Thread: Buying A Lathe

Hey folks,

I have decided to buy a woodworking lathe; however, I'm unsure of what make or model to get. I'm willing to spend up to 300 pounds. Any help would be much appreciated.

I have been looking at MachineMart; however, if anyone knows of any other models, etc . . . I would really appreciate being told.

Cheers,
Paddington.

With all other things being equal, I would get the lathe with the biggest/heaviest castings and largest tapers that fit into my budget.

Charlie

Originally Posted by spazola

With all other things being equal, I would get the lathe with the biggest/heaviest castings and largest tapers that fit into my budget.

Charlie

What is a "Taper" and why is it important?

A lot of wood lathes use morse tapers, most have a #1 or #2 morse taper. The #2 is beefier and it is easier to find quality accessories with a #2 taper than with a #1 taper.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie! I never thought to look at the wikipedia

Thanks for the advice!

However, I'm still having some problems. When I'm looking on the websites I can't find any information on tapers or castings! I called my local tool place today and they didn't seem to know what I was talking about -- damn the inexperienced shop-worker.

Maybe the lathes that I am looking at are just too cheap.

Originally Posted by Paddington

Maybe the lathes that I am looking at are just too cheap.

That was my initial thought when I saw your number. But then again, I dont know jack about lathes. I just looked up how much they go for as I thought about doing some woodworking and polishing with a variable speed lathe. Entry level seems to be at about 1k, the cool stuff being twice that. I'm considering a woodturning class over a weekend where I can get acquainted with the machines and ask the people there questions before I buy the wrong equipment.

Try Micro Mark. I just got one of their mini-mills, and it seems to be a good machine.

I bought my lathe for $170 CAD, so 300 pounds should be able to get you something decent.

I have a King Canada 10"x16" lathe Power Tools, Woodworking and Metalworking Machines by King Canada . It has nice, heavy castings, #2 tapers and a reasonably powerful motor. I'm not sure you can get them on that side of the pond, but you should be able to get something similar.

I don't know much about woodworking, but much about metals, I was once told you could use a metal lathe as a wood turner with great results... much sturdier than woodworking lathes.