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WTB Beginner lathe

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Roger Wiegand

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Your local chapter(s) are a great place to ask. Ours has complete lathe setups we loan to new turners; someone among the membership almost always has a lathe available over the course of a few months as they upgrade equipment.

Craigslist and FB marketplace are the next obvious sources. In our area there are always a half dozen interesting lathes for sale at any given time. They are simple machines, not much to go wrong and not much that's hard to fix if it does. It's rare to find a lathe that has been worn out. Replacing belts and bearings is pretty easy. You should be able to tell if the motor is working, on a belt driven machine swapping the motor out is typically trivial. A lathe with a dead motor may be an advantage as used three phase motors are typically cheap, and in combination with a VFD can add variable speed readily to an older lathe. Avoid models that have odd spindle and taper sizes, if you stick to #2 morse tapers and one of the common spindle threads like 1-1/4 x 8 tpi then any of your accessories like chucks will transfer when you decide to upgrade.

There are, of course a million new choices. In general the same dollars will get you a much nicer piece of equipment used than new.
 
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You might want to determine the type and size of pieces you want to turn before you purchase the lathe. You can turn small pieces on a large lathe but will struggle to turn large pieces on a smaller underpowered lathe. Many woodturners start off turning pens, ornamental pieces and small vessel items on a bench top lathe. There are hundreds of items you can turn on these smaller lathes to learn the process and master the tool techniques used. If you want to turn larger/heavier pieces you will want a larger machine with more horsepower and speed control. Most woodturners turning larger pieces move up to a VFD powered machine with the horsepower that can turn the pieces they desire to craft. Some of the smaller machines use a Morse Taper #1 for the spindle and tailstock, you are then committed to those types and sizes of accessories. Your mid-size lathes use a Morse Taper #2 on the Spindle and tailstock this is a common size of taper for the mid-sized accessories available. The external thread on the spindle for the mid-size lathes are usually 1x8 thread which is common for the face plate and chucks available in the market. When you get into the bigger machines the Morse Taper can vary of the spindle and tail-stock along with the spindle thread will vary on how large of a lathe you need and the size/weight of pieces being turned. The cost of the lathe will usually equal the cost of the accessories you will end up needing if you take a deep dive into the craft.
 
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Welcome to the forum. Something else that will help with recommendations is the space you have available and the amount you want to spend. In new lathes that can run from 800 for a small lathe to 8000 for almost top of the line.

So three pieces of info will give you better results:
1. Price range
2. What you plan to turn
3. Space available
 
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Thanks for the tips guys. I am looking for a smaller lathe, mini or midi (preferred). I have part of a 2 car garage for my workshop. The rest is taken by the wife’s van and endless amounts of kids stuff. It really piles up when you have 7 of them. I would like to turn smaller things. Small vessels, handles, pens, and I would really like to turn small posts for making my own German Christmas Pyramid.
 
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