Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Woodworking). This thread is read-only.
I have my own garage shop currently building furniture, but have always been interested in turning. I have never used a lathe. I was looking at the Jet lathes. What size should I get? Eventually, I would want to use it for legs for furniture. My Questions:
What lathe should I start out with? (Brands, Size)
Good wood turning tools?
Uses?
An info about lathes would help. Thank You.
I got a little into lathes for a while. I highly recommend a Nova Chuck for whatever you get. You are going to want to make sure you have: a bench grinder, a white stone wheel for the grinder, the commitment to make a sharpening jig, and a diamond dressing wheel for the stone. Sharp tools are an absolute must. I can say that I have heard nothing but extremely positive stuff about Jet lathes. Turning wood is easily the most relaxing thing ever. I wish I could get back into it but I have an open motor that I can’t get sawdust near. I have a Harbor Freight lathe that is alright. As far as size goes, it is up to you . The good thing for you is that you are doing more spindle work for furniture legs so you can get a lathe where the head stock doesn’t have to accept rediculously large sizes. If you haven’t already I recommend Carl Jacobsen’s videos on youtube. He makes some stellar stuff.
Honestly, look in your area for a local turning club, that’s what I did. I went to one of their meetings, and have been invited to several members houses for some one-on-one how-to. Turners are generally a nice bunch of folks, and will be happy to get new turners into the hobby. I have not bought a lathe yet, but after much research, I decided on the JET 1221VS – It was recommended has a nice starter lather, of course you can always get the Harbor Freight one
You can start here to find a local AWW chapter – http://www.woodturner.org/?page=Chapters
Friendly Folks here, that will be happy to get you pointed in the right direction – http://www.woodturnersresource.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl
Here are a couple great YouTube Channels – Carl Jacobson https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcG7TVNR1QxeAbVEeLa4seQ
and
The WyomingWoodTurner has a great introduction series https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRZxyT3UUS8spkIZDAsaFnA
There’s a reason why both of us mentioned Carl Jacobsen. That dude is a pimp.
I love turning wood, wish I set more time aside to do more. And get a decent lathe…
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I dont do much wood turning as i machine metal but i can say ive run plenty of JET lathes and they’ve always been pretty good.
I use my grandfathers woodtek one that’s really nice but they are expensive
Dano, I’m sorry I didn’t see this post but I’d,li,e to recommend the Rikon 70-220VSR. I’ve had mine since the beginning of winter and it is a PHENOMENAL lathe. I’ve used several during a class I took and the Midi does everything I need including the ability to turn bowls. There is a tail stock extension available too for making some larger pieces too. Here is the link to Wppdcraft but I actually got mine for about 350 as it had a recalled electronic switch. I was told the switches were fine and Rikon authorized the huge reduction an included a second electric switch to boot. I love my lathe and have since bought a Rikon 14″ bandsaw. I’m loving the Rikon tools I have and as my shop grows I’ll add a couple of more.
http://www.woodcraft.com/product/861205/rikon-70220vsr-midi-lathe.aspx
Now I’m conflicted, I have always wanted to do wood turning. Getting large bowl size blanks would be hard for me. I guess I could buy. Thought the jet would be a good beginner choice but now that Chris though out the rikon? I don’t know what to do? Looking for guidance too.
Well keep in mine that mine is not a full size lathe. It’s big but it ain’t going to turn really large bowls. I’ve heard the Jet is great. I know first hand that the Ppwer attic is AWESOME. I’ve also got a few hours on one of the bigger Novas. Great machine. But I really love my Rikon. It’s the perfect size for me. I’m not planning on turning long legs (I’m more of an arts and crafts style guy and love square tapers). But I could certainly turn some smaller ones without ANY problem!
I have a Nova 1624 and this is my first (probably my last as well) lathe. I love that thing. If you watch the woodcraft ads, they will have them on sale for about $900 at least once or twice a year. They also introduced a new electronic variable speed version of this model this year. I would love that unit.
Jets also have a good name, but I feel that they are overpriced for what you get.