OK, help me choose a new lathe

[Matt Meiser]

I sold my Jet mini, or at least I will have sold it come Thursday, so, now I need to find a new lathe. I know that the first thing everyone will recommend is a Powermatic or Oneway, but I'm not looking in that class. I really can't/don't want to spend more than $4-500. I'm looking for a full size lathe that will be great for table legs and an occasional bowl/vase/etc. I plan to eventually build or buy a template setup for spindles and want the ability to do things like fluted turnings, so indexing capability would be nice, but I can always build a jig to do the indexing, so that's not really important. I realize that if I ever do decide to get serious into turning, that this lathe won't be my last, but I want to go to a full size lathe so that any fixturing would apply to a different lathe if that time comes, and I don't expect it to as I'm just not that interested in turnings (though I do enjoy looking at the stuff you guys and gals "turn" out.) I also already have 1"x8TPI chuck, so I'd like to find a lathe that will work with that. I've identified a few options:

• A used Jet 1236 or the Harbor Freight clone. The HF is available 10 minutes from work and will likely be on sale for $179 in the near future given HF's history. I've read a lot of recommendations for this lathe and only a few negative comments. The 1236's come up for sale occasionally, but I'd just have to wait and see to find one.
• An old-iron 12x36ish lathe. This would probably be ideal, but I don't want to get into a money pit, so I would need to buy from someone I trust (and deal with shipping) or find one close by. This would probably be the ideal choice, but the trick would be finding something. Plus I'm under the impression that I'd probably end up having to put a VFD on it to get more than a couple speeds which adds to the cost.
• Grizzly G0462. I'd consider this a higher end lathe for what I'm looking for and it is fairly new so I didn't find to much on it. I did read some negative comments on the older Grizzly lathes but don't know how much they've changed on their newer ones.

I also found the cast iron bed Delta new for a pretty reasonable price close by, but it is over my price range and I read a lot of complaints about it so I took it off my list.

[Chris Barton]

Hi Matt,

This is always a tough question to deal with. My own perspective is that you should get as much lathe as you can afford, in fact more than you can afford would be beter. I personally would rather go into debt to get a great lathe that would satisfy a lifetime of turning than cycle through a few "make do's". My temptation in your case would be to either find a used Jet 1642, a new Jet 1642, or a Oneway 1224. They are all below 2K and would probably serve your needs forever. Used 1642 can be found but, they are rare. Maybe you could find a used PM3520a or DVR?

Good Luck

PS: I just realized that a Rikon with a bed extension would fit this bill as well...

[Frank Fusco]

My lathe is a Grizzly G1067Z. It has been quite satisfactory and for the price (about $400.00) the best value on the market at the time I bought it. There are a couple drawbacks, the non-standard 1"X12tpi spindle being the most annoying. But recently, Grizzly has introduced two new models with more power and superior features for about $100.00 LESS money. (and standard 1"X8tpi spindle) When I asked a salesman at the Springfield, Missouri store about this he said that the company had moved most of it's manufacturing from Taiwan to mainland China. In doing so, they are ablt to produce superior products for less money. From what I see of them, for $300.00 to $400.00 one can get a nearly equivalent machine to the ones costing thousands. And that isn't an exaggeration. A wise shopper would, at least, check them out. And at those prices, if you aren't happy, they could almost be discarded without taking food out of baby's mouth.

[Steve Ash]

• An old-iron 12x36ish lathe. This would probably be ideal, but I don't want to get into a money pit, so I would need to buy from someone I trust (and deal with shipping) or find one close by. This would probably be the ideal choice, but the trick would be finding something. Plus I'm under the impression that I'd probably end up having to put a VFD on it to get more than a couple speeds which adds to the cost.

You knew I was going to say it Matt.....Oliver.

