First Lathe

[Dudley]

Hello folks. I have been reading this forum for a little while and decided to seek input for the purchase of my first lathe.

I am looking to turn smaller items: pens, gavels, goblets, bowls, and platters. I would like some input into which lathe would be best for a TOTAL beginner.

My budget does not allow for a lot, but I think I can spend around $500-$600 dollars to get me started. I have had wonderful luck with my Craftsman power tools, but there seems to be a lot of negative reviews of their lathes. So, I've been looking at the Delta Midi, the Jet Mini, and the Rikon Mini from Woodcraft. Because I have limited space on "my" side of the garage, I thought I would buy the leg set that goes with one of these machines.

I'm leaning towards the Rikon. I've read a lot of good things about it, but I could splurge and go with the Jet VS. I know there are a lot of things I'm going to need or want as my turning advances and I don't want to buy a machine that is going to frustrate me out of the hobbie.

So I guess my questions are:
1. What are your feelings of these machines?
2. Other than the lathe and stand, is a five piece tool kit good to start?
3. I have a grinder, should I try to fit a sharpening jig into my budget?
4. What types of blanks should I start with? (Mostly for practice)

Thanks in advance for all of your help,
Brad

 

[flooshee]

I have the Jet mini-lathe, and I love it. I haven't turned in a few years, but I assume the newer models are probably even better than the one I bought. It's built solid and plenty big for anything I might do in the near future. However, if you're interested in doing large faceplate work, you'll be out of luck. They do offer the bed extension if you want to do longer work between centers.

 

[Andy Hoyt]

.... So I guess my questions are:

1. What are your feelings of these machines?
2. Other than the lathe and stand, is a five piece tool kit good to start?
3. I have a grinder, should I try to fit a sharpening jig into my budget?
4. What types of blanks should I start with? (Mostly for practice)

Brad

Brad - I've read an equal number of positive and negative reviews of the Rikon - It's new and has some kinks that need ironing out. Were I in your shoes, I'd opt for one of the others, with a lean towards the Jet.

If you can't sharpen properly, you'll hate turning. So yes, get or make a jig.

And to practice tool control, just rip some good old 2x4s into 1.5 x 1.5 stock and have it. But buy new 2x4's so they'll be a bit on the wet side.

 

[woodwish]

I started with the Delta Midi and loved it, never had any trouble. It was small enough to just set on my table saw when I wanted to turn and then put it down on the floor out of the way when I needed the saw. I have also turned on Jet Minis. The early VS models had all the power of a toy, they were a joke, but the fixed speed model was about identical to the Delta. Between those two it's more a matter of price or color of paint preference. The new Jet Mini VS has far better reviews so I guess they fixed the lack of power problem.

I turned a lot of pens, bottle stoppers, small platters (-8" ) and some small bowls. The biggest problem with bowls was not the size as much as lack of low speed. A natural edge bowl nearing 8" dia (max) in green wood at 500rpm will scare you to bad to turn it. Been there, tried that! For smaller stuff those mini and midi lathes are great. I still have mine and use it for demos and such.

I started with a 5-piece set that I got with it as part of package deal, and then as my skills grew I replaced them with better tools and more variety. I probably have 30 turning tools now and still look at new ones. I do find that turning tools are pretty much you get what you pay for, and starter tool sets are cheap. Don't get me wrong, cheap tools will turn fine but need more sharpening. Aslo when I got a bigger lathe I found I needed bigger tools to turn bigger stuff.

I started sharpening freehand on a cheap no-name grinder, and did pretty good. I later bought slow-speed grinder and a Wolverine system. It probably does a better job but takes time to set up for various tools. I typically will sharpen freehand 3 or 4 times to touch up, and then use the system for a more complete sharpening.

Proably the one add-on that will give you the most varity of things to turn is a good 4-jaw chuck, but they can cost as much as the lathe. There are some cheaper knock-offs on the market now but I personally have not tried them. Without the chuck you can still turn a lot of stuff like pens and bottle stoppers (with a drill chuck or something similar).

Hope this helps. I would also tell you from teaching students to stick to dependable dried woods with steady grain, like maple or walnut. Avoid burls and curly woods until your skills are pretty good. Also avoid the temptation to grab a chuck of 4x4 from the box stores, the efffort to turn is not worth the trouble. Practice, practice, practice. If you live near an AAW chapter it is well worth it to visit. All the books and videos out there pale in comparison to actually watching and talking to a real person. Good luck!

 

[dkulze]

Hey Dudley.

Here's my usual quick list:

Face Shield (goggles won't protect the rest of your face)
Half Mask Respirator (dust mask won't stop the small, dangerous stuff)
Jet Mini (non-vs, speed range is fine and low speed is stronger, cheaper too)
Wolverine Jig with Varigrind attachment (longer tool life and better turning)
Basic decent set of gouges (Woodcraft has good deals on the Pinnacle sets)

* with the tool set, the Pinnacle set with 8 tools is better. You really want to have a 3/4 skew, 3/8 bowl gouge, and deep flute roughing tool in any set you get. Scrapers are actually great at first but not so needed as skill builds and would recommend making or buying cheap ones. The exceptions to this are the high end box and bowl scrapers that you might end up with when you're doing larger work later on.

