First lathe

[matmac]

I'm looking at a NU Tool CH37 3 Foot Wood Turning Lathe for a first lathe. Is this a good idea? found one relatively cheap. looks sturdy, old but sturdy. Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Matt

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Matt,
No one has replied so I'll do my best. This was my very first lathe mainly because I knew no better at the time.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you really are on a low budget and for a second hand machine I would say that it's certainly not worth more than £50 - although I've seen some stupid prices paid on Ebay. Machine Mart sell practically the same lathe under the Clarke name https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cwl12d-wood-lathe. I think this is overpriced.

The design is poor as the tailstock can be very difficult to align with the headstock and the plastic winding wheel makes life hard work. It is also a 1 morse taper machine with what I seem to remember was a 3/4" x 16TPI thread.

If you're starting out I'd recommend either looking for a smaller lathe - longer and with more motor wattage isn't necessarily better in lathes. Alternatively look for Axminster or British-made unfashionable lathes such as Tyme (Cub or Avon) or Poolewood - I've seen an Avon on ebay that's worth a load more than any Nutool.

If you like, I'd be happy to give an ebay listing a quick once-over if that's your chosen purchase method. PM me rather than broadcast it to the world and I won't be bidding against you.

HTH
Jon

 

[Bodrighy]

I use a Tyme Avon and a Poolewood as a full time turner. Both are strong, reliable lathes that will do pretty much anything you ask of them. If you want an all singing, all dancing, fully automatic electronic variable speed lathe to start with then start looking for things with four digits after the pound sign but to be honest, as a beginner, look out for Tyme (there is a cub as well tyhat is smaller), Poolewood, Record, in the 2nd hand places. Good, solid and reliable. record tend to be a bit limited and have the 1 morse taper and the Avon and Poolewood will need adaptors for the chucks but aside from that they will do pretty much anything you ask from pens to large sized pieces.

Pete

 

[chipmunk]

+1 for Pete's comments.

Records and Myfords (ML8) might be worth a look but they have a better reputation - not necessarily deserved IMHO, but it unfortunately means that they will command more money.

I think that, although Pete is right that chucks may be a bit tricky, the Sorby Patriot and the Versachuck come with almost any headstock thread.

HTH
Jon

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Having owned an ML8 for many years and regularly using a CL4 I would say the difference in quality is vast - the CL4 is positively agricultural, but is more versatile because of the swivelling head.

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

I too would recommend the ML8 as a good starter lathe. I managed to get a spindle thread adapter for my ML8 without much trouble which screwed straight into the m33x3.5 of the Versa-chuck.
I never did get on with the Record Power set-up. Very agricultural and rattly even being bolted to a very sturdy bench. Add to that the extreme lack of power in the DML36-SH compared to the Myford.........
I found out from a RP sales rep at a tool show that there is a slight bend in the Record bars which have to sit in a particular orientation to be efficient. This is not in any manual, at least not that I could find. Once set up as this bloke advised it was better in terms of rattling and for moving the banjo. Re-aligning the headstock/tailstock after turning off-board however was a complete pain in the hoop, and despite being told it wouldn't make any difference when turning between centres, it was horrible.
I now have an Axi AWVSL1000 which compared to the Record lathe is a dream machine. Similar models appear on evilbay all the time, some for as little as £100 or so. Those never appeared when I had spare cash in my pouch, naturally.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The bit about the alignment of the centres not making a difference always surprises me - if it made no difference, there'd be no point in turning on multiple centres.

 

[chipmunk]

Perhaps I should clarify my comments. I didn't mean that Record or Myford lathes were not a good choice for beginners at the right price, just that they will probably be more expensive than less well known and equally good lathes such as the less well known Tymes.

With a wood lathe the misalignment of centres is a relatively minor inconvenience and isn't the same problem as it is on a metalwork lathe where you'd be always creating tapers. It really becomes a real pain when trying to drill with a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock and when using a chuck in the headstock but a free-hand turner will compensate for it pretty much without thinking about it when turning between centres.

HTH
Jon

 

[woodfarmer]

Perhaps I should clarify my comments. I didn't mean that Record or Myford lathes were not a good choice for beginners at the right price, just that they will probably be more expensive than less well known and equally good lathes such as the less well known Tymes.

With a wood lathe the misalignment of centres is a relatively minor inconvenience and isn't the same problem as it is on a metalwork lathe where you'd be always creating tapers. It really becomes a real pain when trying to drill with a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock and when using a chuck in the headstock but a free-hand turner will compensate for it pretty much without thinking about it when turning between centres.

HTH
Jon

This is precisely the problem with not having an accurately locked position fore and aft. I can never drill a hole to exact size and even when I bring the tailstock up point to point with centres it is nigh on imposisble to get them lined up in both directions. Worse, if you move the headstock mid turning, you cannot put it back anywhere near correctly unles you dismount everything and fit centres. ( Axminster 1624)

This the first lathe I have used with a swivelling headstock and I am doubtful if the feature is woth the aggravation.

