Grahamshed
Established Member
Ok, So having just retired I want to take up woodturning as a hobby, and maybe do craft fairs etc if I am any good.
Getting on a bit so I want to get the 'right' lathe first time...... but I cannot find one.
I made myself a short list of desired/required features.
1... Swing head ( I will do mostly small stuff but want to do some big display pieces as well )
2... 3 phase inversion speed control.
3... Min 1hp motor.
4... Short bed. ( I have no interest in long spindles, plus I want to keep the width down to about 4 feet if poss. I want to do bowls, boxes, pens etc.... and maybe candlesticks but 18 - 24 inch bed would be plenty )
But I Cannot find a suitable lathe. Axminster 1416 looks nice but no swing head. Nova have the 1624 which sounds good but no variable control. The nova xp has it all but I don't like the touch screen control and I have seen many bad reviews about its reliability and banjo flexing etc.
Many others would be good but they are to long.
Fussy aint I ?
Can anyone think of any other powerful short bed lathes ?
Getting on a bit so I want to get the 'right' lathe first time...... but I cannot find one.
I made myself a short list of desired/required features.
1... Swing head ( I will do mostly small stuff but want to do some big display pieces as well )
2... 3 phase inversion speed control.
3... Min 1hp motor.
4... Short bed. ( I have no interest in long spindles, plus I want to keep the width down to about 4 feet if poss. I want to do bowls, boxes, pens etc.... and maybe candlesticks but 18 - 24 inch bed would be plenty )
But I Cannot find a suitable lathe. Axminster 1416 looks nice but no swing head. Nova have the 1624 which sounds good but no variable control. The nova xp has it all but I don't like the touch screen control and I have seen many bad reviews about its reliability and banjo flexing etc.
Many others would be good but they are to long.
Fussy aint I ?
Can anyone think of any other powerful short bed lathes ?