My son(13) thinks he would like to turn pens and other smalls.
I would like to set him up for Christmas. Need the budget to fall under $300 all up(preferably less). That seems to be a challenge at best, since we have none of the tools.
There's tons of info out there. So much that it's a little frustrating trying to find what I need.
Would like to set him up to be able to turn things like pens, s/p shakers, fishing lures, things in those size ranges.
My main concern beyond the cost, is set-up. If I'm going to give it to him for Christmas, he's going to want to turn his first pen before he goes to sleep that night. I can't afford not to have all the pieces. So if I go the cheapo route with, say a HF lathe and tools, what extra chucks/mandrels, etc will he have to have. (I'm not above finding a lathe on craigslist, but I still have the same problem and the cost doesn't seem to be much less than the ones at HF, though I realize they might ultimately be higher quality)
I need a list of minimum what he'll need to open boxes and turn a pen on day one and can't seem to find it. Surely there's one out there. I've done lots of reading and not been able to feel like I can nail that down.
Thanks for any help.
Jbo
PS. Yes, I'll expect to be doing some turning myself as well.
I would like to set him up for Christmas. Need the budget to fall under $300 all up(preferably less). That seems to be a challenge at best, since we have none of the tools.
There's tons of info out there. So much that it's a little frustrating trying to find what I need.
Would like to set him up to be able to turn things like pens, s/p shakers, fishing lures, things in those size ranges.
My main concern beyond the cost, is set-up. If I'm going to give it to him for Christmas, he's going to want to turn his first pen before he goes to sleep that night. I can't afford not to have all the pieces. So if I go the cheapo route with, say a HF lathe and tools, what extra chucks/mandrels, etc will he have to have. (I'm not above finding a lathe on craigslist, but I still have the same problem and the cost doesn't seem to be much less than the ones at HF, though I realize they might ultimately be higher quality)
I need a list of minimum what he'll need to open boxes and turn a pen on day one and can't seem to find it. Surely there's one out there. I've done lots of reading and not been able to feel like I can nail that down.
Thanks for any help.
Jbo
PS. Yes, I'll expect to be doing some turning myself as well.