Killinger or Maxi 1

[altennis]

Hi,

I am looking at getting a new lathe that is capable of turning good sized bowls etc over the bed, and has a swivelling head for the really big stuff. I need to be able to turn in front of the lathe, as my workshop is relatively small. I am looking at either the Killinger KM1500 or the Record Maxi 1. The Maxi 1 is obviously £1000 cheaper than the KM1500, so i am siding towards that at the moment, as i don't think i could justify the higher price.

Has anyone used both of these lathes, so can offer a comparison?

Is there anything else I should look at, ideally costing no more than £2k.

Thanks

Alistair

 

[jpt]

I have not used either of them but looking at them I can see why the Maxi costs more it has a 1.5hp motor against the 1hp of the 1500, that alone would make me prefer the maxi. Also you have on the maxi a 520mm swing and length of 950mm between centres against the 360mm swing and 720mm length on the 1500.

I have heard good things about both lathes and the three turners who have the maxi 1 are all very happy with them, I also hear the quality and customer service from Record is much improved these days.

john

 

[Aled Dafis]

The Maxi is based on a tried and tested Woodfast design, which are/were great lathes.

Aled

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Alistair,
Have you considered a Jet lathe? - either the 3520B or the 1642.

I declare at this point that I am biased - I have a 1642.

...but for the money (especially if you buy from a BriMarc distributor and haggle a bit rather than Axminster) there's very little that comes close in value for money terms IMHO.

Mine's been no trouble at all, despite quite a bit of abuse, and even if Record's customer service has improved, the lingering reputation and scare-stories are still enough to make me think twice about their stuff.

EDIT: Just seen your requirement for a swivelling headstock - Sorry but neither of the Jet lathes have them but IMHO this is no bad thing :wink:

HTH
Jon

 

[myturn]

I have the Killinger 1400SE with optional cast iron leg-stand and the Maxi 1 was one of the alternatives which I looked at before buying the Killinger. After a side by side comparison of the two (well, a few yards apart) at a show it was like night and day between the two in terms of build and engineering quality and I ordered the Killinger there and then. I had also looked at the DVR and VL175 but I don't like the controls on the DVR and the VL175 is too long for me.

I was looking for something farly compact, I don't need a long bed as I don't turn long items, and it had to have variable speed with a swivelling head. The Killinger has a smaller footprint than the Maxi and that was a consideration as my workshop is not dedicated to woodturning and I have since fitted a jacking wheelset so I can move it around but have it solid on the floor when in use. It will turn 14" over the bed and a obviously larger outboard which I find is more than adequate for all my needs. The head swivels 360° and is easy to re-centre but I find that I have the head swivelled outboard all the time unless I am doing spindle work as it is so much easier on the back.

On out-of-balance items it will vibrate a bit as it is not as massive as some of the larger lathes but I've sucessfully turned a 20" x 8" oak bowl on it from a large unbalanced burr. It did take a long time and I had to use very slow revs (300rpm) to stop the lathe jumping about.

I would imagine if you have the room that the 1500 would cope better with such loads but would you turn very large items that regularly? I certainly find that the vast majority of the time I am turning under 14" so I could turn over the bed if I wanted to but it's soo much easier to turn even small items outboard that I do so.
The main limitation of the swing-over-bed is if I want to reverse a large bowl to clean up the bottom and I want to use tailstock support.

Before you buy at least try and get your hands on the lathes you are considering even if you don't actually turn anything.

 

[altennis]

Jon,

The Jet does look pretty good and very very heavy as well, so i can't imagine that it moves about much. Does the headstock swivel on it?

Thanks

Alistair

 

[boysie39]

Jon,

The Jet does look pretty good and very very heavy as well, so i can't imagine that it moves about much. Does the headstock swivel on it?

Thanks

Alistair

The Jet is very good will take anything you put on it . The headstock does not rotate ,but you can slide it to the very end of the bed.This is the 3520B I am talking about but it's almost £3000 to buy.

 

[Wood spoiler]

Hi

On the subject of a Jet 1642

This is the lathe I have. As has been said it does not have the rotating headstock. However and as Boysie said you can slide along to the end of the bed. I bought the freestanding toolrest and voila problem solved. The Jet is a great sturdy machine based on a cast leg. Also the freestanding toolrest is cast giving the whole setup the sturdiness needed when doing the big stuff together with the variable speed.

With this set up you have the best of all worlds including 16" capacity over the bed.

Ukw members are always welcome to visit to try it out

 

[chipmunk]

I fitted a bed extension and outboard toolpost from an Axminster AWVSWL1200 to my Jet 1642 and it's pretty good - it's certainly a bargain IMHO for the £50 it costs http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-outboard-turning-attachment-for-awvswl1200-prod804382/.

This gives the possibility to turn up to 30" diameter off the end of the lathe bed.

It may not be as solid as the Vicmarc outboard but at 1/6 cost and easier adjustment of the toolrest position I reckon it's worth a punt.

I wrote about it in "another place"....
http://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8377

The only problem is that the toolpost of the AWVSWL1200 is 25mm and the Jet is 1" so it required that the toolrest stem of the outboard toolrest be drilled out. Tracy Tools sell a 1" blacksmiths drill reasonably cheap though.

HTH
Jon

 

[joolz]

Hi

I have a Wivamac DB1000 four speed lathe I'm going to sell. It is a superb machine, silky smooth and rock solid and can turn a 50 cm diameter blank over the bed, or the head can be rotated for larger pieces (I've never needed to do this). The specification looks similar to the lathes you mentioned. I also have VM120 chuck and various alternative jaw sets available. Let me know if you'd like further details.

Jules