New Lathe for beginner

[richardmckenna]

Hi all,

I'm new to wood turning and bought a Nutool NWL-37 with an RP4000 chuck and a few set of jaws very cheap. However it's not very good and difficult to get the centers to line up due to some play in the alignment of the tail stock. Anyway I've just received part of my yearly bonus so have some spare cash that is burning a hole in my pocket.

I don't want to spend a fortune and would like to do mainly bowl turning, with a bit of small box and pen work thrown in for good measure.

I've narrowed it down to these two but can't decide which to go for.

Record Power DML305-M33 - £299
Looks like a nice solid bit of kit with M33x3.5mm spindle thread, 1/2hp motor, but does not have variable speed.

Charnwood W824 - £335
I'm guessing this is one of the Chinese machines that are rebranded between a few companies as it looks very similar to others. 1" x 8tpi spindle thread and 3/4hp motor. This one however does have variable speed.

If I go with either I will either need a new chuck or a thread adapter to use the RP4000 which I believe is 3/4" x 16tpi.

Any thoughts?

Richard

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Personally I would avoid Charnwood. The RP small to midi lathes are fine as are any of the jets. M33/3.5 MT2 is the rapidly approaching industry standard so don't stray away from that and if you can get variable speed I STRONGLY encourage you to do so because it is a God send once you've been doing it for a while.

 

[richardmckenna]

Hmmm, a Jet is way out of my price range unfortunately.

I do want variable speed but the next Record model up the DML320 it £200 more than the DML305 which seems a lot just for 1/4 more hp, 1/2" swing and variable speed.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Knowing what I know having turned for a few years now, I would buy 2nd hand to achieve variable speed if budget is that much of a constraint. 2nd hand lathes are very common, both on here and e bay. Not that much to go wrong with them as long as the bearings are OK and they pass the kiss test.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

... which seems a lot just for 1/4 more hp, 1/2" swing and variable speed.

Welcome to the world of lathes.

 

[ian_in_the_midlands]

I would look at the Axminster lathes.
If you don't want the expense of buying new, the hobby range seem to come up fairly often on Ebay.

 

[hawkeyefxr]

I have a DML305 and i think it's a great lathe, it swings 6in so you can turn a 12in bowl. Mine is a manual 6speed (no variable). A variable speed would make life a lot easier as when you turn off centre pieces of wood you need a slow spen but very soon have to increase the speeds as it becomes balanced.
Have said that i really like it, but we always want bigger and better, just depends on whats in your pockets.

 

[richardmckenna]

Well I ended up buying the DML305 on Friday and got it with the WG200 Wetstone Sharpening system.

Got it all setup yesterday and turned my very first bowl today out of a small piece of Yew. Personally I think it turned out pretty good considering it was the first thing I've ever turned

Thanks, everyone for your advice. I'm sure I will have more questions as I progress.

 

[mayo.mick]

Nice bowl Richard, welcome to the world of woodturning!

 

[Homerjh]

agree, looks like a lovely bowl.

 

[richardmckenna]

Thanks, it's far from perfect with some tool marks but I guess that will come with practice.

 

[Dalboy]

That is a cracking first bowl yes the little things like tool marks and sanding marks will go with practice and a little patience. Just remember to keep the tools sharp and use the right ones for the job.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Excellent...not the classic "dog bowl" so a flying start I'd say...well done

 

[Robbo3]

Well done.
Yew can be a right baa-lamb to remove all the tool & sanding marks from & if you sand too long you can also get heat cracks.

 

[richardmckenna]

Thanks all!

Heat cracks - yes I did get one of them just round a section of the side near the top. I have some other blanks from the same piece of yew so I will watch out for them. I also found the light area on the right side of the photo was significantly harder than the rest of it.