Product Review: Harbor Freight Lathe 34706
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34706
See attached picture at bottom of post
Reason for buying: I was looking for a 'beginner lathe' that I could grow into. A large percentage of folks at another forum highly recommended this lathe to me, and I'm very glad they did. It's been a very good lathe, and I have not outgrown it yet. It can do bowls and baseball bats with ease, as well as smaller turnings with no problems. It is also quite convenient to hold your tools on the long ways while you're turning!
Musings:
I bought this lathe when I just started turning, and it's been an absolute workhorse. I use it very often, and it has never hiccupped yet. (knock wood). I was leery about buying from Harbor Freight, and the model that they had on display didn't sell the deal either (it was in pretty rough shape), but I am truly glad that I ended up buying it. The one I got was in MUCH better condition than the tool they had on display in the store.
Some people refuse to buy any power tools from HF. While that is sometimes a sound policy, I can assure you that this lathe is one of the few diamonds in the rough. That being said, you can buy the 34706 for about a third what the Jet will cost, and you will have a nearly identical machine.
Product Info:
The lathe is made by Central Machinery, and imported by Harbor Freight. I have compared this lathe to the Jet lathe (model JWL-1236) and it is an exact doppelganger. They appear to be identical in nearly every way, except for the colour. The box said "Taiwan" as the country of manufacture.
Assembly was very easy, as the headstock and tailstock were already attached to the cast iron ways. The ways themselves were well machined, and showed very few tool marks. All the exposed cast iron was coated in a layer of thick oil, which came off quite easily with a bit of kerosene.
After buffing some wax onto the ways, and attaching the ways to the stand, I checked the alignment. The spur centre and revolving centre both lined up perfectly out of the box. No adjustment has since been needed.
The tailstock ejects the revolving centre nicely, without needing to use the knock-out-bar. The revolving centre is not 60 degrees, so a separate one is needed for penturning. It does perform adequately for between-centre turning.
The headstock outboard side is threaded for attaching a handwheel. It's an odd threading, so you'll have to buy one from Jet. I haven't bothered to purchase one, but Jet tools sells one for their lathe, which fits the HF model perfectly. This also tells me that the tools are identical but for the paint job. The threading for this heastock bore is a very odd one – ½" 12 TPI Left-hand thread. It'll be a lot easier to buy the handwheel from Jet than try and make or find that threading yourself.
The stand is quite sturdy when turning inboard, but if you're planning on turning large, out-of-round blanks, buy a piece of plywood to put on the lower bracket of the lathe stand and fill it up with sandbags or other weights.
The lathe uses a Reeves-type drive to change speeds. This means that it has a sort of flywheel that moves in and out to change the effective size of the pulley. This makes the lathe run faster or slower. It is best to move the speed control to slow each time you turn it off so that you don't end up with a large, out of round blank spinning very fast at unstable speeds. You cannot change a Reeves-drive speed control with the lathe off.
Sound: very quiet.
Specifications:
· 12" swing, so 24" capacity when turning between centres.
· The headstock pivots and locks into position in a few different positions to allow larger turnings than will fit between centres
· Length between centres: 33-3/8 – plenty for doing peppermills, bowls, or any number of turnings (including baseball bats)
· Variable Speed Reeves drive – 600-2400rpm
· ¾ HP TEFC motor
Strong Points:
· Solid, well-built lathe at a very affordable price
· Able to turn outboard to accommodate platters and larger turnings
· Good fit and finish out of the box
· Excellent features for a starter lathe
· Long bed enables turning more items than a mini-lathe
· Variable speed
· Standard 1x8 spindle, and uses easy-to-find MT2 accessories
Weak point: the slow speed of the lathe is 600rpm. This isn't a concern if you're turning between centres, but if you pivot the headstock to allow you to turn large diameter blanks, the speed can be a teensy bit fast.
Weak point: The extension arm for using the tool rest on outboard turnings is flimsy. The extension arm should be removed unless it is absolutely necessary. I've never had to use it when turning between centres.
Other notes:
One thing to keep in mind is that you will want to get a spare belt. The one that came with my lathe was not of the greatest quality, and was the source of the 'slipping' that I noticed when I put it into high gear. That problem was completely solved with a new belt.
Napa has the perfect belt, and it stands up well to the abuse that a Reeves-drive will put on it: Napa Belt Replacement number: 3L240W
Get rid of the flimsy spindle wrenches and buy a decent 1" wrench. The flimsy ones tend to flare outward and round over the spindle eventually. If you're using a chuck, you may have to grind down one of the wrenches slightly to get them both to fit width-wise, but it makes it very very easy to tighten and loosen a chuck with the bigger wrenches.
