Help Choosing a Lathe

[Ole Frog]

Gentlemen
One of the tools I have been looking at lately is a lathe
I would like to learn to turn horn plugs and bases

I have been looking at several Midi Lathes:
The Turncrafter Commander 10" Variable speed runs about $370 & the 12" about $470
The Comet II variable speed 12" is about $485 but it comes with the G3 chuck

My budget is about $500 so these all fit but that doesn't leave any money for tools

The Turncrafter 10" would allow for a few basic tools

What do you guys recommend?
What have you used?
am I in the right ball park or do I need to look elsewhere?
John

 

Woodcentral.com has a message board dedicated to wood turning. I'm not saying you won't get good responses here, but you will probably get more there.
Just for turning things like powder horn plugs you aren't going to need much in the way of swing, but the more power the better.
Don't limit your search to new. I just checked some online classifieds, and there isn't anything close to you that seems worth pursuing. Since no one is advertising one for sale, you might try advertising that you would like to buy one. Sometimes people just need a little nudge to get them to sell something. As an example, I have an older Delta midi that has resided under my assembly table since the PM 3520 came into the shop. I haven't thought of selling it, but if somebody locally ran an ad wanting one it would probably be gone.
A four jaw chuck is nice, and for some of the turning I do, essential. But for a lot of turning, all you will need is a faceplate. Most new lathes come with a faceplate that is bigger than it needs to be. Plan on getting a few smaller ones from EZ Tools. Get the best gouges, scrapers, and parting tools you can. With a little searching online, you should be able to find plans for homemade sharpening jigs.
Finally, a word of warning.
Remember the Delta midi I mentioned? I bought it to make butt plugs for powder horns. Then one day, someone gifted me a natural edge bowl. I thought it was so neat that I made a few on the lathe I had. It was fun, and all of a sudden the lathe wasn't just a once in a great while tool anymore. It wasn't big enough either. Enter the PM3520. And more and more turning tools, hollowing tools, a vacuum chuck set up...... It made shooting seem cheap by comparison.

 

[Archer 756]

:thumbsup: Harbor Freight :hatsoff:

 

[eggwelder]

have you looked for used? i picked up a beaver rockwell for about $40 a few years back at a garage sale and recently found a well built used one (late 50`s early`60s era) at a second hand store for $60. leaves lots of room for tools.

 

[Ole Frog]

Thank you Randy Johnson
That's a good response and if you were closer I would be there begging you for the old Delta

Frenchman
I did look at Harbor freight and Northern Tool as well. I didn't find anything there I felt was worth the money. in most cases I would buy used instead of cheap

Eggwelder
I have been watching ads for a while now
While I have seen a lot of Craftsman lathes there, I haven't found one that seemed like it would be suitable

That is part of why I posted this thread
I am trying to figure out what I need vs what I want

Is a used lathe going to satisfy me?
What do I look for?

I tend to over think things but I want to know that when I spend $500 I got the most value for my money

 

Further thoughts.
Really, if ALL you ever use a lathe for is making butt plugs for powder horns, something from Harbor Freight would probably be good enough. If you think you might want to do more though, here are a few things I would look for in a NEW midi lathe. If you can find an older used one for cheap, you can always sell it later and upgrade.
#1. The ability to increase the distance between centers. I pretty much quit looking at lathes when I bought my Mustard Monster, so I might be wrong, but I think this is standard with just about all midi lathes. The vast majority of Craftsman lathes you see for sale are designed for spindle work and have plenty of distance between centers. The same distance can be had with midi lathes by adding bed extensions, although there is a point where it's money ahead to just get a bigger lathe.
#2 Make sure that the headstock threads are going to work with commonly available accessories. For a midi, 99% of the time this will be 1x8. #2 Morse taper is probably preferable to #1.
#3&4 Look for as wide a speed range as possible and a sliding headstock. Even my big lathe has a sliding headstock. The only limitation on the diameter I can turn is the distance to the floor. That doesn't mean I would get away with mounting a 500 pound chunk of wood outboard of the bed, but it does allow things like a table top or large wall hanging. With a midi it would allow slightly bigger bowls, or a medium sized platter. Speed on my 3520 is controlled by simply turning a knob. Just like adjusting volume on a radio. You won't find that feature on a cheap new lathe, but if you are lucky, you might find it on a used one.

 

[Tinker2]

I have seen a lot of Craftsman lathes there, I haven't found one that seemed like it would be suitable

What was wrong with the Craftsman lathes?




William Alexander

 

[Ole Frog]

What was wrong with the Craftsman lathes?

William Alexander

Appearance, age, as well as maintenance
also I wanted to know if they were suitable for my purpose

And with my limited knowledge I wouldn't know if all of the parts are there

Hence this thread

 

[Ole Frog]

Again
thank you for all the thought you have put into this

I have been searching through the ads again
and doing more research

This is not an easy choice

 

[ohio ramrod]

Just to confuse you more, I have found that my 14 inch swing lathe , 40 inches between centers, works for horn plugs, wooden pens, mugs, bowels , and large table legs. You can always turn small parts on a large lathe, but can't turn large parts on a small lathe. Larger lathes are more often found used than small lathes. So I recommend you expand your search to include larger used lathes. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[fleener]

do you have any experience with a wood lathe?

