Lathe for a new turner?

[sploo]

I've never done any turning, but the usefulness of one keeps cropping up. Ideally I'd want a small/medium metalworking lathe, and a big woodworking lathe to turn large bowl/vase type objects.

Back in the real world (of cost, space, and my [lack of] skill), this cropped up in my inbox today: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodturnin ... tor+DK6730

I have also been tempted to have a go at building Matthias Wandel's wooden lathe: https://woodgears.ca/lathe/plans/index.html (I have a suitable motor kicking around, so the cost would be minimal).

I don't see myself turning long spindles (anything much over 40cm), so my interest is about short "plug" type pieces, turning and drilling rollers (tubes) from plastics, and the long term goal of doing segmented turning of large (>30cm diameter) bowls.

Would the above Rutlands machine be a reasonable starting point? Are there better alternatives for the price? Would I be better just making the wooden lathe (as I could probably make a version without a tailstock for turning larger diameter pieces)?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Robbo3]

If you are in business the small capacity & the thermal cutout that keeps shutting the lathe down as soon as you take anything other than a small cut, will soon have you wishing you had bought something larger.
If you can temper your cuts to the capacity of the machine then you may be ok.
The lathe is just the starting point as you will need tools, some way of sharpening them & probably a chuck.

 

[sploo]

Thanks Robbo. I guess you'd need to be taking pretty deep cuts on a large workpiece to trip a thermal cut out, or am I underestimating how often that happens?

 

[AJB Temple]

I was in a similar position: no turning experience. I bought a lathe and it is fine. However, had I attended a turning course first, I would have bought an entirely different lathe. My advice is go on a turning course ( I started with an Axminster 2 day beginner's course) and you will quickly get a better idea of what is important to you. I concluded that.....bigger is better.

 

[Robbo3]

Thanks Robbo. I guess you'd need to be taking pretty deep cuts on a large workpiece to trip a thermal cut out, or am I underestimating how often that happens?

Not sure if it's a thermal cut out or something built into the electronics but either way using a sharp 32mm saw tooth bit into end grain, I can drill just over the depth of the bit. Also, low revs equals less torque & there is not a lot of power to start with.
Saying that, if you take your time you get there in the end & it's good for honing your technique.

 

[Rhossydd]

Ideally I'd want....... a big woodworking lathe to turn large bowl/vase type objects.
Back in the real world (of cost, space, and my [lack of] skill), this cropped up in my inbox today: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodturnin ... tor+DK6730

Hardly a 'big lathe', but maybe a decent starting point. Note that Axminster sell effectively the same lathe at the same price, http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ho ... the-501245 but without any of the silly special offer nonsense that Rutlands try to sell with.

I have also been tempted to have a go at building Matthias Wandel's wooden lathe:

Don't waste your time and money. Wooden bearings ?? really ?
If you have aspirations to turn large, mass and rigidity are your friends. Read back here and you'll find time after time turners recommending bolting down lathes to big heavy benches loaded with extra weight. Toys like the Wandel won't be nearly rigid enough and will just put you off, assuming the bearings don't catch fire first.
Wood might have been an acceptable material to build lathes from in the 18th century or for travelling craftsmen working green wood on the site of the tree being felled (a true bodger), but not any more.

If budget is tight, look at eBay/Gumtree. Good cheap lathes come up all the time, often including valuable extras like tools, chucks etc.
If you're patient you can pick up a good starter lathe that will have the possibility of turning the diameters you're aspiring to.
Record, Coronet, Tyme, Arundel are all good solid brands that won't take up huge amounts of space.

As others have said, you will need to budget for tools and the equipment to sharpen them with, plus once you start to get interested you'll probably want a decent chuck etc..... and read some decent books on the subject to get you started too.

 

[woodpig]

A mate bought one of these recently on offer, it's a bit bigger than most of the small hobby lathes. Seems very solidly built.

http://www.recordpower.co.uk/product/ca ... wN759R4WrU

 

[Transit80]

If budget is tight, look at eBay/Gumtree. Good cheap lathes come up all the time, often including valuable extras like tools, chucks etc.
If you're patient you can pick up a good starter lathe that will have the possibility of turning the diameters you're aspiring to.

I fully agree with the above, thats what I did and ended up with a decent Axminster ML900 for £150 off Ebay, a decent set of gouges for £80 and a chuck for about £40, it helps that I can do odd jobs and the money from them has helped me get a few more bits and pieces .

Chris

 

[woodfarmer]

you are going to be limited to 10 inches or less with that lathe. Suggest you go to a club and actually try a few bowls. Then ask around if anyone has a second hand lathe for sale.

