Wood Lathe

[boomer12831]

I am looking for some advice on a wood lathe. I want to learn how to do bowl turning. I don't need anything to big to do spindles or or long pieces. Something made from Jet would probably work as I have had good luck with their stuff. Any advice from you wood turners out there? Thanks,Ed

 

[Shop Dad]

Can you tell us a bit more about what you want to turn? What size bowls, function etc? It sounds like you are more interested in swing than length, but there are some pretty cool spindle turnings you can make. Look at the Nova 16" lathe. Under $1K on sale. Keep in mind too that the lathe expense is only the beginning. Add in tools, chucks, sharpening system, other doodads and supplies and you have spent more than that quickly. Turning is lots of fun and you can get great results quickly. Welcome to the vortex.

Doug

 

[gungatim]

I am not up on current wood lathe offerings, but once upon a time, the old Delta with the swing head was great for bowl turning as you could turn the head 90 degrees and had built in speed control. probably way outdated by todays standards, but you can still find them used for <$200...I've had mine (46-701) forever and it still manages to turn out whatever I ask of it from pens to poster bed column sections, bowls and tool handles galore..

 

[rsanter]

Just buy an older used one off CL. For doing basic small stuff and like you mention you can likly get one with some of the tools for anywhere from $50-$200

Once you get some experience and decide what you like doing you will be able to better decide what you really need

Bob

 

[woody 73]

When buying a used/new lathe buy the heaviest model that you can afford, do not worry about motor hp rather you want a heavy machine the heavier the better. When you are turning heavy wet green wood/ or dry bulky wood when they start to turn the machine starts to rumble like a clothes dryer; of course the more weight you have the more control you will get.

That is why sometimes you will see wood lathes with bags of sand at there base or on there bottom trays for more stability until the wood gets a perfect turning shape. Of course if you are turning small items on a small lathe you will get very little shaking (example pen blanks).

If you are worried about large bowl blanks the start out with smaller bowl blanks until you get a feeling about your lathe, because the very first time you hear that chatter it can be an odd feeling until you get used to it.

 

[boomer12831]

Thank you to all of your responses. I am a self taught woodworker and have used a lathe many years ago. I want to learn how to glue different pieces of wood together and turn them into bowls, probably not more than 12''. There is a guy down the road from me that does wood turning and I will go down and introduce myself and see if he would be willing to give me some lessons this winter. I have been selling a few garage items that I do not use and saving some money up for a lathe. Thanks again to you guys for the advice, Ed

 

[woody 73]

Ed for when you get your lathe some nice bowl blank to look at:

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/158759/exotic-bowl-blank-combo-pack-2-x-4-x-4-4piece.aspx

 

[altersaddle]

Definitely go down and see if you can get some lessons. Your neighbor may also have an old lathe, or know of one, that you could buy.

I have an old Rockwell / Beaver cast iron lathe, they show up used for $200 or less sometimes (usually higher). It needs a bit more space (48" long) but it can accept a reverse-thread faceplate for turning larger works.

http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=4190

 

[rsanter]

If what you want to mostly do is bowls or vessels. Look on the Internet for a bowl or vessel lathe. Most people make their own, it's not that hard.
Generally a bowl lathe has a larger turning OD and a short or no bed or tail stock.
They often also have more speed adjustment available so you can slow them down as the bowls get larger

Bob

You may also need special tooling that can get inside of a vessel, look and see how people have made their own using carbide inserts from metal lathes

 

[Nowater]

Nova electronic variable speed with their bowl chuck (which is extra.)
A 5/8" bowl gouge and a a parting tool.
A slow speed grinder with an upgraded wheel and a wolverine grinding jig.
The easy tools finisher is easy to learn to get started.
A CBN wheel if you are feeling spendy!

That is about minimum.