The above list should run you about $500-600 all together. If you can spare another $100 to get a small Nova chuck, it will be well worth the investment.

As to wood, I'm big on grabbing some solid stuff out of the woodpile, roughing it a bit with chainsaw or band saw, and going at it.

Lastly, your single best investment will be in tracking down and contacting your nearest turning club for support, instruction, and general sympathy as you begin to spend waaaaaaay more than you ever planned on this new hobby.

Have fun,
Dietrich

 

[JimQ]

I have the Delta Midi, and have been very satisfied with it. I think that for the choice between Delta and Jet, see what is more common in your area and which one you can get a better deal on. Mechanically they are almost twins, but the controls are different.

I Agree with Dietrich about protection, but cheap tools are not really bad to start with because you need to learn to sharpen, and I am glad I didn't have to learn on Sorby tools. An inexpensive set to start with, then add what you find you need after that. Sometimes a little 5 piece set comes with the mini lathes. Put them aside for after you find out how to use tools, then use them for detail and small stuff.

JimQ

 

[S. Clark]

I have a Delta Midi and have been very pleased with it. The machine works so well that it’s easy to over do its’ bowl capacity though. The unit works best for small bowls up to about 6†or 7†diameter. I’ve turned bowls to the maximum capacity, 9-7/8â€Â, and while this is doable, unless the wood is very balanced it places a lot of stress on the machine. Even with it bolted solid to a work surface, there isn’t enough mass in the head to handle material this size. Great machine for turning pens and spindles!

Get a work light! Something you can mount or clamp close to the machine and can be adjusted to direct light onto the turning as necessary.

As has been suggested, a chuck is handy but not immediately necessary. You'll need a pen mandrel if your going to play pensmith though.

You might want to look for some flea market or garage sale tools. This is a good way to save money until you learn what you really need. Otherwise I’d suggest you get a small bowl gouge (3/8â€Â), a spindle gouge (3/8â€Â), and a skew (1/2â€Â). Sets are fine but they will contain tools that you may not use immediately. You really don’t need anything larger than the tools I’ve listed for what you’ll turn on this little lathe.

I’m a proponent of hand grinding. If you can learn to turn, you can learn to hand grind. The grinding techniques are easier to learn than the turning techniques are. While there is a learning curve, a little time and patients with this in the long run will save you time over using jigs. And it’ll give you confidence for using a greater variety of tools and tool ginds in your turning. It will also save you money. I’d rather purchase two tools that to purchase a tool and a jig. I’m constantly surprised at how reticent people are to attempt hand grinding. I don’t know where this fear comes from. Hours upon hours are spent discussing the subject of sharpening (as you can see in some threads in this forum) and yet few people are willing to invest a single hours to learn the skill. Woodturning and sharpening go hand in hand. Spend a little time to learn to sharpen.

 

[gary7]

recent similar experience

I have also just gone through this. After reading this forum and talking with lots of others, I went with the Jet mini. Found it at the Farm and Fleet here in central Illinois for only $229 and still get the Jet $25 rebate! Decided on the Crown 8 piece turning set. Find it on sale at WoodWorkers Shop, also in illinois, on sale also till Christmas for only $200. The midi Nova chuck suggested earlier, you can find for $100 new at a good Canadian store throuh ebay. Even if you have to spend $279 (other cheapest place I found for a new Jet mini) at Amazon.com (they have free shipping too) you are still close to your budget.

 

[Dave Beringer]

So I guess my questions are:
1. What are your feelings of these machines?
2. Other than the lathe and stand, is a five piece tool kit good to start?
3. I have a grinder, should I try to fit a sharpening jig into my budget?
4. What types of blanks should I start with? (Mostly for practice)

Thanks in advance for all of your help,
Brad

I would stick with either the jet or delta lathes because they have been around for quite a while, the rikon is new to the market without a track record. I would also stick with the non variable speed model to save $. I have a jet mini non vs and a oneway 2436. I don't see the benefit of the vs on the mini to be honest. Your are not going to turn any thing that out of balance that would require severe speed changes.
I would not recommend a buying a set of tools. I would buy tools a few at a time so that you end up with exactly what you want and not settle for a tool because it was in the set. It may cost you a bit more but you will end up with higher quality tools that exactly fit your needs. To start with I would suggest a 1" roughing gouge a parting tool a 1/2 or larger bowl gouge and a 3/8" spindle gouge all made of high speed steel (HSS).
I would recommend a grinding jig. Specifically the oneway wolverine ( the basic unit, the long arm and the platform table). A jig will not only give you predictale results every time you sharpen but will allow your tools to last a long time by only removing minor amount during the sharpening process.
As far as blanks to start with I would recommend what ever hardwood is common to your area. Turn green if possible. Maple, cherry, walnut are all good for beginners. Free wood it the best. You should not feel obigated to end up with an end product but rather feel free to experiment and make tooth picks and bottomless bowls.

 

[Wilford Bickel]

I would add one thing to the above lists - a FACE SHIELD! Make sure you get one and wear it each time you turn! Even small projectiles can do lots of damage!

Wilford