New Lathe ?

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M

musky

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Joined
Sep 18, 2008
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39
Location
Virginia
Hello all, I am new to the sight. I have been looking to buy a lathe for a while now. I use to turn some fishing lures on an old lathe years ago, and wanting to get back into turning. I think I am going to go with a midi/mini lathe for now so I can go ahead and buy one without having to save for a year or so. Most of what I want to turn I can do on one of these anyways. I really like the jet 1220 but I could only afford the lathe and nothing else with it. I have been searching online for a couple of weeks now and the best deal I could find in my opinion is the PSI Turncrafter Pro VS. It seems to have gotten pretty good reviews from some other message boards. I found it on Amazon for $246 with free shipping. Does any of you have an opinion on this lathe or know a better deal on this or another lathe out there. At this price I could afford the sharpening set, grinder and maybe even a chuck to go with it.

Thanks
Jeff
 
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I had a Turncrafter Pro Non-VS, and liked it a lot. It's basically the same machine as the Jet Midi and Delta Midi, but the castings are a bit rougher (you may have to sand down a sharp edge here and there). If I hadn't upgraded to a larger machine I'd buy another.

Also check out the newer midi sized lathes over at grizzly. They look to have better quality than their older offerings at that level and I think they are competitively priced. http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-x-18-Bench-Top-Wood-Lathe/H8259 this is the cheapest they have that is a good lathe.

I just noticed that they aren't listing their old largest lathe anymore.
 
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I have a Turncrafter Pro VS and it is a good lathe and and good value. I would also look at the Steel City VS. It can be had for about the same price. If you go with the Turncrafter Pro it is always cheaper on Amazon. The one thing I like about the Turncrafter Pro is it is 18" between centers.

Good Luck
 
I had the Turncrafter VS and it was just fine. I bought my grandson the same Turncrafter VS from Amazon and he really likes it. I think it is the best deal for the money, plus free shipping.
 
Don't know about turncrafter but....

Don't go with the H.F. mini. I had nothing but trouble with it when I first got a lathe (tried to go cheap, got what I paid for). Finally returned it and got the Rikon. Good little lathe but not VS. H.F. does have some decent tools to start with though. HS steel for around $40. Not the be all to end all tools but will get you started and hold an edge unless you are really abusing them.
 
flyingmelon said:
Don't go with the H.F. mini. I had nothing but trouble with it when I first got a lathe (tried to go cheap, got what I paid for). Finally returned it and got the Rikon. Good little lathe but not VS. H.F. does have some decent tools to start with though. HS steel for around $40. Not the be all to end all tools but will get you started and hold an edge unless you are really abusing them.
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I have the HF mini and it's great.

What you pay for is the lack of QC. One is great, the other is garbage.

If you have a HF nearby then you can buy one, take it home and spin it up. If it sucks, take it back for another one. If you have to mail order it, I agree it's not worth it.
 
I've gone through a motor, bearings and two tail stock quill bolts on my Jet 1014 non VS.. still love the thing. I've had it for over 5 years and have put it through some pretty tough work outs. In the end, I'm thinking the motor problem was probably a switch since I reworked the switch at the same time I replaced the motor.. It turns smoother than my Jet 1442 which is only 5 months old.

I got the Jet 1014 as a gift from my son, but if I were in the market to buy a mini, would definitely give it serious consideration.
 
I have the Rikon mini lathe and it is really great. I can turn up to a 10" plate or bowl. All accessories attach easily. It is easy to change the belt to change the speed, even easier then the Jet, that is one of the things that sold me on it. You should check it out
 
New Lathe

Hello,

I would suggest taking a look at the Steel City lathes. There is a seller on ebay who offers the standard model for 199, and the variable speed for 249. I know Steel City tools have a very good reputation, but I have no personal experience myself.

Dan
 
I have a Steel City 10x14 VS and I really like it, they have a 5 year warranty, clean castings nice fit and finish, I got mine from a seller on eBay for 225.00 delivered.
 
I purchased the Shop Fox W1704 price was very inexpensive $129.00 from the "UTTERGUYS" i believe it's utterguys.com. the on drawback (?) it's a mt1 head but it has speed control DIAL no changing belts about 14 inches long good weight about 50lbs or so have had two years and no problems so far. maybe that helps for thiose of with fixed income
 
DurocShark said:
Another version of the one HF sells. Nice price, even less than HF's.
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Which one is another version of the one hf sells for less?

Thanks for all the help everyone. I have checked grizzly, jet, shop fox and steel city, but with shipping prices I don't know if I can beat the PSI one. I am going to go with it, unless these are much better lathes. I am also going to look at a used lathe this weekend.
 
Sorry, I was replying to the message immediately above mine. The Shop Fox is the same design as the HF Mini I have. There may be better QC or fit and finish, but it's the same lathe. And the SF version is $20 cheaper than the HF version according to that link posted above. Though shipping is $50, much higher than HFs. But if I had seen that before I probably would have bought the Shop Fox instead of the HF.
 
I have the PSI Turncrafter Plus(variable speed) which is $164 on Amazon. The motor is kind of small, only 1/4HP but for pens and other small turnings it gets the job done. The only time I've had problems is when I tried turning small bowls that were over 3" in dia, and not balanced which I haven't done in a long while. The only other problem I've had with my lathe is a setscrew wearing out in the tail stock and a roll pin on the locking lever for the tail stock falling out, but that was after years of abuse. It's still running good, I just need to get new tools now.
 
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