I have a craftsman and it works perfect for turning powder horn plugs.

I would think you could find a good used one at a good price.

Fleener

 

[44-henry]

I would look for one of the 7x12 or 7x14 class of mini metal lathes. I use one of these to turn the penny knives I make and plugs for horns would be easy for it. Plus it gives you thd ability to do precision metal turning and light milling.

 

[Ole Frog]

I have a little experience that goes back at least 30 years
none since

I feel like I may have offended some of you when I ruled out the Craftsman
This was not my intention
I have absolutely nothing against craftsman

However the ones I have seen are older, they lack variable speed, and are only 1/2 HP

That said, I may have valued a newer one higher than I should have. I have looked at everything available in my area once again

I just need to give it a little more time and see what turns up

 

[omarick1948]

I know several Hornsmith's who use the JET var/speed mini-lathe and love them. I have had one for six years and I've turned many, many horn plugs with it. JET has a new mini lathe out, that you can slow the RPM way down and very handy for turning antler etc. Shop around, as sometimes dealers will through in a starter set of gouges. If your going to make a number of turnings, you will want to save your "beaver plews" for some important accessories like Randy mentioned.

Rick

 

[Tinker2]

I have a little experience that goes back at least 30 years
none since

I feel like I may have offended some of you when I ruled out the Craftsman
This was not my intention
I have absolutely nothing against craftsman

You didn’t offend me.

I have five metal working lathes; two of them are 1940ish Atlas made Craftsmen lathes.
They would work for what you want, and replacement parts are plentiful.

Look for a metal working club in your state and talk to them.
They may have what you want or help you find a lathe that will work for you.



William Alexander

 

[jdw276]

Have made over 1,000 pens and other items on harbor freight midi lathes. Get a variable speed one for less the $200. They are not industrial but buy the lifetime warranty and if you break it or wear it out no questions asked they will replace it.

If you are turning horn plugs it will take a long time and a lot of horns to get those lathes wore out.

 

[fleener]

you certainly did not offend me!

Hope you find what you are looking for.

Fleener

 

[bpd303]

Just to confuse you more, I have found that my 14 inch swing lathe , 40 inches between centers, works for horn plugs, wooden pens, mugs, bowels , and large table legs. You can always turn small parts on a large lathe, but can't turn large parts on a small lathe. Larger lathes are more often found used than small lathes. So I recommend you expand your search to include larger used lathes. :idunno: :idunno:

My experience also. My Craftsman has been going strong for over 20 years. It's speed is adjustable by setting the belt to different pulley's, not as convenient as the dial speed adjustment but I haven't found it to be a problem.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I purchased a 12 x 36 wood lathe at Harbor freight last January for $240.00 with the 20% off coupon. variable speed, standard 1 x 8 drive spindle thread for chucks and attachments. The head swings to the right, if you ever decide to do any outboard turning of larger plates and bowls. After operating the HF lathe for a year and remembering my experience with dad's old craftsman lathe, I would never go back. Ease of changing speeds, solid cast bed (not those tubes that vibrate to pieces.) Flipping a fan belt from pully to pully just seems so stone age now. In fact, I iked the lathe so much that I bought an identical lathe off Craigslist for $100. I can leave one set up for the chuck and the other for the spur drive. (and everything interchanges)

Also, the one bench top Turncrafter is exactly the same as the same size lathe at Harbor Freight. Neither is that easily adjustable for speed. Still have to loosen a pully.

I see what appear to be deals on craigslist, but usually there is a problem. Some older lathes were good quality, but have bizarre spindle threads making it almost impossible to get face plates and chucks. Some have been sitting for decades and the belts are cracked. Buying a belt is easy, it is taking the drive head apart to install the belt, that takes a week of cussing. Some lathes were made using either one or two pipes as the bed. They vibrate like a propeller missing half an arm.

However, in turning the lathe is the cheap part. A chuck is $125.00 , a face plate can be $40, good quality lathe knifes are $25 to 60 each. I bought most of my lathe knives at yard sales and flea markets. Purchased one brand new. Then there is the cost of the sharpening gear and jigs. A bowl gouge can be done with a little know how on a plain grinder. A fingernail grind gouge pretty much requires a $70 jig and $150 grinder. A skew or parting chisel can be sharpened on nearly any wet stone.

The nice part about turning, is that Youtube has hundreds of FREE instructional videos. Anything by Capt Eddy Castelain, Robo Hippy, Rick Turns, and many others is good. In late November, I turned snowmen and christmas trees out of scrap wood. They were donated to a local lions club charity event and brought over $320 which goes for services for the blind. Some one thought my stuff was worth buying.

It isn't just horn plugs, and finial stoppers. You can make buttons, cleaning rods with cleaning jag ends, needle boxes, bowls, powder measures from bone, wood and antler. Some folks say black powder drags people down a hole. Same can be true for wood turning.

 

[Ole Frog]

Thank you guys

You have given me a lot to think about

Currently I am watching the ads and saving money

Hopefully the right deal will turn up
and that includes a harbor freight sale