Lathe question

[Greg Griswold]

Let me start by saying that I have never used a Lathe before. They have always scared me a bit, however, the time has come to add one to my shop.

I would like to purchase a mini lathe. Should be a good place to start, and I would like to give pen making a try.

There are a lot of mini lathes on the market. What should I look for in a lathe? What would you recomment for a "hobbiest" who would like to start out with pen making? Can a mini lathe be used for anything other than pen making?

Thanks for reading this, and for any help you can offer.

Greg

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Hi Greg. I have a Jet Variable Speed Mini Lathe, and it is a fine little machine. I turn Pens and many other smaller items on it. It is great for small bowls, spindle work, and lidded boxes. Pretty much anything you can turn on a larger machine can be turned on a Mini Lathe...................just in a smaller scale. I would recommend going with a variable speed machine though......it will help you with sanding and such, and IMO, it would be easier to get started with. The cost is a little more for a VS mini, but worth every dime. Good luck................you will love turning! Let us know what you decide, and have fun with it!

[Gary Max]

Just my 2 cents worth ----I think you would be much happier if you bought a Midi.
The cost is not a lot greater but the size of projects you can turn is.

[Dick Parr]

I will second the Jet Mini. Great little lathe.

[Bob Smalser]

Once you learn it....and it's easy and fun....you'll probably want to do full-sized turnings, too.

Delta 46's can be had used on Ebay for local pickup in the neighborhood of 275 bucks. Not a OneWay, but a good commercial-grade 14" lathe that'll do porch columns as well as pens.

[Ray Dockrey]

I also have the electronic variable speed JET mini and I love it. I have had it since March and am very happy with it. If Bob is referring to the 46-715 Delta, I had one of those for about seven months before the JET mini and I had nothing but trouble with it. If you do some searching here and other forums, you will see it wasn't just me having problems. Hopefully Delta has fixed the issues by now. Good luck with whatever decision you make and happy turning.

[Dennis Peacock]

Hey Greg,

Just get a PM 3520A and turn all the little stuff and pens you want!!!!

Sooner or later....you'll upgrade to a bigger lathe....just you wait and see.

[Peter Liebert]

Another vote for the variable speed Jet. Since I turn, sand, and finish my pens on the lathe, having to change belts would get old VERY fast. The variable speed Jet is still a 3-pulley drive, but I find having electronic variable speed within each pulley range is certainly adequate.

While I agree that a larger lathe would be nice (and in my own long term wish list), I have also turned small spindles, tool handles, and small bowls on the Jet, and think for the money, it's arguably the best starter lathe available.

[Michael Stafford]

I have used the Jet Mini and I agree it is an impressive little machine. One thing about it is that if you decide that turning ain't your thang your haven't invested your life savings. However since you are going to love turning you can't go wrong buying bigger and better like Dennis said. Good entry level lathe, perfect for pens but capable of much larger projects. Dennis, a 3520 for pens!?!

[Bob Smalser]

If Bob is referring to the 46-715 Delta, I had one of those for about seven months before the JET mini and I had nothing but trouble with it. If you do some searching here and other forums, you will see it wasn't just me having problems. Hopefully Delta has fixed the issues by now.

News to me...my 46 is older...Delta's been making this no-belt-change lathe a while...there's a half dozen or so among my associates here and there are no problems I know of. Also some Grizzly's around here that their owners like.

My point is that the learning curve, ROI and fun factor on lathes is very rapid....you'll want a larger one soon....why not acquire a proven older one on the used market now and save some dough in the long run?

[Jerry Palmer]

I'll jump in with the folks recommending going with a larger machine. If you've got the space, you're gonna want to try bigger stuff real soon and while you can turn pens on a bigger lathe, you can't turn larger bowls on the minis. I would say at least a 12 inch machine and even better would be a 14 inch one.

[Greg Griswold]

Thanks all for the advise. I'll start looking at the Jet vairable speed and the Delta 46.

I'm looking forward to trying this spinning stuff.

OK, another question - once I have a lathe, is there a "starter kit" of turning tools? I know that I will need specific turning tools once I get started, but I will need something to rub against the wood when I finally get the lathe and figure out how to chuck up a piece of wood.

Thanks

Greg

[Bob Smalser]

Don't scrimp on lathe tools...the bad ones are really bad...not just the Chinese ones, even the older, NOS Disston sets and the newer Bucks.

And, of course, the new Sorby's are so expensive you'll have to mortgage your house. Freud made a good, reasonably-priced set a while back I no longer see any more.

Lotsa good-quality older sets out there, but they are often too short to have much life left. Here's an excellent set of Greenlees:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...121471748&rd=1

And a useable set of DR Barton's:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...121040133&rd=1

The irony of all this is that novices need a full set of tools for spindle work....but after a few weeks of practice you'll set them all aside except for the skews, parting tool and roughing gouge. Learn the skew, and you don't need much else until you get to bowls.



I've taken to making my own lathe tools. Older, handleless cast steel socket gouges and firmer chisels like Witherby, Buck, PS&W, Swan et. al. are to be had for a song on Ebay and are easily rehandled and reground into what you need. Yeah, I know....lathe tools are made with M2 steel so they can go straight from the grinder to the lathe...but guess what?...that fine old, glass-like cast steel of three generations ago holds its edge as long as my modern Sorbys, and are just as easy to touch up on the stones as the Sorbys are on the grinder.

Heresy, I know...but it works for me....and also a 16-year-old's very first turning below: