lathe accessories

[glycerine]

Let me ask this question. What would you say would be a rough estimate for how much the average person would need to spend on accessories for a nice midi lathe? I am currently using a drill press with lathe attachment laid down on it's side as my lathe. I plan on buying one after Christmas and know that I will want to at least get a jaw chuck or some type of chuck for bowls, probably the "s" shaped tool rest, a few additional turning tools... and probably tons of stuff I don't even know yet.
It's like buying a nice camera, you'll probably want an additional lens, maybe an external flash, lens filters, memory cards, etc. You know what I mean.
So, what are your recommendations on how much $ I should set aside for the extra stuff. If my budget is $600 for example and I'm looking at a $350 lathe, would the extra $250 be enough? I'm not sure yet what I'm actually planning to spend, I'm still deciding on a lathe, but just want some input from people who have been there and done that...
Thank you!

 

[dalemcginnis]

Jeremy:
If I remember right my first pen cost me around $800 to make:biggrin:
Seriously, you can get started with $600 but I think you will find it a bit short for all the things you've listed. Certainly you can get started penmaking for that amount and then add the others as time goes on. I've spent thousands getting various accessories and supplies and I still don't have everything I want. The one thing I was warned of when I expressed an interest in turning is that it is a giant black hole for your money, they weren't kidding. But for me at least it is a much more enjoyable black hole than whatever one was sucking my money away before.

 

[glycerine]

Jeremy:
If I remember right my first pen cost me around $800 to make:biggrin:
Seriously, you can get started with $600 but I think you will find it a bit short for all the things you've listed. Certainly you can get started penmaking for that amount and then add the others as time goes on. I've spent thousands getting various accessories and supplies and I still don't have everything I want. The one thing I was warned of when I expressed an interest in turning is that it is a giant black hole for your money, they weren't kidding. But for me at least it is a much more enjoyable black hole than whatever one was sucking my money away before.

Ok, thank you. Do you mind me asking which lathe you have? So does $1000 sound about right? I know I'll buy more and more as time goes on, but would that be a good start?

 

[wdcav1952]

Jeremy,

Check your local Craigslist. I got my Jet 1236 for $350 which, IIRC, was about halft price at the time. My first lathe, a Carbatec mini, I bought from a guy at work back in Louisiana.

No, I didn't get the "new lathe smell" but I saved a bit of money. My Axminster chuck came from a member here, as have some of my tools.

Just a thought,

 

[dalemcginnis]

Jeremy:
Yes, I believe you can do fine with a $1000. I have a Jet JML 1014I lathe that I got from Amazon. The barracuda CSC3000C chuck by PSI is a good starter chuck, it comes with three sets of jaws for about the price of just the chuck of one of the name brands. You can get it from Amazon also for a cheaper price than PSI. I have it as well as the higher end chucks and still use it.
As Cav said keep an eye on Craigslist sometimes you can find good deals there, or so I've heard, they never seem to be in So Cal though.:frown:

 

[fernhills]

I would just buy the lathe and take it slow for the other things. There is a learning curve for each of the accessories. No sense in buying things you know nothing about. With your new lathe you will recieve a face plate, dead and live centers. You can do a whole lot with just that much. A drill chuck with a draw-bar would be nice to have. You can do a lot of small turnings with a drill chuck. Like bottle stopers, shaving brushes and what-nots.

 

[jleiwig]

I guess it depends on what your going to want to do do.

Have you turned a bowl yet? No sense in spending money on bowl turning stuff if you don't know whether you'll like it or not.

I personally would start with all the pen turning stuff. Once you have that down maybe some stuff to help with segmenting if you like that.

 

[GouletPens]

Keep an eye out, I know a while back PSI and CSUSA and WC and all the tool sellers had a great deal on jaw chucks w/ different jaw types, something like a chuck with 5 different jaws for $165 I think?? The only accessories I have are the Beall buffing system (3-wheeled) which is a MUST in my book, and a jaw chuck with pin jaws. For pens specifically, I got a 60 degree live center and a jacobs chuck. Even the jaw chuck I could easily do without, esp. if your drill press is any kind of good. For doing just pens, you can really get by with the lathe alone. It's all the other things you might want to do like bowls, ornaments, etc. that will constitute what accessories you will want. But if you have $1000, I'd buy the Delta 44-460 and hold off on accessories until you find you really need them!
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=22014
I did add on a VS motor to my delta midi, I wish the 46-460 was out when I first started, I would have just gotten that! VS is VERY nice, you can deal without it just fine (esp if you're turning on a drill press now!!) but it's really nice if you do any production turning.