I have to say it is a real pleasure to use my Holbrook, everything works perfectly and it can still repeat to 2/10 of a thou after ninety years of abuse. I own nothingthat works better.

 

[matmac]

Thank you everyone. Stupidly i bought it before i saw any of the feedback. Il see what i can do i guess. Thank you for your time. Gota be better then no lathe i guess haha

 

[woodfarmer]

Thank you everyone. Stupidly i bought it before i saw any of the feedback. Il see what i can do i guess. Thank you for your time. Gota be better then no lathe i guess haha

My first "woodturning" Lathe was in the late sixties, It came as a job lot of Black and Decker drill accessories. I made a table lamp with it

 

[matmac]

haha the gauntlet has been laid down haha

 

[chipmunk]

This the first lathe I have used with a swivelling headstock and I am doubtful if the feature is woth the aggravation.

.....Shhhhh! :twisted: There may be Nova owners listening. They tend to be very sensitive about criticism of rotating headstocks :wink:

Seriously though on a good lathe (such as the Novas) a double-ended morse taper should fix the problem provided you can resist the temptation to disturb anything afterwards.

Jon

 

[chrisfarrow]

Hi Matmac, I've got the Clarke equivalent, I was fortunate to be given it by someone who had it in the back of their barn unused for many years. I've only just started turning and was initially very dubious about the lathe.....I had all kinds of plans to replace it very quickly. But having been using it now for about two weeks, whilst I am very sure it has many faults, I have discovered that it is far from useless. You can see some of the bits I've made on a couple of other threads in this forum.

After a couple of weeks and some extensive use I have completely changed my mind about what I thought I needed and am actually happy to carry on using this lathe as a learning tool for quite a while yet. It does the basics....it turns the wood and it has a good variety of speeds available. Yes it's a pain changing the speeds and the tool rest is a pipper to move and the tail stock could make the Pope swear but remember you are starting with probably the most basic lathe there is, the only way is up! I actually come to realise that sharpening equipment (I've got a Record 8" grinder) and good tools (I got the Sorby starter set) are probably at least as important. I also splashed out on dust extraction (Microclene MC1000), a safety visor and dust mask. I'm very happy that I spent the limited budget I had in the right places, although a pair of calipers would have been good.....ho hum.

I'm sure that with a little patience you will very soon be turning out some good pieces on your lathe and given a little time and experience will have a much better idea of exactly where to spend the bigger bucks on an upgrade. Good luck and happy turning!

 

[graduate_owner]

I think Chrisfarrow has hit exactly the right point. You won't do much (and won't enjoy the struggling) without good turning tools, a sharpening system, and of course the safety aspect of dust extraction is so important and so easily ignored. Since you now have the lathe my advice, for what it's worth, is to be careful about buying expensive lathe accessories because I'm sure you will want to upgrade to a better lathe sooner or later.

My first 'lathe' was a Black and Decker drill attachment too - absolutely AWFUL, and a brilliant way of putting someone off woodturning for llife. So glad I managed to get my ML8, and later on, my graduate.

K

 

[Robbo3]

+1 to Crisfarrow's post.
Best reply for a long time

 

[CHJ]

.......
This is precisely the problem with not having an accurately locked position fore and aft. I can never drill a hole to exact size and even when I bring the tailstock up point to point with centres it is nigh on imposisble to get them lined up in both directions. Worse, if you move the headstock mid turning, you cannot put it back anywhere near correctly unles you dismount everything and fit centres. ( Axminster 1624)

This the first lathe I have used with a swivelling headstock and I am doubtful if the feature is woth the aggravation.
..

I'm amazed the 1624 does not have an alignment detent you can return to, if it does not then can you not construct and attach a suitable one to the headstock/bed interface.

 

[woodfarmer]

.......
This is precisely the problem with not having an accurately locked position fore and aft. I can never drill a hole to exact size and even when I bring the tailstock up point to point with centres it is nigh on imposisble to get them lined up in both directions. Worse, if you move the headstock mid turning, you cannot put it back anywhere near correctly unles you dismount everything and fit centres. ( Axminster 1624)

This the first lathe I have used with a swivelling headstock and I am doubtful if the feature is woth the aggravation.
..

I'm amazed the 1624 does not have an alignment detent you can return to, if it does not then can you not construct and attach a suitable one to the headstock/bed interface.

There is a detent, but there is about half an inch play in it. It is not just limited the side to side movement, but vertical movement so both the height of the centre and horizontal position varies with the tension you put on the locking arm As you tighten the locking arm the centre moves towards the operator and down but can come to rest anywhere within the half inch depending where it was when you start to lock it at the detent position..