge you need Hercus and South bend have some excellent primer books(second hand) which are relatively cheap.
There are other considerations however. For instance , a lathe can be a pretty hefty piece of machinery and can present problems if your family wants to move house.Your desired AL 250 would run about 200kgs and would likely be the heaviest item in your household to move.
Also if your family doesn't not own the house is the landlord happy about mounting the lathe,as some need anchoring to the concrete floor. I too would opt for a good second hand one ,as they do come up in the big centers one regular basis.Trading post and Gumtree are good places to start.Indeed a second hand lathe will have many extras and if an Asian lathe will have many of the inherent problems already sorted.I'm thinking of of deceased estate type machines here in particular model railway hobbyists.
Above all, take your time, think about what turning you may want to do, as this will indicate what bore size you should opt for.
If you reply back with some of the above information the guys here will certainly be able to advise you in most aspects of the tooling you will require for the types of turning you may wish to pursue,as well as much more.
Grahame