 

[glycerine]

I would just buy the lathe and take it slow for the other things. There is a learning curve for each of the accessories. No sense in buying things you know nothing about. With your new lathe you will recieve a face plate, dead and live centers. You can do a whole lot with just that much. A drill chuck with a draw-bar would be nice to have. You can do a lot of small turnings with a drill chuck. Like bottle stopers, shaving brushes and what-nots.

Ok, thanks. The drawbar is what is used to smooth out the inside after drilling, correct?

 

[glycerine]

I guess it depends on what your going to want to do do.

Have you turned a bowl yet? No sense in spending money on bowl turning stuff if you don't know whether you'll like it or not.

I personally would start with all the pen turning stuff. Once you have that down maybe some stuff to help with segmenting if you like that.

I've never turned a bowl, but I don't have a way to do that right now either. I'd like to try it, so that's why I was thinking that I would go ahead and get some additional tools so that I can.

 

[glycerine]

Keep an eye out, I know a while back PSI and CSUSA and WC and all the tool sellers had a great deal on jaw chucks w/ different jaw types, something like a chuck with 5 different jaws for $165 I think?? The only accessories I have are the Beall buffing system (3-wheeled) which is a MUST in my book, and a jaw chuck with pin jaws. For pens specifically, I got a 60 degree live center and a jacobs chuck. Even the jaw chuck I could easily do without, esp. if your drill press is any kind of good. For doing just pens, you can really get by with the lathe alone. It's all the other things you might want to do like bowls, ornaments, etc. that will constitute what accessories you will want. But if you have $1000, I'd buy the Delta 44-460 and hold off on accessories until you find you really need them!
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=22014
I did add on a VS motor to my delta midi, I wish the 46-460 was out when I first started, I would have just gotten that! VS is VERY nice, you can deal without it just fine (esp if you're turning on a drill press now!!) but it's really nice if you do any production turning.

The drill press I have is from HF. I plan on drilling my blanks on the lathe when I get it. I guess realistically I will be turning mostly pens. But I enjoy making things in general and if it can be done on my lathe, eventually I'll want to try it. I definitly have an interest in bowls and I'd like to try pendants, and other small items...

 

[randyrls]

Jeremy; See if the local Woodcraft has a Woodturning club or if there is one in the area.
Check the American Association of Woodturners to find a club near you.
http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/LocalChapters.asp

I know that the Harrisburg (Susquehanna) club has members more than willing to show you technique and suggest what you need. They will also know of lathes for sale locally.

Hope this helps.

 

[glycerine]

Jeremy; See if the local Woodcraft has a Woodturning club or if there is one in the area.
Check the American Association of Woodturners to find a club near you.
http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/LocalChapters.asp

I know that the Harrisburg (Susquehanna) club has members more than willing to show you technique and suggest what you need. They will also know of lathes for sale locally.

Hope this helps.

Ok, I'll have to check into that. Thank you.

 

[jleiwig]

I've never turned a bowl, but I don't have a way to do that right now either. I'd like to try it, so that's why I was thinking that I would go ahead and get some additional tools so that I can.

Honestly that's a great way to blow a ton of money unnecessarily. You need to start with quality tools for things you know you like to make such as pens and the like. Sign up for a bowl turning class with a local turning group or a woodcraft or rockler type store and then if you really enjoy it look into getting better equipment. With a smaller mini or midi lathe you will be really limited on what sort of bowls you can turn, so you'll probably get frustrated with bowl turning on your little lathe quickly.

Right now I'd buy the biggest and best quality lathe you can with your fund. You can always make smaller stuff on a bigger lathe, but not bigger stuff on a smaller lathe. A Nova 1642 can sometimes be had for around a $1000.

