Mini lathe

[owlelope]

My wife has given her blessing to me buying a new mini lathe. I have seen them priced from $ 150 and up. I want something that is portable that I can take with me when we go different places for a period of time. I want something that will do a good job turning pens, turning bowls and has adapters to do it, and is able to handle a chuck to drill with. I consider any advise and experience that the forum can share with me.

What accessories should I buy to turn bowls and to drill using the lathe?

Owlelope in Ohio

 

[hunter-27]

get the $150 dollar idea out of your mind, spend the bucks and get a jet 1014 VS and you will never be disappointed you did. My opinion only, but I think most will agree.

 

[markgum]

only if you can find a bargin on e-bay. I found my jet 1014 on ebay for $189. I was LUCKY. spend the money and get a good lathe to start with. much headaches will be avoided.

 

[shull]

I have a non variable speed version of this lathe and have loved it.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20138

Hope this helps.

 

[jedgerton]

I agree with hunter-27 and I think you will find that portability and stability can be hard to get in the same tool. A JET-1014 weighs in at about 85 lbs. itself and that's a little heavier than what I would consider portable.

One other piece of advice, make sure your lathe accepts morse taper 2 (MT2) accessories. Some of the smaller tools use MT1 accessories and they are much harder to find.

John

 

[hunter-27]

I have a non variable speed version of this lathe and have loved it.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20138

Hope this helps.

I'm sure the Non-VS is fine but I could never do without it now, if you can afford it get it if not get the standard version. The $30 extra is a "no brainer" to me.

 

[Billman]

I think everyone else is correct in saying to get the Jet.

That being said... If $150 really is your cap, then you may want to look at the Steel City lathe (stock# 60100) if it is still available, since it is variable speed and noticeabley cheaper. Woodcraft is one supplier, Tool King is another (Tool king appears to be out of stock at this time).

 

[ldb2000]

At the $150 price range you will not be able to find a lathe able to do pens AND bowls . I have a PSI turncrafter Plus clone , that I paid about $170 shipped , mini lathe that is adequate for doing pens but in no way could turn bowls .The biggest problem is the lack of accessories for them . They use a MT1 taper in both the head stock and tail stock and there aren't very many quality accessories for the MT1 .
Save your money and buy the best you can afford but make sure that it takes MT2 accessories .

 

[leehljp]

Agree with Butch. Also I find that 10 inches is limited in power and size for turning bowls, unless you are content with turning smaller ones. I recently started and small ones are great, but I just tried to turn a 12 in by 4 inch on my Rikon and it was both a tight and too heavy.

VS is wonderful on small bowls and pens!

 

[Hucifer]

At the $150 price range you will not be able to find a lathe able to do pens AND bowls . I have a PSI turncrafter Plus clone , that I paid about $170 shipped , mini lathe that is adequate for doing pens but in no way could turn bowls .The biggest problem is the lack of accessories for them . They use a MT1 taper in both the head stock and tail stock and there aren't very many quality accessories for the MT1 .
Save your money and buy the best you can afford but make sure that it takes MT2 accessories .

I have a PSI Turncrafter Pro, and have been very happy with it. It isn't variable speed, and they are on sale at PSI for 160 bucks. The VS version is another 60 bucks more. It has an MT2, and I have done bowls to about an 8" diameter. I have a PSI Utility chuck, and 8" flat jaws for bowls too. Eventually I will get a badass lathe that will let me do big bowls etc, but for now, this is serving me really well. Yeah VS would be real nice, but since I've never had it, I don't miss it.

 

[nava1uni]

I have a Rikon 70-100. I turn pens, bowls up to 8" easily, and many other things with ease. It is a nice lathe, little vibration and easy to change speeds, not a variable speed. Hank has added a PSI variable switch to his and says it works nicely.

 

[ldb2000]

I have a PSI Turncrafter Pro, and have been very happy with it. It isn't variable speed, and they are on sale at PSI for 160 bucks. The VS version is another 60 bucks more. It has an MT2, and I have done bowls to about an 8" diameter. I have a PSI Utility chuck, and 8" flat jaws for bowls too. Eventually I will get a badass lathe that will let me do big bowls etc, but for now, this is serving me really well. Yeah VS would be real nice, but since I've never had it, I don't miss it.

