Buying a lathe

Sorry , I will give you the sites for information

Hey Moray,

Welcome to the group, you will find a great bunch of people here, full of information, and great advice and suggestions. We always welcome newcomers, dont be afraid to ask questions, that what we are here for is to learn and share with each other.

So I see you are looking at a General brand Lathe. I myself own a General and am very happy with it. Overall it is solid and doesnt have allot for natural vibration. Even when turning a green unbalanced burl It stands firm on the shop floor. I do however start at the lowest speed of 450 when roughing out a bowl. I must admit at 450 it can be scary sometimes if the piece is odd shaped. So in my opinion the King does have an advantage with lower start speed for bowl turning. However for spindle work you should be at a higher speed, and I feel the king at 1750 is not high enough to get a clean cut on spindle and finish work. Maybe someone in the group who does more bowls then I do can comment. As I have only done maybe 12 bowls in the last 2 years. So I cant say for sure if 1750 is really fast enough. I myself like to be at least 2000+ plus for the finish sanding and such on my bowls.

Thats my two cents. Donald

NEWFEES the both of ye.

Hi Moray and Darrell

I had glanced over your post Moray and was going to suggest you get to Darrells site and that you could maybe get together with him. (Too slow) You're lucky to have Darrell fairly close by, and of course we all share his website. The regulars know my take on the swivel head lathes, as my stance is, you introduce a loose piece and flexing, twisting and misalignment is or will be a real problem. That was reinforced again last thursday when we had a hollowing demonstration at the turners club, similar lathe to the king lathe you're looking at, as the demonstrator brought his own lathe along (club had only a General International mini) while he did some of the hollowing, I observed the shaking and vibration, but the demonstrator seemed to be used to that, than inserting the tool again after blowing out some shavings, the tool grabbed and DANG BANG CLANG, and the lathes swivel head lay on the floor, luckily no one was hurt, but that could have happened very easily, End of hollowing demonstration. One other thing, General and General International is not the same in quality, first is/was made in Canada, second shiwanese. if you can get a larger General you should be happy IMO Yes I know money doesn't grow on trees, however a used lathe might be your best bet, Darrell might be some help there, I think. Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Hi Moray-

Used lathes *can* be hard to come by. That being said, I got my lathe used a few years ago, and sold my Midi lathe to a guy at work who expressed an interest in turning.

If I had looked in the newspaper, I doubt I would have found one- the Delta gap-bed I've got was the result of helping a turner build his shop, and he offered me the right of first refusal when he opened a retail shop and upgraded to a couple of really expensive ones. The Midi didn't make the paper, either- I would have hung onto it if I didn't know the guy that bought it.

While I'm not a member of a turning club, that might be my suggestion- if you have any in your area. While none of the guys in your area might have one for sale right away, that may be your best opportunity to buy a good used one over time.

It sounds like a lot of guys keep their lathes even after upgrading, but I would imagine that there are plenty that are like me, and hate to see that the old, perfectly good lathe is just sitting there collecting dust because the newer and bigger model is just more fun to use.