New lathe

[Alie Barnes]

Hello

I am considering getting back in to wood turning, i have my old record sitting in the garage but quite fancy an upgrade, can anyone make recommendation on good lathes out there?

I have about 1k to spend, i have looked at http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminste...odturning-starter-package-package-deal-717925

i was also considering http://www.recordpower.co.uk/produc...athe-package-deal-with-leg-stand#.Wfovy9C6_IU as my old lathe is a record.

but would welcome any other opinions and pros and cons.

Thanks

 

[minilathe22]

I think that Axminster model uses an expanding cone variable speed, which appear to be prone to problems, and are less reliable than the electronic variable speed of the record power.

Have you considered bringing your existing record power back to life, maybe just by upgrading it to variable speed?

 

[Bob Graham]

I can only add that the chairman of my woodturning club has the Coronet Herald and loves it.

http://www.recordpower.co.uk/product/he ... fs1QWh-rRY

 

[kevinlightfoot]

There is a long bed graduate package for sale on eBay good value for a very good lathe.Ive had mine for over 35 years and not had any problems other than a set of bearings and a replacement drive belt and it's turned thousands of staircase spindles and hundreds of newel posts,you can't say that for the majority of hobby lathes you see for sale.The long beds are also quite rare so take a look.

 

[SteveF]

talking of the graduate ^^
did you see the extractor hood on the front of white on ebay ?
looks a good idea

Steve

 

[graduate_owner]

The Record is advertised as a professional machine, whereas the Axminster is a hobby lathe. If you look at the Axminster website at their description of hobby rated tools, you will see they recommend approximately 100 hours use annually, with few if any periods of heavy use. This is 2 hours a week of gentle use - I wouldn't call that an upgrade on your existing lathe, more like a downgrade.

Graduates have a good reputation, and if you sell it on then it will likely fetch as much as you paid for it. It doesn't have a swivel head, but the threads are the same on both inboard and outboard ( except outboard is left hand thread). You can get a chuck which is threaded to fit both sides, mine is an Axminster Evolution chuck and is very nicely made.

A nice alternative would be a Denford Viceroy. I have one of these and it is not far below the graduate in build quality in my opinion. The headstock is steel, not cast, but still rigid. The bed looks to be just as heavy a casting as the graduate. The down side is the headstock threads are not the same. Inboard is 1 1/2 x 8, same as Boxford metal lathes and chuck backplates are available. The outboard thread though is an unusual 1 1/4 x 9 left hand, which is unusual. If you go down this route make sure you get faceplates, because they are not so easy to come by and fetch £50 or so. Likewise an outboard chuck backplate might be difficult to get. I ended up buying a set of taps to cut my own outboard thread. Still a nice lathe though.
The up side is they seem to fetch a lot less than graduates.

K

Edit - there is one on ebay now, looks a bit tatty but comes with lots of extras. May be worth a look?