What is the absolutly best lathe in the world?

Kinda a personal thing, but I went for the Oneway 2436. Depends on what you want to do

Regards Lewis

The one I'm building, but I may be biased. Nah!

Stubby - enough said!

Sure. I've posted this before. I've started back on this project and hope to be O-turning this winter.

this has to be the best lathe I've ever seen.

Now here is a guy who thinks like a girlfriend I once dated, "bigger is best", come to think of it, it was'nt too long before she dumped me.

James Barley

It may be the best for doing columns but wouldn't do for me at all.

Asking 'what is the best lathe' is like asking what is the best car. It all depends on how it is to be used, what the owner expects, etc. For going to the market, a Lamborghini would be a poor choice. As date- bait, not so bad.

Vicmarc, Oneway, Stubby -- they all make excellent machines. If you are going to do a lot of hollowing though, and want to be comfortable in the process, you probably want to look at a short-bed machine. Oneway has an outboard shortbed but it makes the lathe very long. Vicmarc makes both long and short. Stubby is short. The Stubby 750 will turn 30" inboard, the 1000, 42" inboard. Having that tail-center when working on a big piece is lots of peace of mind. It also allows you to start large and out-of-balance pieces between centers.

If you are doing spindle work occasionally, the Stubby will work (I own a 750). If I were doing spindle work regularly, I'd own two lathes, btw.

If you are turning monster pieces regularly, none of the above will work. In that case you need a custom machine such as a Nichols.

So, the answer to your question is: it all depends.

Bill

ok ok ok, I was just having some fun. You have to admit, that MOAL (mother of all lathes) is a pretty cool looking machine hehe

If you mean large, that's not a large lathe. The largest woodturning lathe I've seen that you could use handheld gouges and chisels on was a patternmaker's lathe. The sucker had such a large swing that the bed rested on the shop floor. The turner STOOD on the bed to run the machine! I imagine it could swing 84" easy. Between centers a measley 6'. Another one swung about 24" and was 10' between centers. :)

> >> > >

I think the biggest wood lathe I have seen was the Tyme lathe used at the PA woodworking show a few years back when they set a record for a 92" vessel. And then of course there is the Nichols BigWay lathe.

I'd suggest you look at the Rose Engine lathe that was owned and operated by Luis XVI (king of France if you forget your history) - it' is in the technology museum (muse de arts e metier) in paris - it quotes the king as saying "the lathe is a wonderful thing that keeps me in touch with the people" --- then he lost his head

it is certainly a lathe you get when money is no issue. Whether "I" would get it or not is a separate question

I was in the position to buy any lathe I wanted. I chose the Oneway

2436 based on my needs and potential interests. It is used mostly to turn bowls and hollow forms with occassional spindle use. I looked at lathes for a couple of years, monitored this newsgroup and talked to owners before purchasing the Oneway.

Oneway may not be the best in the world but it is the lathe that I wanted and I have absolutely no regrets. This is one of the few things in my life that I have purchased with absolute satisfaction.

Kirk

NormDS wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

The "absolutely best lathe in the world" is the one you have in your shop that will turn what YOU love to turn.

I didn't read this question as what is the biggest or heaviest or most expensive or has the most bells and whistles lathe, rather what is the "best lathe in the world"; to which there is no answer.

I love them all! : ) well, almost.......

Ruth

Woodturners Logo My shop and Turnings at

I had a lathe; an absolutely best in the world lathe. It fitted nicely in my 4X6 ft. shop and my vw bug.=A0 It weighed three tons, not countng its stable base, and I could tote it to the mall by myself. It was a true minimaxi, turning 18" naval gun barrels as easily as it turned tooth picks. The headstock rotated 360 deg. in all 4 dimensons of space-time. It had a tiny DVR motor that ran on any voltage, on or off the grid. For outages it sported an adapter for using an AA battery. The controller allowed the same high torque from 45000 rpm down to minus

150 rpm. It had integral dust suckers, glove releasers and flying blank catchers. I turned a lot of wet chartruse oak (querqus crackus) on it with nary stain nor rust. It had wonderful sensors that shut it down just before a catch and moved the turning axis just before I cut through a vessel wall. Any and all accessories would fit on the spindle threads and every size Jarno/Morse/whoever taper set smoothly and held everything without a drawbar. It made its own vacuum and provided compressed air with a pleasing fragrance. Optional extensions weren't needed as the bed extended from Stuart to Atlanta, even though the footprint was a mere 14 in. and needed no bolting down. I could stand at the foot and turn bowls without bending over. It could be rolled anywhere in my backyard or down the street on its color wheels. It _was the best lathe in the world, but it wasn't perfect; it developed a soft muted background noise, either from whine or rumble. probably both as it played symphonies by the London Philharmonic. The information highway said its sp. gr. was 1.~~~ , but it would float, tailstock up, in a 50% solution of LDD. Kirkland, of couse. I had to sell it though; the mournful Russian music depressed me and the slow rhythm slowed production. Not all bad as I got back almost all the $3.68 I paid for it at Sears. its new owner, my roomate at the state asylum, turns happily and his electric shock therapy doesn't seem to affect the VS conroller al all. I'm glad now that I didn't buy a cheap H.F. $3.52 plus S&H knockoff. There are true believers on rcw who will try to find a used one of these beauties. I hope they know that as with all lovers of the very best who are besotted with their black, blue or white machines, I may exaggerate just a little. HTH, Arch

Fortiter,

This is your best to date Arch! LMAO

Arch,

You may be a COC, but you're also a gem. ;-)

As for the original question, any one that's set up and usable. I know wherof I speak, as I have several not in that state, and I'm itching very badly to get them there. After almost 3 years of purgatory (wobbly plywood box bowl lathe, and the 1954 shopsmith I first learned to turn on being the only thngs that fit in my 8x10 "shop", and there's usually too much other crap to actually get in and use them) I'm finishing the roof framing on the 24x48 shop, and hope to get my would-be favorite lathes (aged like fine wine since thier initial casting in the 1880's) out of the storage sheds they have been inhabiting.

I thought he was an absolute COOT. Martin