You don't need a VFD to get variable speeds it has a reeves drive already built in. I go from slow to fast (1000-2400) in just a turn of the dial.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hi Matt,

This is always a tough question to deal with. My own perspective is that you should get as much lathe as you can afford, in fact more than you can afford would be beter. I personally would rather go into debt to get a great lathe that would satisfy a lifetime of turning than cycle through a few "make do's". My temptation in your case would be to either find a used Jet 1642, a new Jet 1642, or a Oneway 1224. They are all below 2K and would probably serve your needs forever. Used 1642 can be found but, they are rare. Maybe you could find a used PM3520a or DVR?

Good Luck

PS: I just realized that a Rikon with a bed extension would fit this bill as well...

Chris gets my vote.

I think that if you don't raise your budget a little, you will be upgrading at some point.

My two yen's worth.

Cheers!

[tod evans]

matt, i`m with chris-n-stu....02 tod

[Steve Ash]

My two yen's worth.

Okay you have two yen and Tod has .02.....which is worth more?

[Bob Noles]

Matt,

If you go for the HF..... Here is a little incentive

http://ww2.harborfreightusa.com/show...geid=202&email=

[Matt Meiser]

You knew I was going to say it Matt.....Oliver.

You don't need a VFD to get variable speeds it has a reeves drive already built in. I go from slow to fast (1000-2400) in just a turn of the dial.

You're going to make me call that guy, aren't you.

[Steve Ash]

You're going to make me call that guy, aren't you.

Just in case you forgot his number..

<TABLE cellPadding=5 width=400 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Post Date:</TD><TD vAlign=top>04/02/2006</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top>Category:</TD><TD vAlign=top>Lathes</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top>Machine Type:</TD><TD vAlign=top>Variable Speed lathe</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top>Model:</TD><TD vAlign=top>159MW</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Serial No:</TD><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Capacities:</TD><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Dimensions:</TD><TD vAlign=top>H x L x W</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Weight:</TD><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Motor:</TD><TD vAlign=top>HP PH V </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Accessories:</TD><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Location:</TD><TD vAlign=top>MI</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top>Comments:</TD><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Price:</TD><TD vAlign=top>$500 OBO</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Phone No:</TD><TD vAlign=top>313-289-5593</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top height=12>Contact Name:</TD><TD vAlign=top>Paul Silfven</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Daniel Heine]

Hello,

I bought a brand new Palmgren lathe 3 weeks ago. Palmgren is the company that makes the Craftsman 15" lathe. I am very happy with it. Fetaures include:

1 X 8 headstock
#2 MT on both ends
15" capacity over the bed
20" outboard capacity
Variable speed
38" bed

It's $480.00 at Sears.

Good Luck,
Dan Heine

[Matt Meiser]

Guys, I hear you that I may end up upgrading again in the future, but for the forseeable future there is just no way I can justify spending $1-$2000 on a lathe because I'm just not going to use it that much. Not to mention what LOML will say

[Jim Davenport]

To bad you sold your Jet. in my personal view, A Rikon and later get the extension would fit your needs. It has a twelve inch swing, and seems to be very well made. I've had mine for a while now, and love it. When I bought mine I looked at the Harbor Freight model. I have a friend that's an assistant manager at the local store. He said that they have a lot of returns on that lathe. They have various parts broken, a lot of problems with the "variable Reeves drive". I'm sure there's a lot of HF lathes out there with no problems, but with my luck I'd get a bad one. HF quality is kinda a hit or miss thing. Do you feel lucky? HF is great on returns, but it's still a hassle.
My local Woodcraft store can't keep the Rikon's in stock, and only had a couple of returns.

[Brad Hart]

With the budget you have there are 3 new lathe choices. The HF 34706 is a great lathe just make sure you get the warranty especially since you live close to the store. The sears that was mentioned was something I had massive problems with and it took many nice but firm phone calls and personal visits to get it right and when that didn't work it took a very ugly temper tantrum from me to get a full refund. The other lathe that will fit your budget is the new grizzley 16 inch. I by no means would dare turn something that big on it, with the motor speed combo it has but it would give you a future plateform to easily upgrade with a bolt on VFD.

[Ed Labadie]

For the money your wanting to spend, go with the Oliver. A model 167 is another choice. Not cast iron but a nice lathe with variable speed. My 167 will fit close to 45" between centers.

Ed