Where can I find a good cheap wood lathe?

Answer 1

How serious are you about wood turning? Do you have any experience? I suspect from your question that you are wanting to try wood turning but have little if any hands on experience.

If so, I would suggest you get in contact with the nearest wood turning or wood working club in your area. That is one of the best ways to get good info and training in the subject. That is also one of the best ways to find a lathe that will suit your purposes.

There is a lot to getting a good lathe from how stiff or solid the bed is to the type of tail stock and the dimensions (distance between centers and throw).

If you haven't tried it, wood turning can be a lot of fun but it is really a lot harder for most folks than it appears on the various TV shows. You might want to try your hand at it on someone else's lathe before you invest in your own lathe and gouges.

Answer 2

Don't buy a wood lathe, look for an old metal lathe, I tell you why. I have been in the machine shop all my life, have a shop full of machines right now. Wood lathes are very limited, But a metal lathe, you can do a thousand things the wood lathe can't. One is, it will turn a rough blank, round real fast, not by hand either, by a hand wheel and cutter, no chisels flying into your teeth. It even has a chuck, you can bolt bowls to flange and chuck them up and cut away, use your cutter or a scraper on a tool rest, get a piece of aluminum to go in the post and use it for the rest. Works great. If you have ever seen a pattern maker's lathe, you will see what I am talking about. they are unbelievable machines. Don't buy the cheap chisel set you see in the books, they are garbage, make your own out of old files, go to a laminate shop and ask them for a handful of files, they probably have 30 of them in the drawer. grind the points razor sharp with a sanding disc on a big belt/disc sander, They work ten times better. Gouges are for green wood, which you will tire of fast, because it never dries right, scrapers are for dry wood. Check it out.

Answer 3

I wouldnt go to Harbor Freight.

I have one and its junk!!

What I would get is a "mini lathe" from Jet, they are reasonable and small, and you can do so much with them. And if you find you want to turn bigger things, when you get better, then you can upgrade.

I would also join some group like

http://sawmillrun.org

As they have a lot of turners on there, and can give great advice. Also, join the Wood Turners Association so you can find a club in your area and get some practise time in with some actual wood turners! (They meet at a different shop every time).

If you buy a cheap lathe, like I did, then you will find its junk and will not work on it as much. (They harbor freight one will NOT go as slow as you need it, as it doesnt go under 1100 rpms, and the mini Jet goes down to 500).

I wish you well..

Jesse

Answer 4

Harbor Freight.

mike

Answer 5

i have two lathes,one a 110 volt and one a 220volt. i just need books on turning.

Answer 6

Yeah, i was going to suggest HF or Northern. look on Ebay too, because there are some people who sell (or resell) the brands that those two retailers carry. There's another similar company, something like wild cat or tiger or something, but i don't recall the co name exactly.