Replies

1. 
   10fingers | Nov 18, 2003 09:31am | #1

   Hello,

   A lot of people may disagree, but for the most bang for your money I recommend a lathe from Harbor Freight and a generic Nova-style chuck from Penn State Industries.  Then look on Ebay for lathe chisels.   I have an older style 12" 1/2hp lathe that looks like the 12" lathe that Sears had.   Pens, pencils, and small bowls were the items I started with.   I have a light-beer budget, but dream about the big bowl lathes.   Maybe if I win the lottery...

   Chuck

2. 
   fdampier5 | Nov 18, 2003 09:32pm | #2

   that is exactly the lathe that I own.. good one too from my experiance (and I hate Sears)..

     Little trick is to open an account with them and they will give you 10% off your first purchase & then when the bill comes pay it off and cancel the account..

     sometimes they'll give you an additional 10 to15% off on the floor model. 

       Don't buy the accessories from Sears.. you'll want decent cutting tools and Sears doesn't sell any.. buy either from an on-line source or from a woodworkers store..   consider how you intend to sharpen the tools..  the scary sharp techinques just doesn't work for things like gouges etc.. you will need to figure that out before you venture too much into turning.. (a dull tool is an accident waiting to happen and an excersise in frustration..  Sear's  duplicator isn't worth two cents (from my experiance)  so when and if you want one buy a Vega..  the rest of the stuff (and there is a ton of it) you can find out when you are ready..

3. 
   patternmaker | Nov 19, 2003 12:30am | #3

   A real lathe might overload Santa`s transporting system.

   I believe that I wood ask Sandy Claus to bring me a gift certificate. Then go out and buy the one you want.

   And when yew git it, Work safely

   ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬PAT¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

4. 
   watkinsjd | Nov 19, 2003 01:25am | #4

   The HF 34706 is a good deal at $269.  It is almost identical to units sold by Delta and Jet for around $500.  I have one and it works just fine for the limited amount I use it.  HF also has a high speed steel turning tool set for about 30 bucks that is hard to beat for a beginning set.

   A good way to get into turning cheaply.  They should meet your needs for a good while and if you decide to move up you should be able to unload them without too much pain.

   JW

5. 
   fdampier5 | Nov 19, 2003 03:53am | #5

   Is the grinder the slow speed type or the typical high speed grinder? 

    I tried to use my regular  grinder.... once.. Never again. I bet by the time I got back to the temper  in the tool I'd lost well over an inch of it and spent over an hour correcting my mistake.

     I bought a half dozen shapening systems  jigs and such and most of them were a royal pain in the posterior to use.  One of the reasons i went to a duplicator was so that I could have a half dozen cutters ready and as soon as one got dull I'd switch to a sharp one.. much faster than constant resharpening of the tools.  That way I could spend much more time making what I wanted and less time sharpening

1. 
   BG | Nov 19, 2003 03:35pm | #7

   Frenchy,

   The current grinder I'm using is the high speed type...Delta..something like 3400 rpm's..I have been tempted to put a white stone on it..but have not done so.  To be honest, I get all kinds of mixed messages on the sharpening thing..I do not know if I'm doing it correctly or not.  I do take an extremely light cut and strop much more frequently than sharpen.  It cuts...usually i do legs...and spindles...and a few mallets.

   I need to take a course and get some basics in place.

1. 
   fdampier5 | Nov 19, 2003 05:17pm | #9

   My first grinder was a high speed like your's (I still have it)  my second was a lower speed like 1800 rpm's  that went back.   My third was a POS Delta sharpening station  (I think they called it) with a bent arbor, (they actually said that once I trued up the stone it wouldn't matter because then the stone would be round).  I wound up with a Tormex system and now I have twice as much in the sharpening stuff as I do in my lathe..

2. 
   PlaneWood | Nov 20, 2003 09:00am | #15

   BG - I got an 8"x 1" thick stone and I use it on my Delta Midi lathe with a #2 taper arbor.  At 500 rpm (my slowest speed) it doesn't burn my chisels or plane blades.  The end of the arbor has a center hole thats used with the tail stock.  That keeps the taper from coming out of the head stock.  I rarely use it though to sharpen my lathe chisels as when they are in need of sharpening, the lathe is in use!  I use my belt sander for that most of the time.

   I only do small stuff on my lathe and the Midi lathe has paid for itself hundreds of times over.  It's cheap and it works, but ain't the best by a long shot.  It definitely is a good learning machine.  If I get serious about lathe turning I will advance to a better one.  (and give this one to my son who loves to turn!)

   Things I would want.  Variable speed, rotating head, reversing rotation, a good set of chucks, at least 1.5 hp, 8" swing over bed, and a decent dust/chip hood for the DC.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

6. 
   koikid | Nov 19, 2003 04:26am | #6

   Good evening, First off for a lathe it kind of depends what you want to do with it? Turn table legs, make pens turn bowls? Are you gonna do this quite often or a lot? Some times you may think you are gonna do a couple things and get hooked and can't stop.   Rigidity is a big issue, the right the turnings the bigger or more massive lathe you will want.

