I have never done any turning since I have always thought that any lathe worth having would cost too much and take up too much space in my gara... er, shop. I have been reading some good things about the Rikon
70-100 Mini Lathe that have me rethinking turning.
All I am interested in doing is turning table legs. If I bought the Rikon and the extension bed and a set of basic turning tools like the 8 piece set that Harbor Freight sells, what would I be missing? I can lag screw the lathe to a work bench that weighs about 300 pounds.
Before I jump into it, I plan to take a basic turning class at the Woodcraft store in Clearwater.
You would be placing yourself on a steep grade paved with banana peels. I took up turning to make table legs, then fell into faceplate work, bought another lathe, the tools required to do long reaches, another lathe, some one-trick ponies for particular tasks and....
OTOH, there's not much else in woodworking that will allow you to spend an hour in the shop and come up with a completed project.
If you get the bug from your class, you will be missing a lot ot $$$ that will disappear going towards all the goodies and better equipment you will want to keep turning.
If you don't get the bug after your class, buy the table legs. Turning a couple of 100% matching candlesticks can be a challenge, and table legs would be even more of one. Now to make 4 matching table legs as a beginner would be a pretty good challentge. They are cheap enough to buy. Like I said, if you don't really like turning buy the legs on the 'net and save your money.
By all means, take the class first if only to find out whether or not y ou enjoy turning.
As for the Rikon, the only drawback that may not be obvious to you is t he limited power. If you put the extension on it and turn something that long, you'll have to have a light touch - but you should strive to develop th at anyway.
I disagree, I just finished turning a couple of bowls out of semi-dry oak. The HF tools held an edge fairly well. Yes, the handles are too short, but making replacements is good practice. I believe, like others that practicing sharpening on HF tools has value.
Then you can practice sharpening to your hearts content, because you're going to be doing an awful lot of it, with those turning tools. The steel of these tools is inferior to other quality tools. Bottom line you get what you pay for.
In past years I have bought three different sets of HF turning tools and found each to be useful. I am not a production turner so keeping an edge is not as important as being able to produce one. I resharpen frequently anyway, because I'm never sure that any tool, regardless of its pedigree is as sharp as it can be.
a cheap ( for eight) set good only to practice sharpening and grinding or for sample bevels.
a set of three mini tools; gouge, skew and cut off tool of 'adequate hss'.
a set of eight 'not bad at all hss' tools that many here have used successfully either as is or reground to a particular shape. For fun. I put a reground scraper in a Sorby handle and one local expert using it opined "that you get what you pay for!"
HF is all about separating the bargains from the junk. YMMV.
What Harbor Freight set are you talking about? I bought the eight piece HSS set some time ago (two years) for about $39USD. I wanted to practice free hand sharpening on tools that wouldn't make me cry if I screwed them up. It seems I learned to sharpen free hand very quickly and didn't screw up the tools. I'm still using them and I don't think I sharpen them any more often (that I notice) than my Sorbys, Taylors, Crown etc. and I always turn with sharp tools (grinder is within 18" of the lathe). Did you or do have the HSS set and speaking from experience or are you just knocking HF? I think a set of HSS tools for $39USD is a bargain for a beginner, turner that turns infrequently or likes to regrind tools to custom shapes, etc. They are also a bargain for a turner with shallow pockets. Hank
"Olebiker" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
If the set of HF tools is the HSS set that sells for about $39USD, buy them. I think all other HF turning tools are carbon steel and I recommend you avoid them. There is nothing wrong with carbon steel, but they require sharpening after very little usage. That in itself is not a problem, but grinding carbon steel takes a lot of care; turn it blue and it's gone. I bought the HF Hss speed steel set a few years ago to practice free hand grinding. I found they held an edge about as long as my 'better tools' and I use them quite often. I wouldn't put a lot of money into turning tools until I knew if I liked turning or not. Get some experience and then buy the tools that you require. Penn State Industries has a similar set for a bit more money. There is nothing wrong with the tools, but I don't do business with them (they pissed me off awhile ago). The Rikon sounds like a pretty good mini lathe. I've seen them, but never turned on one. The appear to be similar to the Jet or Delta mini. Good luck and I hope you end up a turner. Hank
Don't know where you have been reading al those good things about the Rikon lathe, I haven't heard much good or bad about this lathe really. I do think it's a good idea to take some turning classes, just so you get to know the basics, and also the safe way of doing things. Now going back to the Rikon lathe, it hasn't been out very long and there are just not many people that have therefore much experience with it. Basically it is a lot like the General International, but the spindle and tail-stock are just 1" higher for a larger swing, however the motor is still only 1/2 HP, and on all the mini/midi lathes the 1/2 hp motors are really only marginally strong enough and burnout is not uncommon for that reason. You as of now planning to only turn table legs, spindle turning does not need the larger swing, so no good reason to go for that, price wise the non variable speed mini/midi's are all in that ballpark, give or take a couple o'dollars. I personally would prefer the Jet or Delta mini/midi lathes, they are more of a proven quality, and you could sell one tomorrow so to speak for little less than you paid for it. Design wise there is not much of a difference between all those small lathes, except for the placement of the bearings and pulleys, the Jet/Delta have the pulley between the bearings, and therefore the bearings are a little farther apart, the Rikon/General International on the other hand do have the pulley behind the bearings, and the bearings are closer together, not a lot of difference, but when turning hollow forms like goblets etc., the play in the bearings/shaft is noticeably more on the closer place bearings, also the motor pulling the pulley down behind the bearings does lead to more shatter on the frond end. Maybe not a lot to complain about, but if you would like to turn something that is not supported by the tailstock, it is something to keep in mind, but would not matter turning spindles, nor make it better. Just my 2 cent ramble . O yes the HF (also sold at more places) toolset is a pretty good deal, it does not stay sharp as long as my Oneway tools, (nor get as much steel or handle), but unless you turn some more abrasive wood or bark you'd barely notice it, but you sure notice the difference in price, and will not be a handicap in learning to turn or sharpen.
I've been turning for about 3 years now and I'm still using that HF set. So far they have cost me about a buck a month to own and have a LOT of life left in them. Proportional to their use, it is not apparent to me that they wear any worse than my Sorby tools.
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