Harbor Freight lathes

[chester mccarter]

Does anyone have any experience with the lathe sold by HF. I am considering the 12 x 33 for $249.

Or what about the Shop Fox or rikon.

My shopsmith is about to give up the ghost. I'l like to spend between $200 and $400.

the delta and jet appear to be a bit on the expensive side.


chester

[Steve Vaughan]

I have no experience with the HF, but I would think you're going to be stepping down. I think you'd be way better to get a few more bucks and keep an eye out on craigslist, and even ebay. Or maybe if you have some turners living nearby or a turning club nearby to check with them.

[Brian Vaughn]

I have the bigger version, the 14x48, and it's okay. For as rarely as I turn, it works, but keep in mind, the threads where you would attach a new chuck are not standard. You'll need an adapter for most of the chucks out there. Also, I occasionally have problems with the tailstock getting a good grip. The tailstock uses a nut that you will need a wrench handy to lock down. Unfortunately, I've never had it stay locked down during an extended (>30 minutes) turning session ...And if I really tighten up on the tail using the hand wheel, I've been known to cause the rails to bow a little. For a basic lathe that you'll use occaionally, it works. If you're going to use it weekly or more, spend a little more and get something quality.

[Dick Wilson]

Hate to bust the bubble but the Shopsmith is the worst as far as a lathe is concerned. I know, I have one, and I tried to turn on it. Forget about boring holes for a peppermill. That was the straw that led to Jet purchase. A lot depends on what you want to turn now and in the future. IMHO, at the $200 to $400 price range I would think you could get into the Jet Midi. At least a good used one. I think I would stay away from HF. What are they going to do for you as far as parts/repair if that should happen. I have no knowledge of Shop Fox. I might be wrong but I put them in Shopsmith class. Rikon has good name but know nothing about them either. I would go Delta or Jet if possible.

[Roger Chandler]

You would be miles and miles ahead if you went ahead and spent $550 or thereabouts for a Delta 46-460 VS with 1 hp motor. Harbour Freight lathes are too fast on low speed for bowl blanks and are mainly designed to do spindle work. You would be pleased with the Delta.............many turners on this forum have it and is is a good midi lathe.

[Tim Rinehart]

Can't argue with Roger's recommendation on the Delta...a fine small lathe. If you come across a good deal on a Rikon, I'll say they take quite the beating from our area clubs and just keep on performing. The Jets are a super small lathe also, really gets down to the offers and what you find on used market. I have no experience with the Turncrafter series from PSI, but the company has a good reputation and I've not heard anything bad...just haven't heard much from other turners. Good luck with your choice...it's pretty wide open in that size these days. I'm sure you'll get LOTS of advice on this thread from others with various machines...beauty of this forum!!!.

[Chip Sutherland]

I have no experience with HF lathes but I don't think you will be happy with the HF in a couple of months especially if you get sucked into the turning vortex. Join a local woodturning club. Somebody is usually selling a lathe or will let you use a spare. I haven't checked Grizzly's quality recently but I'd look at them, too, if price is the break point. You'll need some extra funds for tools, chucks, accessories...all of which you will want to buy the best you can afford, too.

Stick with Saw Mill Creek....this is a great forum regardless of the advice and opinions we share.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I would also say to get the Delta. I also have a SS and yes, it is far from a "good" lathe. I got the Jet mini, but that was long ago, before the Delta or 1220 was available. I've turned on the Delta, and it is probably the best "bang for the buck" in the small lathe market. I've also turned on the Rikon 12" and it's a good deal if you get it on sale at 299.

[John Hart]

My BIL bought one of them things and I got to use it. I only wanted to use it once....yuk.

He ended up deciding that he didn't like woodturning.

Lots of sheet metal rattling and echoing, spindle runout no good. Non standard spindle threads.

But on the good side....It had a motor...a tool rest....and a live center. All the stuff you needed to turn wood.