The Turncrafter Plus is the smaller variable speed version of the Pro , it has MT1 tapers in both headstock and tailstock . I have turned many fine pens with it and my son is using now and it is still running strong , but pens are all it is capable of doing safely . I now use a Jet 1014vsi and turn bowls up to 6" with it , it can go bigger but I find that there is not enough mass to safely do an 8" that is even slightly out of balance but I'm using it as a tabletop lathe and it's not bolted down . The variable speed is worth the extra money is you ever plan on drilling on the lathe or doing some other things where you have to change the speeds .

 

[Tony Pridmore]

Butch,

Use some #8 washer head screws and attach that 1014 to some 2x's (or whatever you have available). Clamp the wood to the workbench, and you'll be turning bowl blanks as big as will fit on the lathe. I've maxed out the bowl blank size on my non-variable speed 1014 several times and it does a great job.

Owlelope,

I really like the Jet 1014 I bought 3 years ago. If I were buying now, I would be looking at 12" lathes. Not necessarily to produce that much bigger bowls, but to give more working room when starting with rough-cut blanks. As noted above, the 10" and more-so, the 12" lathes are heavy. IIRC, the 12" VS lathes are well over 100lbs.

VS is a luxury. I turned for 2 years on a non-VS and not having the option never bothered me. Then I bought a big lathe with VS and I like it. :biggrin: The mini still gets used for club workshops and roadshows.

As for brand, my turning club friends have been very happy with Jets and Rikons. I don't have much input from them on other brands.

Bowl accessories... The majority of today's bowl turners use a bowl gouge. If turning between centers and using a faceplate, that may be the only cutting tool you need (for bowls). A 4-jaw scroll chuck is a convenience - a really big convenience. Grizzly makes a $100 knock-off of Vicmarc's small chuck and it is decent quality. If you plan to use a scroll chuck, you'll want a parting tool to cut tenons and recesses. However, you can easily make a parting tool from 3/8" sq. x 8" HSS.

I don't recall whether sharpening has been mentioned. You'll have to have a way to sharpen your tools. If only they never got dull

The MT2 advice above was right-on. Also, be aware of spindle thread size when you buy. Others will correct me if I'm wrong here, but most popular mini's are using 1"x8tpi threads. Be sure you know what you're getting into if you go with another size.

Feel free to ask away. I know very little about making pens, but I've turned a few bowls and will be happy to help where I can. I do a lot (I mean A LOT) of lurking here because these folks amaze me with what they produce. This place is great. :hypnotized:

Tony

 

[bitshird]

I agree with hunter-27 and I think you will find that portability and stability can be hard to get in the same tool. A JET-1014 weighs in at about 85 lbs. itself and that's a little heavier than what I would consider portable.

One other piece of advice, make sure your lathe accepts morse taper 2 (MT2) accessories. Some of the smaller tools use MT1 accessories and they are much harder to find.

John

John is right about the portability factor of the 1014, I have a Steel City clone, same weight, and after loading it into my van after a show, I also have 2 bulged and 1 herniated disk,

 

[wolftat]

I have 2 of the Rikon mini lathes and love them. They are on sale right now at Woodcraft for $257. They are a great little lathe and I take one with me all the time to do shows and demos.
There is always an argument about which is the better lathe, the Jet or the Rikon. If you buy either one of these, you will have a great lathe that will give you a lot of years of trouble free turning. Good luck with making a decision.

 

[KenV]

Most will recommend getting as much lathe as you can afford. I have been reading reviews of a new Delta midi that is clocking in at $600. Those who did the beta testing are advising that is was designed with the advise and suggestions of turners. It competes with the Jet 12 inch midi -- has a bit more capacity and more power (1 hp vs 1/2 hp).

If I did not already have a Jet 1014 VS I might be tempted.

I have a big lathe so cannot quite get past the straight face test....

 

[dasimm]

There is a lot of good advise listed here.

If you really are cash strapped then check out the Grizzley lathes - they have some interesting tools and configurations and it's top notch equipment.

It has been hashed and rehashed about who manufactures what & where - just do a search on this topic. Truth is about 75% of these lathes come from Taiwan with the rest coming from China and a small spattering of other places.

Choose the tool that fits your needs.

BTW - for bowl turning you will absolutely want to get either a Vicmarc or Stronghold chuck to work the bowls. Trust me - it's worth the extra money.

Good luck.