Small Lathe

[heritagebob]

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I see Penn State has a small, portable type lathe ( designed mainly for pens/bottle stoppers) for sale at around 300 bucks,,, I am considering purchasing one as a second lathe to add some flexibility to my shop.. anyone have one and can give me some pros and cons? Please e-mail me direct with comments about this machine,,,,,,, Hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving,,,,
Thanks
Bob

 

[bobjackson]

I have a Harbor Frieght lathe as a second lathe and it works great. I think just a little under $300.00.

 

[Dustygoose]

It would depend on if you want VS or change belts. And MT1 or MT2. Harbor freight has 2 for under 200.

 

[heritagebob]

Im liking the VS option,, I have a Harbor Freight already but have to move the belt to change speeds,,, time consuming

 

[ALA]

I'm going to look at the Harbor Freight ($159) today. Not sure if I'll get it or not.

 

[Cmiles1985]

I bought the HF VS lathe this afternoon for $129. I must admit that I bought it with poor intentions. Let's just say a Delta is in my future and HF has a 90 day policy (unless my son likes it). I'll post my thoughts on it later tonight.

 

[Cmiles1985]

Well, out of the box, the HF lathe did pretty well for the price. The centers line up nearly perfect. Only minor assembly required; I was plugged in and turning within about 15 minutes (including moving old lathe and cleaning work bench). If I hadn't messed up my olive wood blank, I'd have finished my mother's Christmas present!

All in all, the Harbor Freight Variable Speed (Item 95607), is worth the money in my opinion. This is definitely true since it's on sale for $129.99 right now.

 

[dwarmbrodt]

.!

All in all, the Harbor Freight Variable Speed (Item 95607), is worth the money in my opinion. This is definitely true since it's on sale for $129.99 right now.

Just got this for the same reasons, a second work station. Use the 25% off coupon. It has exceeded my expectations. One weird thing is when you switch it on, it takes a second or two to start to spin up. This is mentioned in the manual as normal...

 

[Band Saw Box]

I having the HF 5 speed lathe and I very please with it. The alignment on mine was dead on out of the box. Changing speeds is very easy and only takes a few seconds I do two per pen 3200 to turn. 770 to sand and 3200 to finish. I hope this helps.

 

[WriteON]

Photos: 0




I see Penn State has a small, portable type lathe

For $300 or $349 the 10" is on sale. I'm just about ready to order the 10"VS for $349. I looked at the portable. Buying the next one up instead.

 

[Cmiles1985]

Just got this for the same reasons, a second work station. Use the 25% off coupon. It has exceeded my expectations. One weird thing is when you switch it on, it takes a second or two to start to spin up. This is mentioned in the manual as normal...

As I understood from the manual, you have to turn the speed control knob to initiate turning. I believe they have that as some sort of safety mechanism. As soon as you turn the knob, the motor actually begins turning.

P.S. I just did the math, and I feel robbed by my own stupidity! I'm a sucker for savings and 25% off does make the lathe $10 cheaper than the sale price of $130.

 

[mvande21]

One of the earlier posts in this thread was talking about a Delta lathe. If you are talking about purchasing a new one, DO NOT!! I was told be more than one person that Delta's business is not looking good and parts are getting harder to come buy.

As I always say though. Do what you want.

 

[Cmiles1985]

One of the earlier posts in this thread was talking about a Delta lathe. If you are talking about purchasing a new one, DO NOT!! I was told be more than one person that Delta's business is not looking good and parts are getting harder to come buy.

As I always say though. Do what you want.

I was planning on it. It was a toss up between the Delta and the 12" Turncrafter. The only additional features I see on the Delta are reverse, name brand and $$$. I had read some bad reviews on Delta's CS, but I see a lot of people that have the same thought but end up very pleased with their purchase. Maybe PSI is the way to go: for $20 more than the Delta I get 40 kits, finishing supplies, press, tools, etc.

Thanks for the input on Delta.

 

[Dean L.]

Not a fan of HF usually but the 25% is off the sale price not full price.

Dean

 

[monophoto]

I was planning on it. It was a toss up between the Delta and the 12" Turncrafter. The only additional features I see on the Delta are reverse, name brand and $$$. I had read some bad reviews on Delta's CS, but I see a lot of people that have the same thought but end up very pleased with their purchase. Maybe PSI is the way to go: for $20 more than the Delta I get 40 kits, finishing supplies, press, tools, etc.

I was in the same situation a few weeks ago, and after a lot of careful thought, I opted for the 12" Turncrafter.

I know that Delta is basically a good lathe, but the many reports of parts problems suggests that the new owners are looking to make a quick killing and don't have a long term strategy.

The Turncrafter doesn't seem to have a very vocal following, at least no on this board on or The Woodturning Forum. One of the moderators on Woodturning Forum recommended against the Turncrafter on the basis of QC problems, but my experience with PSI has always been that they stand behind their products. But I think that there are a lot of satisfied users out there who simply don't participate in these forums. So I went ahead with the Turncrafter and have been pleased with that decision so far.

Re the new small lathe that PSI is offering - it seems to be that it is a single-function tool that was designed solely for turning pens and other items that are usually done on a pen mandrel (and possibly also bottle stoppers). It seems to be very lightweight (notice the extruded aluminum bed) and underpowered (1/5 horsepower) which means that it would be very difficult to use it to move into other kinds of turning. There are many other mini-lathes that cost less and that offer more functionality and horsepower.

 

[Cmiles1985]

The Turncrafter was my initial "want" so I believe I'll stick with getting it. I enjoy the price tag on it much more. Plus, previous experience tells me that few reviews means good reviews. People don't generally write reviews when they are satisfied with a product. You're much more likely to write a review while you're online with CS and your new toy is broken (I used to manage a restaurant and realized how reviews come about). By the way, I just finished turning some walnut tool handles for my wife's craft work using the HF lathe. It is pretty nice!