 

[PaulSF]

Don't forget to buy something for sharpening your tools, if you don't already have one. And all the necessary jigs. And money for wood blanks and kits, you'll buy buying those like a junkie buys meth.

 

[Daniel]

I have been thinking on this all morning. If I had nothing what do I know I woudl need now. one problem is that my choices are my choices for personal reasons. there are other way to do just about everything. But I have been trying to keep it minimalistic so an option to drill on the lathe for the cost of a jacobs chuck and Scroll chuck is prefered to buying a drill press. this at first seems like a more expensive option due to the cost of the chuck. But my reasoning is that it gives you more versatility in your lathe. so here goes.

1. Lathe. do not scrimp on quality here it is the guts of everyting you do. it does not matter if you have a $200 scroll chuck if it is mounted on a head stock that has excessive run out. Quality does not have to be expensive. trade time for money and you can find great deals on even top of the line machines. also kowing what you are looking at allows you to shop for off brand machines at much lower prices. If you do not have that sort fo knowledge, this group is a great place to borrow from other peoples experience.
2. Collet chuck. I suggest the colet chuck and a good set of collets as one a method to hold a pen mandrel as well as it serving many other pourposes. I have collet chucks for both my wood lathe and my metal lathe and they are seldom removed from either.
3. Scroll chuck. there is a long list of optioins for this item ranging from less than $100 to well over $200. again do not scrimp as this is the next in line as the most used item I have for attaching to the head stock of my lathe. for me if the collet chuck will not hold it, the scroll chuck will. I personally have a Nova2 but the Barracuda is pretty much the same piece of equipment.
4. Good quality 60 degree live center made for metal working. this item is actually very low cost from sources like Johnnycnc here at the IAP or other sources. do get a good one that has doubel bearings as this will be the tail stock end of your lathe for pretty much everything.
5. jacob chuck to fit yoru tail stock.
6. 115 pc drill bit set from HF. this gets you the lions share of the drill bits you will need. and the extras come in handy far more often than you might expect.
5. mandrel, you will not need anything but the mandrel rod if you got the collet chuck with a 1/4 inch collet.
6. turning tools. do your homework here and try to get just what you really need and put the savings into better quality tools. do buy a couple of real cheap ones to practice your sharpening skills on. Having access to soeone elses shop or a club will help here a lot. you will ahve time to find out jsut what works best for you. do not shy away from the skew. it is a tough tool to learn to use but well worth the effort.
7. Maybe an upgrade to your tool rest. the round polished rests do make a difference.
8. sharpening equipment. far to many ways to skin this cat. some very low cost some very expensive. for me expensive has been worth it. I can put a shape on my turing tools as well as I put shape on my pen barrels. and I am very very picky about the shape of my pens.
9. sandpaper starting at 120 grit and progressing up to 400 grit. I use high quality paper for things that will not ruin it but keep low quality stuff around for doing CA slurries etc. Abranet is a really good sandpaper but not the only one. No matter what you get here stay away from the black auto type papers they will discolor the pen blanks. I also like 3M 3X paper.
10. Micro Mesh. Seems expensive on the surface but lasts so long the cost ends up being only pennies per pen. I can easily sand and polish over 100 pens with one set of MM.
11. I will add a buffer her since I just recently added one to my shop. MM will get you to a high gloss finish so this is a preference sort of thing.
12. pen mill or other method to square the end of yoru blank.
13. various glues such as Wood GLue, CA, Epoxy, and Gorrilla glue. I have all of them in my shop and use each for various applications.
14. some sort of pen press. this can be anything from a bench vice, wood clamp, arbor press, drill press, and some have even mentioned presing their pens with the lathe tail stock.
15. of course now you still have nothing that actually has anything you need for pens specifically. you now can select all the kits and blanks you want to make.

16. this one is out of order but inportant. band saw. of al lthe saws I have this is the most used and most versatile. go 14" good quality and learn to use it well and it can very well be the only saw you need in your shop.

Maybe just maybe if you shop carefully, do a good job of buying quality while not spending your entire allowance and get as much dual use out of all your equipment as you can you might get by on $1000. but you are going to have to get a lot of the big ticket items from Craigs list or garage sales. otherwise you could be looking at $1000 just for the lathe and band saw alone.
That just covers pens but has you in the right direction to move into bowls and other turning.