 

[sploo]

Many thanks for all the responses above.

I was in a similar position: no turning experience. I bought a lathe and it is fine. However, had I attended a turning course first, I would have bought an entirely different lathe. My advice is go on a turning course ( I started with an Axminster 2 day beginner's course) and you will quickly get a better idea of what is important to you. I concluded that.....bigger is better.

That's one of those really obvious suggestions... that's only obvious after someone has suggested it :wink:

Yea, going and doing a course is probably the single best thing I could do; not just to learn some techniques, but also that safety-borne-from-experience that you only get by talking to people, as well as getting some idea of what you actually would need to buy.

Don't waste your time and money. Wooden bearings ?? really ?
If you have aspirations to turn large, mass and rigidity are your friends. Read back here and you'll find time after time turners recommending bolting down lathes to big heavy benches loaded with extra weight. Toys like the Wandel won't be nearly rigid enough and will just put you off, assuming the bearings don't catch fire first.
Wood might have been an acceptable material to build lathes from in the 18th century or for travelling craftsmen working green wood on the site of the tree being felled (a true bodger), but not any more.

To be fair to Wandel, IRC he did the design in response to numerous requests. The wooden bearings have oil holes - though if I did build one I'd use some proper bearings (got loads to hand, so no outlay).

I was thinking of it more as a tester to try out small projects, and see if I wanted to progress from there. AJB Temple's suggestion of training though would probably cost no more in terms of time, and would give me a much better idea of what to do.

 

[AJB Temple]

The other advantage of a course is you get up the learning curve fast, learn about safety, discover (in my case) that the tools you bought are not ideal, learn about different grind profiles and their uses, learn what speeds to use for what, learn what height the rest should be, learn ho two apply finishes of different kinds …and so on. It cost a coupe of hundred quid for two full days and was money very well spent, as doing it in practice beats watching you tube demos hands down. I came away with a lot of tips and notes and considerable confidence to do things on my own. It's a no brainer really.

 

[Rhossydd]

I was thinking of it more as a tester to try out small projects, and see if I wanted to progress from there.

Working with such a dreadful tool is hardly likely to be inspiring.

Yes, get training. A paid course is ideal or joining a good club if one is close and convenient is another alternative.

I'm sure it would only take a few minutes on a real lathe to understand why making a Wandel toy would be a waste of time and money.

 

[Dave Brookes]

sploo,
I don't know whereabouts you are in Oxon but you are more than welcome to come to Didcot Woodturners. We meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month at Harwell village hall, check out our website. We are a very friendly bunch but maybe a bit overboard with the banter between members on occasions which adds to the fun. There are usually five lathes in operation on 'hands on' nights but sometimes that doesn't seem to be enough.
One of our members is on the RPT and teaches either at the Toolpost in Didcot or his workshop in Newbury.
We have Nick Agar coming for the day this Sunday (10th) so come along, only £15 for the day, bring you own lunch though.
If Graham reads this he will most probably commit me to making you a cuppa so I thought I'd best get in first!

Dave

 

[sploo]

sploo,
I don't know whereabouts you are in Oxon but you are more than welcome to come to Didcot Woodturners. We meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month at Harwell village hall, check out our website. We are a very friendly bunch but maybe a bit overboard with the banter between members on occasions which adds to the fun. There are usually five lathes in operation on 'hands on' nights but sometimes that doesn't seem to be enough.
One of our members is on the RPT and teaches either at the Toolpost in Didcot or his workshop in Newbury.
We have Nick Agar coming for the day this Sunday (10th) so come along, only £15 for the day, bring you own lunch though.
If Graham reads this he will most probably commit me to making you a cuppa so I thought I'd best get in first!

Dave

Dave - that would be ideal. I am in Didcot (I know the Toolpost well too).

Looking at Nick's site - very impressive. Unfortunately it's not likely I could make it on Sunday, at least not until very late in the day (maybe 3pm). Would it still be worth turning up that late?

I take it that your next "normal" meet would be on the 27th April?

 

[Dave Brookes]

sploo,
Yes of course you can drop in late on Sunday afternoon (no charge). You're correct, next meeting is 27th.
See you on Sunday.

Dave

 

[sploo]

sploo,
Yes of course you can drop in late on Sunday afternoon (no charge). You're correct, next meeting is 27th.
See you on Sunday.

Dave

Dave - many thanks. Hopefully I'll be able to stick my head in for the last hour or so and just meet a few of the guys.