Is this a good lathe?

[jleiwig]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180074725325&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:US:12

I'm looking to get a start fairly cheap to see if I really enjoy penturning as much as I think I will. This lathe is definitely in my price range, so I was wondering if it's any good?

 

[bradh]

I just bought a lathe like this at Christmas. I paid less than this on a clearance sale. Here is the thread with some feedback from others:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19873
I like this lathe. It is great for pens with the varaiable speed. It is not very heavy duty and it is easy to stall the motor if you take a deep cut. The slow speed is about 750 RPM, I would prefer slower for finishing. The thing I like best is that it takes a MT#1 and a 3/4 x 16 fittings, which were identical to my old lathe. I have shortened my old lathe and have mounted both on my bench. My old lathe is being set-up for buffing. I have pictures of my lathes on the workshop page of my website. I do not have pictures of the two lathes together yet, I just mounted the second lathe two days ago.
Brad Harding
www.hardingpens.com

 

[twoofakind]

Check Amazon, they have it for under a $100 with free shipping.
Andy

 

[jleiwig]

Originally posted by bradh
<br />I just bought a lathe like this at Christmas. I paid less than this on a clearance sale. Here is the thread with some feedback from others:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19873
I like this lathe. It is great for pens with the varaiable speed. It is not very heavy duty and it is easy to stall the motor if you take a deep cut. The slow speed is about 750 RPM, I would prefer slower for finishing. The thing I like best is that it takes a MT#1 and a 3/4 x 16 fittings, which were identical to my old lathe. I have shortened my old lathe and have mounted both on my bench. My old lathe is being set-up for buffing. I have pictures of my lathes on the workshop page of my website. I do not have pictures of the two lathes together yet, I just mounted the second lathe two days ago.
Brad Harding
www.hardingpens.com

Thanks for the feedback and the amazon hint guys. I tried searching and couldn't find any info on the lathe. I guess I wasn't searching the right way.

I wonder if I could eventually upgrade the motor? I did that on my metal cutting bandsaw and it made all the difference in the world.

 

[jjenk02]

I would advise getting a lathe with a MT#2 instead of a MT# 1. It is hard to find accessories for the MT 1.

 

[underdog]

That lathe looks suspiciously like the Shop Fox version of the Jet mini.

http://www.factorynew.com/detail.aspx?Recnum=LC-300015

Probably not a bad lathe, but I'd still pick the Jet any day of the week. And the price isn't that much more for a brand new Jet (notice free shipping from Amazon).

http://tinyurl.com/2ao7s9

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by jleiwig
<br />.....I wonder if I could eventually upgrade the motor.....

Not the easiest thing to do. The VS lathes use a DC motor rather than an AC motor and you would probably have to get another controller as well if you went to a bigger motor. For $75 you can hardly go wrong; but do be aware that there are some limitations.....thats why it is $75 and not $400. PSI sells an upgrade kit for $114 but it only gets you an extra 0.1 HP and lowere the end speed to 650 RPMs which is still faster than most would prefer. Not even sure it would fit the Wilton; but offer it to give you an idea of what you might be looking at as to cost for an upgrade.

Unless money is extremely tight I would look at different alternatives. Jet has a sale on right now. $199 for the new mini and $299 for the new miniVS or the new 1220. According to JET, the will be available in April. Call your local Woodcraft store and see if they are going to honor the JET sale. If so, you would save a bundle on shipping.

And BTW, anybody ever notice how similar the PSI TurncrafterPlus is to the Wilton?? The color is different and the motor specs arfe a little different. But some folks tend to fudeg motoer specs a little so the difference may not be real??

And another BTW. Don't put much stock in that amperage figure listed on the eBay auction. A 15 amp motor is in the neighborhood of 2HP and everything I have ever seen about the Wilton calls for it to be 2/5HP(0.40).

 

[Paul in OKC]

It does look like the Shop Fox lathe. I have a friend that bought one and it served him well for a pen lathe.

 

[NavyDiver]

We have a Shop Fox that we got off Ebay and it works very well. We haven't had any trouble getting #1MT accessories.

 

[Randy_]

JET just sent me a copy of the manual for the Wilton and it says the motor draws 2.3 amps. That is about 1/3 HP. Maybe that explains some comments about the motor bogging down?? Still a pretty good deal for 75 bucks.

 

[wdcav1952]

Originally posted by NavyDiver
<br />We have a Shop Fox that we got off Ebay and it works very well. We haven't had any trouble getting #1MT accessories.

Same here with my Carbatec.

 

[JasonF]

I have the Shop Fox as well and paid about $150 after tax. No problems with getting #1MT. Rated at 1/3 HP, just got PSI's Barracuda 3 chuck, no bog down with pens but there are some issues with larger pieces of wood. Hadn't really bothered me though.

 

[Tom McMillan]

I've had the mini Grizzly and now have the Shop Fox mini. The Shop Fox is a great little lathe and the Wilton is very similar. I think some of the fittings on the Shop Fox are fiished a little nicer---but I've hear only good things about the Wilton (actually I think it's a Jet product). I've found no problem finding #1MT attachments as I think this type of lathe has become very popular. It should do a fine job for penturning and small turnings.

 

[underdog]

Where are you seeing the sale on the Jet Mini for $199? I thought I saw it at Woodcraft for more than Amazon had it?

 

[Randy_]

Jim: Check out the link in this thread.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20890&whichpage=1

 

[LostintheWoods]

Justin, I'm using the Wilton lathe you're asking about, and for the price, its a darned good little lathe. Fit and finish is not as good as it could be, but for the price, you don't expect it. Also, don't expect to do any bowl-turning, or any large tasks....but for pens, its absolutely fine. I'd like to upgrade someday, but only because I want to do some bigger things. No problem finding either #1MT or 3/4-16 accessories. Its the same as PSI's bottom-line lathe, as well.

 

[jleiwig]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I've done some digging, and the wilton/shopfox/jet all seem to be made by the WMH tool grouphttp://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/Shop/index.cfm?navPage=5&CID=81, who also manufactures the powermatic line of tools. If you search by their name, their website lists some of the brands that they manufacture.

While I'd love to have the JET, I'd rather be out the door with the lathe, some half decent shaping tools, and a couple pen blanks & kits for the same price as just the JET. I understand it's not a top of the line tool as far as quality is concerned but I'm only starting to scratch the surface of woodworking being a former metal guy.

Now unless someone is interested in buying a metal cutting bandsaw off of me, I'll probably purchase one of the cheaper lathes to get started. I watched the PSI penmaking DVD last night and they used the Carba-Tec lathe and it seemed to do fine for penmaking. They actually made it look way to easy. I imagine I'm not going to have that easy of a go at it.