 

[glycerine]

Daniel, I have most everything on the second half of your list, such as sandpaper, micromesh, glues, bandsaw, lathe tools, etc. I am using a broken drill press as my pen press. I have a good disc/belt sander, but still need jigs for sharpening and possibly a grinder.
The $1000 was just a "guesstimate" based on some of the other feedback I had received. Not sure how much I will actually spend. I don't mind getting used equipment, although I would LIKE to buy new.

Thanks for everyone's input so far. I have more of an idea of what I need to be looking at and pricing now...

 

[PaulSF]

I wish I had that bandsaw, but I just don't have room (or money!). So I'm cutting my blanks with a little serrated handsaw. It ain't great, but it gets the job done, and my arm muscles just ripple and bulge, making all the ladies and many of the men lick their lips.

 

[Daniel]

I have always thought we need a file that describes all the equipment options for every part of penturning. A purly factual description of each item that shows no preference of one over another.

Sandpaper alone would be a long list. it could start with an explaination of various materials in even making sandpaper, how these materials effect the quality and the intended pourpose for them. Even when you get to trully quality varieties the selection is huge. then you have ones that are made for a specific pourpose. you could almost assign a team to cover each and every individual item to even be able to get all the info together.

I have rolled this idea over in my mind since the day this site started, but have never really settled on a workable idea, at least one that I believe will work. I do think that if you made a post for each item that needs to be on the list and then let people jsut add info to the thread woudl be a good start. just making the list in the first palce would be a task all of it's own.

I kep thinking and I might get soemting started. heck I need something else to do aruond here anyway. I have to give up group buys.

 

[MDWine]

Glycerine, check your PM.

 

[RAdams]

I think everything has been cvered. I would definately blow my wad on a good machine. Used or new either way, push the headstock up and lock it in place and look for runout. If it is ugly, walk away. I presonally like Jet, But there is a new midi out with reverse, EVS, and all the goodies. I think it is a Delta. I would probably buy that today if i was looking. That reverse is good stuff!

Something else to consider and do some real thought on is size. You can make small bowls on a mini, and upgrade later, but if large items are something you think you will be doing it may be better to get a 1236 or so.

Here is a list of what, and when i would buy..

1 LATHE
2 GRINDER
3 GRINDING JIG
4 starter 4 jaw chuck
5 pen making tools (mandrel, mill, press, 60 deg. center, etc.)
6 drill chuck or collet chuck

From there, the tools will be specialty stuff for specific apps. for the most part. With the lathe, you can turn spindles, with the grinder and jig, you can replicate the sharp and turn nice spindles. With the 4 jaw, you can make all kinds of stuff, and it goes from there. If you do it right, you should have no problems getting all the stuff on the list above for your $1,000.

 

[jleiwig]

I have always thought we need a file that describes all the equipment options for every part of penturning. A purly factual description of each item that shows no preference of one over another.

Sandpaper alone would be a long list. it could start with an explaination of various materials in even making sandpaper, how these materials effect the quality and the intended pourpose for them. Even when you get to trully quality varieties the selection is huge. then you have ones that are made for a specific pourpose. you could almost assign a team to cover each and every individual item to even be able to get all the info together.

I have rolled this idea over in my mind since the day this site started, but have never really settled on a workable idea, at least one that I believe will work. I do think that if you made a post for each item that needs to be on the list and then let people jsut add info to the thread woudl be a good start. just making the list in the first palce would be a task all of it's own.

I kep thinking and I might get soemting started. heck I need something else to do aruond here anyway. I have to give up group buys.

We do, it's called the Wiki, and your welcome as a member to post these very things you describe. I was looking at it earlier today waiting for a meeting to start and thought it was sad with all the great experience we have on here that even the very basics aren't completed on it yet. If I had the time to do it I would organize it up, but alas....Time is very fleeting for me right now.