   There are a lot of good used lathes out there on the market, I see them on e-bay all the time. If you are in the right location for one that comes up and you can buy it right you got it.  Depending on where you live there may well be a (AAW Chapter in your town or a nearby one)  They welcome newcomers and will be glad to help you and may well be able to find a good used lathe from one of them.  Some will even take you under their wing and help you learn to turn?? 

   http://www.woodturner.org/  Go to this site and go down on the L/hand side to AAW Local Chapters,   then finding a local chapter and pick your State and see what you can find.  They will give contact names and numbers and meeting dates and so on.  Call them up and they should be more than happy to help you!

   Also as mentioned on other post to you go to one of the online stores that deal with turning to buy your tools and chucks, the tools that you will need depends on what you are gonna be turning.   I like Craft Supplies for my "stuff"  http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/

   Hope this helps         Marsh

7. 
   harold12 | Nov 19, 2003 05:12pm | #8

   I have the same sears lath, and haven't gotten around to building a stand for it yet.  Do you have ploans for the stand you made, and if so could you share them with us.  Also any changes you would make to it or suggestions would help.  Did you use any weights at all to keep the lathe from moving to much when spinning a heavy out of round piece of wood?

1. 
   fdampier5 | Nov 19, 2003 05:22pm | #10

   I clamp mine to my workbench.. that's so heavy that nothing will move it..   that way when I'm not doing lathe work it's out of my way.  It' makes the lathe a little too high for me but  as large as my shop is I don't have an inch to spare, so storage of stuff gets high priority. 

2. 
   BG | Nov 19, 2003 07:23pm | #11

   Haaron,

   I had no plans for the lathe table.  I just drew them up based on the size of the lathe, its swing, and my space constraints.  My space would not allow for an additional 2' of bench top....would have been nice to have the grinder facing the front.

   The legs , feet and cross pieces are Doug Fir and the top is 5/4 poplar. I morticed and tenon all the joints and added bolts to draw up tightly.  The case is pine...laminated pieces...and the draw fronts are 5/4 pine...about 8" deep draws, 1/2 thick sides.  The two doug fir pieces that support the cabinet on top are lap jointed into the rear stretcher.  The cabinet on top is raised panel box doors of oak...the whole thing is solid oak.

   I painted it green and the orange is from shellac.  It is very solid and heavy even with the draws empty.  I would imagine with the draws full it weighs 500 lbs....because I can only move one end at a time..and that is barely..

   good luck 

   Edited 11/19/2003 11:41:21 AM ET by BG

8. 
   CharlieD | Nov 19, 2003 07:24pm | #12

   Looks like you're getting a lot of positive comments about the Harbor Freight lathe, the 34-706. I bought one a month or so ago on the late TOOLDOC's advice, and I've been thrilled with it. It was on sale for $179, might still be. Added a $20 1 year warranty, still out the door for uncxer $200. The tool rest was initially whacked--it wasn't parallel to the line between centers, made it hard to achieve a true cylinder. They immediately replaced the tool rest extension by mailing a new one, and when that didn't work--because the issue was that the hole in the tool rest base was slightly too large, not the shaft of the extension too small--I called the store and they opened a box and gave me the tool rest out of a new lathe. Perfectly parallel.

   I was impressed.

   I passed on the HSS tools that they sell, actually 39.95--wish now, having read the above, that I hadn't chickened out. I bought a Buck Bros set from HD for $30. 4 tools. They work OK, but I need at least 3 more, and one of those tools is apparently useless--at least I haven't figured out a purpose for it yet.

   Good luck,

   Charlie

   I tell you, we are here to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different. --K Vonnegut
9. 
   Jack_Door | Nov 19, 2003 07:34pm | #13

   I started working with a lathe for the first time this week - It's been an experience!  I started out with a rather large piece of Yew and decided to try and turn an elegant vase.  I think I bit off more than I could chew - the yew ended up biting back and shattered whilst I was hollowing the middle (too many knots!), shame - it took so long to do the outer shape too! MY advice is to take it slowly,start small, so its back to the drawing board for me - I think an egg cup this time :)

10. 
    TomFerreira | Nov 20, 2003 06:08am | #14

    I've been hinting to santa about a lathe too. I want the Jet 1642-2. I've been a very good boy, but santa is pretty squeaky this year.

    TDF

11. 
    az23 | Nov 20, 2003 03:52pm | #16

    Hi,  I too am hoping Santa is generous this year.  I see there is quite a bit of feedback on the Sears Lathe, but no one is really saying anything about other brands.  I hope they do, I don't much care for Sears.  Since they sold me equipment that they wouldn't stand behind after it came out of the box broke. 

1. 
   fdampier5 | Nov 20, 2003 10:11pm | #17

   That was my experiance too.. (that's why I hate Sears)     sometimes ya just gotta take a risk and hope you'll be lucky.. so far I am and I've already used mine a ton! 

    But in general I avoid Sears as much as possible 

     It pleases me tremendously that they've fallen to fifth place as the nations general store  Wallmart is #1 and evan Penny's is ahead of Sears..