[Reid Strand]

I've got the harbor freight 12"x33 3/8", and, depending upon what you're looking for, I say go for it. I had a Craftsman before I picked up the HF. The HF was a substantial improvement (nowhere to go but up). For $249-> less 10-20% (coupons are everywhere), it was about half of anything else I was looking at and bigger. The 3/4 hp motor has been reliable and sufficient (yes, 1 hp would be better). The 1", 8tpi spindle is standard enough.

THE BAD
- Needed some adjustment out of the box. Maybe an hour or 2 once it was assembled to do things like de-burr the ways, remove paid drips from the spindle, clean sand from the morse tapers (yikes).
- the tool rest extention and adjustments are poorly thought out.
- the sheet metal stand is loud, and really benefits from some balast sand (but don't a lot of lathes?)
- slowest speed of 600 RPMs is to fast (but it makes life "interesting", and the thing runs slow anyway).

The good
-affordable
- adequate
- 4+ years of nothing breaking

I'm not looking to contribute to any more HF/cheap Chinese junk/ American companies/ great customer service discussions. Lord knows anyone can find enough of those discussions on the web. I'm just saying that I bought the HF because I didn't want to spend $500, $1000, or $10,000 on a great lathe that I didn't know how much I would use. As it happens, I've used it a lot more than I ever thought I would and have not felt compelled to spend the money to upgrade. Is it Delta or Powermatic quality? NO, I've used those. they are better. But this one has been "good enough" for me and I've gotten my money out of it.

P.S. If you go this route, go only with the 12", the 14" costs less, but has a smaller motor, has no outboard option, and weighs less. Also, when you buy it, as with anything from HF, put it together immediately and test it. If somethings wrong, they'll take it back or replace it at the store, but that only stands for a very limited time.

[David Gandy]

I would really try to buy a quality lathe and for the money you have available might I suggest you think of a used lathe. Quality American made examples show up on Craigs List often. I would look for models by Powermatic, Walker Turner, Delta Rockwell, and if you get lucky like I did, I found an Oliver 159A for 160 bucks. Even an older craftsman would be superior to the Horror Fright models made in Chiwenese. Another place to look is on the classifieds http/www.owwm.org that you must join but will find well worth the effort. If you can find a three phase unit, don't hesitate, get it and install a vfd for not much dough which will enable you to have on the run variable speed. Course, one may need a bit of mechanical aptitude to go this route but those American made machines are no longer in production and the inventory that is out there can be had for nearly scrap metal prices.

David G.....shooter of green bears

[Roy Turbett]

My club bought three HF lathes on sale for less than $150 and use them for mentoring workshops and demonstrations. I don't like the tool rest mechanism but other than that the lathe performed OK for occasional use. I went the used lathe route and haven't regreted it one bit. I have two Powermatic 90's in my shop. I spent more than your budget but know I'll be able to resell them for what I have into them if and when I decide to upgrade.

[Salvatore Buscemi]

Another good thing about a quality used lathe is that you can hardly lose money on them. Case in point, my first lathe was a delta 1460, bought it for 200, used it till I wanted to upgrade, and then sold it (for a small profit). You most likely wont be able to do that with a Harbor Freight lathe, it's gonna lose half it's value once you take it out of the store, and if you like turning at all, that probably won't be your "last" lathe.

I spent a little more than your budget on my next lathe, but I'm only into this one for a little over 600, and 175 of that was the VFD (well worth it).

Sal

[John Keeton]

The only HF lathe worth buying is the 34706 - a clone of the Jet 1236. Most, if not all, of the parts are interchangeable. It was my first lathe, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Went from that to the Delta 46-460, and now the Jet 1642. For the money, the 34706 is hard to beat. And, I would disagree on losing a lot of money on them. They sell quickly at $150, so you may lose $50.

The Delta is a much better lathe, but for starters, I wouldn't hesitate to get the HF. And, if you have the space, keeping it for a Beall buffing station might be a good plan.

[David E Keller]

I've got a Rikon midi lathe, and I got a bunch of mileage out of it with pens, stopper, boxes, small bowls, etc. I've since upgraded to a larger lathe, but I had good luck with the little Rikon.