 

[Mac]

Well ,this is a deep hole.
I personaly cannot recommend grizzly 1220 vari speed (have one and is not holding up to my standards)or harber freight (any )cause I truly use my tools ,I don't just look at them. And if you ever want to turn small bowls or something along that line .I would not get a small lathe such as jet 1014 or smaller any brand that is( vari speed), takes to long to build up speed after you stop or almost stop when turning( turned on jet 1014 vari speed this weekend just not enough power at this stage of my turning.
Save your money buy better than you can afford , I just wish I had done this.

 

[glycerine]

Glycerine, check your PM.

Michael, I got your PM. Tried to respond, but got a message that you weren't accepting private messages. I sent an email to your hotmail address.

 

[skiprat]

Ok, thanks. The drawbar is what is used to smooth out the inside after drilling, correct?

Not sure if you were kidding here or not.:biggrin:
A drawbar is the threaded rod that screws into the back of the taper ( on the chuck )to hold the chuck in place.

The device for cleaning or smoothing inside the hole is called a reamer

 

[glycerine]

Not sure if you were kidding here or not.:biggrin:
A drawbar is the threaded rod that screws into the back of the taper ( on the chuck )to hold the chuck in place.

The device for cleaning or smoothing inside the hole is called a reamer

I wasn't kidding :redface:, but someone sent me a PM and set me straight. I was thinking about a boring bar. Thanks!

 

[Lenny]

glycerine,
Just to put my $.02 in .... I was able to find a used Rockwell/Delta lathe for $200. It was 3 phase so I replaced the motor with a 1hp single phase. I have since added a Jet mini. I don't think it matters as much which way you go first (big or small). Quality does matter.
I was given this advise concerning chisels....
Do you really want to spend big $$$ on your first chisels when you haven't really learned how to sharpen them yet. Buy a set of Harbor Freight "Windsor Design" chisels for under $50 (set of 8) and a grinder with (or add) a good white aluminum oxide (or equivalent) wheel. Learn to sharpen these, then replace them as you see the need. I also purchased a Oneway Talon chuck. Have only started to use it more recently. It actually works very well to drill pen blanks when combined with a drill chuck in the tailstock. Not essential for pen turning however.
Once you get going turning pens you will soon find you have a resource for acquiring more funds and that will equal more accessories for you. Pens sell! =0)

 

[glycerine]

glycerine,
Just to put my $.02 in .... I was able to find a used Rockwell/Delta lathe for $200. It was 3 phase so I replaced the motor with a 1hp single phase. I have since added a Jet mini. I don't think it matters as much which way you go first (big or small). Quality does matter.
I was given this advise concerning chisels....
Do you really want to spend big $$$ on your first chisels when you haven't really learned how to sharpen them yet. Buy a set of Harbor Freight "Windsor Design" chisels for under $50 (set of 8) and a grinder with (or add) a good white aluminum oxide (or equivalent) wheel. Learn to sharpen these, then replace them as you see the need. I also purchased a Oneway Talon chuck. Have only started to use it more recently. It actually works very well to drill pen blanks when combined with a drill chuck in the tailstock. Not essential for pen turning however.
Once you get going turning pens you will soon find you have a resource for acquiring more funds and that will equal more accessories for you. Pens sell! =0)

Yeah, I was actually offered a used lathe for a good price from a guy that lives close to me and I think I'm going to take him up on it. Now I've got my eye on a Taig or Sherline metal lathe. Sherline has some sharp looking CNC packages... I think I'm going to stick with the smaller lathes and progress my pen turning skills. Maybe later on down the road I'll give bowls and larger items a shot.

 

[Lenny]

Yeah, I was actually offered a used lathe for a good price from a guy that lives close to me and I think I'm going to take him up on it. Now I've got my eye on a Taig or Sherline metal lathe. Sherline has some sharp looking CNC packages... I think I'm going to stick with the smaller lathes and progress my pen turning skills. Maybe later on down the road I'll give bowls and larger items a shot.

Even small lathes like my Jet mini will do a 10" bowl. When you're first starting out, a less powerfull lathe might just be a blessing in disguise when you get your first good "catch"!

Best of luck which ever way you end up going!

 

[glycerine]

Just an update if you haven't seen my other post (http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54685). I did get a used Turncrafter Pro for a super price.
Now I need to find a grinder and some sharpening jigs... and...and...and...