£300 to spend at Axi....Help!

[Graham Orm]

I'm looking at £300 vouchers from the family to spend at Axminster for Christmas. I fancy a lathe, but will have to add to the cost to get anything other than the very basic one.

1. Any suggestions on what to buy would be welcome.

2. Does anyone have any experience with the Axminster lathes?

 

[graduate_owner]

I had the same issue about 18 months ago, and I waited to see if any special offers came up. I bought a floor standing pillar drill for £199, reduced from £275. It is from the hobby range, so expected usage of 100 hours per year, in other words 2 hours a week, with few if any periods of heavy or continuous use. I think that is fine for a drill, but I suspect a lathe could easily be used for 3 to 4 hours continuously so I'm not sure I would opt for one. I'm sure there will be plenty of comments from hobby rated lathe users, but I'm just stating what Axminster themselves say.

Since the lathe is only part of the kit needed ( extras include turning tools, sharpening gear, chuck?) it might be a sensible option to buy quality, durable extras from Axminster and get a used, quality brand lathe which you are less likely to outgrow. You will find you can soon spend your vouchers on turning tools alone, without the other essentials or nice-to- haves. An evolution chuck plus jaw sets has already cost me upwards of £300. I bought a used Viceroy Educator lathe for £300, and that is a rock steady bit of kit built to withstand secondary school use and abuse. So as I said, the lathe is just part of the expenditure.

Just my 2p worth

K

 

[Cordy]

Yes, we have this 1416vs at our turning club

It's excellent

 

[Graham Orm]

I had the same issue about 18 months ago, and I waited to see if any special offers came up. I bought a floor standing pillar drill for £199, reduced from £275. It is from the hobby range, so expected usage of 100 hours per year, in other words 2 hours a week, with few if any periods of heavy or continuous use. I think that is fine for a drill, but I suspect a lathe could easily be used for 3 to 4 hours continuously so I'm not sure I would opt for one. I'm sure there will be plenty of comments from hobby rated lathe users, but I'm just stating what Axminster themselves say.

Since the lathe is only part of the kit needed ( extras include turning tools, sharpening gear, chuck?) it might be a sensible option to buy quality, durable extras from Axminster and get a used, quality brand lathe which you are less likely to outgrow. You will find you can soon spend your vouchers on turning tools alone, without the other essentials or nice-to- haves. An evolution chuck plus jaw sets has already cost me upwards of £300. I bought a used Viceroy Educator lathe for £300, and that is a rock steady bit of kit built to withstand secondary school use and abuse. So as I said, the lathe is just part of the expenditure.

Just my 2p worth

K

Thanks for that input. I have a set of Robert Sorby turning chisels that were a present years ago when I had an old entry level lathe that gave up the ghost. They do a starter set with lathe and
a 100mm chuck for around £350 I think.

 

[Graham Orm]

Yes, we have this 1416vs at our turning club

It's excellent

That's a nice one, but it's £900.It's the bottom end stuff I will be looking at.