Wood lathe ??????

[wafel1978]

Hi Guys !!!

Wondering if anyone can recommend a wood lathe to my. I would like something as is on the picture below . And please advise tolls for to

Thank you Pawel

[IMG]

[toesup]

Wondering if any can recommend a wood lathe

For both wood and metal (and the range of accessories!) i would recommend Sherline.
http://www.sherline.com/

[wafel1978]

thank you

[Brooks]

For modeling purposes, I think any metal lathe could be made to work as a wood lathe. I have used my Sherline lathe to turn wood, and it did the job fine. There is a wood lathe tool rest available from Sherline (it is about 5" long so you can move your tool around free hand).
Sherline webpage about woodturning on their lathe
http://www.sherline.com/3038inst.htm

[hpiguy]

For general hobby use, Harbor Freight has some very serviceable lathes.

[wafel1978]

How about

http://grizzly.com/products/mach-specs.aspx?key=565000


Can I do small project with this lathe (first from left H2669 Hobby Lathe 45.95 $)

I need that do detailed my boats . Do small lamps horn booms et cetera.


Waiting for respond and thank you for looking

Pawel

[Greg Knipp]

I like the Smithy lathe/mill combos myself.

Greg

[Brooks]

Probably any lathe can do any job that fits between the headstock and the tailstock. The question is, what tooling are you going to need? The lathe spins the part, but the tool is what does the cutting. If you have the knowledge and skill and time, you can make any tools you need (Lathe is called the Queen of Tools for that reason). The Sherline company supplies lots of tools, which is a time savings for me...plus I don't have the skill to make anything I need :-).

The experienced machinist can compensate for errors in a lathe; the inexperienced machinist will become experienced, if he keeps his patience, dealing with a cheap lathe. Lot's of folks use cheap Chinese equipment just fine. Whether that's because the quality is actually good, or because the machinist is good is unknown to me. Not all parts have to made precisely, so not all jobs need a super quality lathe. Buying powertools is sort of a philosophical question, in the end.

[Shaun Hendricks]

It's also a pocketbook question.

I'm using my Ryobi drill press as a poorman's vertical mill. It works fine for the work I'm doing. Way too much slop for precision work but it does what I need. I could lathe with it if I felt like it, just change the head and put a tailstock head on the base.

It comes down to how much imprecision would most of your work be able to handle and how effectively can you use the tool.

I think a cheap Harbor Freight rig would work for 99% of my projects but if I was dealing with anything of a precise nature, I'd look for a better machine or take it to a machine shop.

The good machines start at $1500 and go up. BTW, harbor frieght sells a couple of sizes of wood lathes for pretty good prices, like Brooks said, would almost be more of the skill of the craftsman, not the tool.

[wafel1978]

Hi thank you for so many answers .

Let my give you some examples

http://www.billingboats.com/fittings.htm




That’s things I am planning to do with lathe .The question is do I be able to with this grizzly lathe ???

[hpiguy]

Does your drill spin up fast enough to give good cuts? I don't know of many drills that can spinup as fast as a lathe motor can when needed.

Maybe for the work you don't need high speeds.

I would think (but can easily be wrong) that a hand drill just wouldn't give the speed for fine and smooth cuts.

[hpiguy]

I have a friend with this one and the adjustable speeds will be useful.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=38515

I think that hand drill one, you are likely limited to one speed of about 1200 rpmor whatever your drill can do max.

[wafel1978]

Hmm that the nice one , especially price Thanks

[Shaun Hendricks]

hpiguy:

I don't know if you directed that first question at me but my drill press is incrementable between 500 RPM and 3000 RPM in increments of 10 RPM. It has a CVT transmission that is run by a handle on the side. It's a really nice drill press for the price, I couldn't beat it even with Harbor Freight.

Here's a couple of pictures of it at work:
http://static.rcgroups.com/forums/attachments/4/3/6/4/6/a1861413-83-24NewToy%40work.jpg
Here you can see the digital readout but the flash washed out the display:
http://static.rcgroups.com/forums/attachments/4/3/6/4/6/a1891136-197-32Polishing.jpg

I probably would never try to seriously use it as a lathe as working vertically is working counter to some gravity advantages and a vertical tool stock would probably not be the safest thing. I could machine vertically without much problem but any hand work would be a bit more frightening.

[hpiguy]

I was replying to the guy that posted a lathe where you bolt in an electric drill and use that as your motor and chuck.

I didn't think that the one constant slower speed of a hand drill would allow precise adjustments for types, depths of different cuts and different materials.

[wafel1978]

how about that

http://www.carpediemstore.com/viewItem.asp?idProduct=19

[toesup]

how about that

http://www.carpediemstore.com/viewItem.asp?idProduct=19

"Distance between centers; 9 27/32” (250mm), swing; 3 5/32 (center height 1 35/64” (40 mm)"

Be warned, you will ALWAYS want to swing something bigger / longer than the lathe you have. Think about the length and / or Dia of things you will be turning before settling on a lathe.

[steamboatmodel]

You might want to check http://www.taigtools.com/ ,I would go with a small metal lathe and/or mill for doing fittings.
Regards,
Gerald