Buying a Starter Lathe

I just used the Jet Mini in a class, and it's a nice piece of work. The electronic variable speed was not worth the extra $. You lose a lot of torque at low speeds. I could easily stall out a spindle with a parting tool.

For your grinder, you need a pink or white or blue wheel for chisel sharpening.

Otherwise get lots of cheap wood, (aka firewood) and let the learning begin. Practice is more important than a huge palette of tools.

You'll love it

Old guy

Darn, you took the name I was thinking of using. I may not fully qualify as i'm barely on the edge of 50 but I sure feel like it sometimes.

Thanks for your info. The Delta slow speed has a nice White wheel for grinding and an orange for sharpening, tho in my opinion, all but the white wheel sucks.

JR

Disclaimer: I work part time at Woodcraft.

Both the Rikon and the Jet are nice little lathes. Some here have questioned the quality of the Rikon but I can only tell you we've sold a lot of them and the only problem reported to us that I'm aware of is that the pulley setscrew has a tendency to come loose. A little LocTite makes that problem go away :-).

But the next time you're in Woodcraft look at the new little General. Swivel head, variable speed with readout, and will swing 18"-19" outboard. It's not in the same price range as the Jet and Rikon, but IMNSHO it's worth the difference.

NOVA 16-2444. It'll do just fine in a small footprint, and you don't have to turn outboard to go 15.75 inch diameter, but can turn with your tailstock until you develop enough proficiency to go without. If you care to, which seems sort of silly to me. For another 400 you can go 25 inches or more in diameter, but you'll want to be pretty proficient with a gouge before you do. No support from the tailstock.

You can get 6x1" wheels for your grinder, as most lathe tools take more time than it's worth to hone, and are used from the wheel. I wouldn't buy a white wheel. They're too soft. I got one and watched it deposit sand under the grinder at a frightening rate. Sterner stuff for harder alloys seems advised. I'm using SiC wheels from Woodworkers Supply, have been for the last five years, and may replace my first one some day. Already bought a replacement, but with nearly 5" left, can't bring myself to put it on the mandrel.

Harbor freight is fine after a bit of fiddling to remove the rough edges. After you learn the tools, you can decide if you or the tool is doing the job and spend what you like. Basic bowls are well served by any of the name chucks, with some risk by no-name chucks. Here I'd go with one that has a large stable of jaws and not bargain-hunt. I'm NOVAs, like 'em a lot, and turn a lot on them. Not the current models, which may have a convenience or two over my old ones, but use the same jaws if I ever decide I need something new and allegedly improved.

I don't do pens, but they seem to be jig-dependant, so don't skimp there.

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Well, I looked at the Nova 1624, but as I said I am low on space between the table saw w/ router table, chop saw, planer, joiner, bandsaw, belt/disk sander, scroll saw, 2 work benches and a DC, all in a 18X24 shop and I also have a stair case going to my loft. This is also my first try at turning so I'd rather take a chance on about $400 than $1200. From what I can tell, a lot of people keep their mini and add a full size also. If I like it, maybe I'll turn the loft into a turning room, nothing there but my drawing board now. The Nova Mini looks to be the one to buy and I will definatly keep the Nova full size in mind if I move up.

Thanks for your advice on all of it.

Tablesaw, Radial arm, planer, jointer, bandsaw, belt/disk, scroll, drum sander, mortiser, drillpress, oscillating spindle sander, shaper, bench, and lathe of course, and 13x18.5. I feel your pain!

Too damn funny. That was good for a laugh.

I am wondering... would you be saying

a) hey.. that's pretty damn smart. I must have been on my game that day! Maybe I'm even a little smarter than I think!

or

b) what in the world possesed me to say something like that?

Robert

I've never seen the Rikon firsthand, but by all reports, it's a good lathe. I don't imagine you'd go wrong with any of the three- when it comes to the Jet or Delta, you could almost go by which color you like better.

I have a Grizzly 4 jaw scroll chuck, and while it will never be mistaken for a Super Nova, it does the job very well- I had intended to replace it when I upgraded from my Delta Mini to a larger Delta, but so far, I haven't had $200 worth of complaints about it. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done.

I've used it to turn bowls up to 12" diameter, and vases up to 8" diameter x 10" deep. I even did a few vases that maxed out the midi lathe, and the chuck was fine.

If you go for the Delta Midi, check their website first and see if they're running any promotions. When I bought mine, I printed off a coupon from their site for a free 8-pc set of tools with the purchase. It takes a while for them to show up, but I used a $15 set from Menards until they arrived. The set goes for about $100, so it's worth checking into before you decide- I figure with that thrown in, the Delta Midi was the best deal going, even though the purchase price was slightly higher than the Jet.

That might happen sooner than you think- the lathe is a very messy tool! I've got mine in a room seperate from the rest of the shop, and it was one of the best moves I've made regarding shop layout- bits of wet wood landing on your other cast iron is a real PITA, especially if you don't get it off right away.

Never thought about that, great point.

....

Don't bother with the 3-jaw (I have one, almost never use it), if you get a Grizzly get the H6265, and the accessories jaws

Couple of things you can do to manage the situation beyond relocation. First, configure your stand so that your lathe is right up to the front edge of the top, and leave a bit of room under the lip to place a leaf collection bag at that point. Anything convex will almost drop the shavings in the bag as you cut. Second is to put the lathe stand up against a wall, allowing for full swing of course, so that inside working will drop the shavings on the top. Rake into the bag periodically.

As to corrosive properties of wet acid woods, cover is the only answer. I use a waxed cardboard cover over the tablesaw. Check in the produce area of your favorite market for similar, though you can certainly do with cardboard and plastic. The water will fling from your wet turning in both directions, so you might also consider a removable splatterboard behind, attached to the wall. That way you can still use the wall for storage by removing the splatterboard.