Lathe Recco for newbie

Hello Dave,

There are a lot of good lathes out there, but very few good large ones for under $1,000. Your wife would likely enjoy turning on one of the mini-lathes more than a large one:

My wife turned on my Nova Comet until the motor died on it. Then she shifted to my Nova Mercury. She actually liked the Comet better than the Mercury, but that was more a matter of horsepower. Then two years ago, I purchased a lathe for her as a Christmas present a Oneway 1018 lathe.

My progression was from a very cheap imported copy of an old Sears lathe, to a a couple of Record Power Lathes (a mini and a CL-3-48), a Nova 3000 (which I consider the best lathe for the money under $1500), and now a Nova DVR 3000 which I think is a great lathe.

You ask about thread sizes: Standards are 3/4" x 16 tpi; 1" x 8 tpi; and 1-1/4" x 8 tpi, until you get into the really large lathes. A No. 2 Morse Taper is desired, but no available on the 3/4" x 16 tpi lathes.

Some Small lathes I can recommend are:

Jet Mini Lathe Nova Mercury Delta Midi Lathe Vicmark Oneway 1018 or 1224

All of these have 1" x 8tpi spindles and accept No. 2 Morse Taper.

There are others out there that are not up to the quality of these lathes. The Oneway costs the most and is definately the best small lathe on the market.

Jet now has several larger lathes, but their old standby for several years has been their 1236. I think it sells for about $500 and has helped a lot of people get started in woodturning. Spindle size is 1" x 8tpi and Morse Taper is No. 2.

You can buy a Nova 3000 from Woodcraft for less than $1000 right now. It will not have variable speed, but it is a good solid lathe that will give you a lot of service. The Nova DVR 3000 is a significantly better lathe, but it will cost you about$1800 from a Woodcraft store.

A lot of people on this news group use Nova 3000 lathes and a lot of them have upgraded to NOva DVR 3000 lathes since they came out about two years ago.

I hope this bit of rambling will help you to make up your mind.

Fred Holder

OK, I've done a little more looking around, including pricing. Why is the Jet mini, at $350 (rockler.com) and only 10"x14", such a better lathe than, e.g., the Grizzly 12x35 1/2" lathe at $295? Both have 1/2 HP motors, but the Grizzly will swivel, and has almost two and a half times the capacity?

For that matter, what about the low-end Grizzly 14x40 at $150? Are these really such inferior machines for learning on? I've been thinking I'd rather spend more money on getting good tools, and start with a cheaper machine, than be 'lathe-poor' and have inferior tools. Alomg those lines, what do people think of the Lee Valley Henry Taylor sets? I was looking at the 8pc set as having what most of the books I've read would suggest as a starting set.

Sounds good Dave, about the frequency of replacing the drive belt, its availability and cost.

The Jet Mini (non-electronic variable speed) can be had for $199 everywhere (Amazon, Woodcraft, etc.). Also, you are comparing only price and stated capacity.....NOT quality. I am talking from experience here. I have a Grizzley 12x35 lathe. Bought it from a fellow club member for $150. It very similar to the Jet 1236 (of which I have one of those too). I use it exclusivly for spindle turning and buffing. It has a non-standard 1"x12TPI thread, so accessories are harder to find. I also have a Jet mini and I find that more useful (i.e. portable, less shop space).

Run, don't walk, from that machine.

From my experience, I'd rather be tool-poor than lathe-poor. One can make nice things with cheap tools on a good lathe. Its pure frustration using top notch tools on a poor platform (i.e. cheap lathe). Its like adding $10,000 in accessories to a Yugo. It might look pretty, but its still a Yugo (and performs like one).

If you get addicted to turning (like most of us here), you'll understand.

Peter Teubel Milford, MA

Been my experience that the Grizz stuff, though it looks similar, is generally assembled from the worst of parts which would have gone to other nameplates - had they passed QC. Granted, a school environment is a bit extreme, but broken castings, revealing poorly annealed iron have been common, and even the grade of bolts is low.

Better lathe is where I put my money. Ol' Blue's been spinning wood for a long time, and my collection of good tools has grown to over twenty, including a number of "one-trick ponies" which are used less often than the complimentary set of carbon tools that came with, even today.