Cost: Currently listed for $279.99. I got mine on sale for $199, and had a 20 percent off coupon that made this lathe a no-brainer.
Final Thought: There's no better lathe on the market for the price. You get all the capacity of a larger lathe, and it costs less than the Jet Mini.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34706
See attached picture at bottom of post
Reason for buying: I was looking for a 'beginner lathe' that I could grow into. A large percentage of folks at another forum highly recommended this lathe to me, and I'm very glad they did. It's been a very good lathe, and I have not outgrown it yet. It can do bowls and baseball bats with ease, as well as smaller turnings with no problems. It is also quite convenient to hold your tools on the long ways while you're turning!
Musings:
I bought this lathe when I just started turning, and it's been an absolute workhorse. I use it very often, and it has never hiccupped yet. (knock wood). I was leery about buying from Harbor Freight, and the model that they had on display didn't sell the deal either (it was in pretty rough shape), but I am truly glad that I ended up buying it. The one I got was in MUCH better condition than the tool they had on display in the store.
Some people refuse to buy any power tools from HF. While that is sometimes a sound policy, I can assure you that this lathe is one of the few diamonds in the rough. That being said, you can buy the 34706 for about a third what the Jet will cost, and you will have a nearly identical machine.
Product Info:
The lathe is made by Central Machinery, and imported by Harbor Freight. I have compared this lathe to the Jet lathe (model JWL-1236) and it is an exact doppelganger. They appear to be identical in nearly every way, except for the colour. The box said "Taiwan" as the country of manufacture.
Assembly was very easy, as the headstock and tailstock were already attached to the cast iron ways. The ways themselves were well machined, and showed very few tool marks. All the exposed cast iron was coated in a layer of thick oil, which came off quite easily with a bit of kerosene.
After buffing some wax onto the ways, and attaching the ways to the stand, I checked the alignment. The spur centre and revolving centre both lined up perfectly out of the box. No adjustment has since been needed.
The tailstock ejects the revolving centre nicely, without needing to use the knock-out-bar. The revolving centre is not 60 degrees, so a separate one is needed for penturning. It does perform adequately for between-centre turning.
The headstock outboard side is threaded for attaching a handwheel. It's an odd threading, so you'll have to buy one from Jet. I haven't bothered to purchase one, but Jet tools sells one for their lathe, which fits the HF model perfectly. This also tells me that the tools are identical but for the paint job. The threading for this heastock bore is a very odd one – ½" 12 TPI Left-hand thread. It'll be a lot easier to buy the handwheel from Jet than try and make or find that threading yourself.
The stand is quite sturdy when turning inboard, but if you're planning on turning large, out-of-round blanks, buy a piece of plywood to put on the lower bracket of the lathe stand and fill it up with sandbags or other weights.
The lathe uses a Reeves-type drive to change speeds. This means that it has a sort of flywheel that moves in and out to change the effective size of the pulley. This makes the lathe run faster or slower. It is best to move the speed control to slow each time you turn it off so that you don't end up with a large, out of round blank spinning very fast at unstable speeds. You cannot change a Reeves-drive speed control with the lathe off.
Sound: very quiet.
Specifications:
· 12" swing, so 24" capacity when turning between centres.
· The headstock pivots and locks into position in a few different positions to allow larger turnings than will fit between centres
· Length between centres: 33-3/8 – plenty for doing peppermills, bowls, or any number of turnings (including baseball bats)
· Variable Speed Reeves drive – 600-2400rpm
· ¾ HP TEFC motor
Strong Points:
· Solid, well-built lathe at a very affordable price
· Able to turn outboard to accommodate platters and larger turnings
· Good fit and finish out of the box
· Excellent features for a starter lathe
· Long bed enables turning more items than a mini-lathe
· Variable speed
· Standard 1x8 spindle, and uses easy-to-find MT2 accessories
Weak point: the slow speed of the lathe is 600rpm. This isn't a concern if you're turning between centres, but if you pivot the headstock to allow you to turn large diameter blanks, the speed can be a teensy bit fast.
Weak point: The extension arm for using the tool rest on outboard turnings is flimsy. The extension arm should be removed unless it is absolutely necessary. I've never had to use it when turning between centres.
Other notes:
One thing to keep in mind is that you will want to get a spare belt. The one that came with my lathe was not of the greatest quality, and was the source of the 'slipping' that I noticed when I put it into high gear. That problem was completely solved with a new belt.
Napa has the perfect belt, and it stands up well to the abuse that a Reeves-drive will put on it: Napa Belt Replacement number: 3L240W
Get rid of the flimsy spindle wrenches and buy a decent 1" wrench. The flimsy ones tend to flare outward and round over the spindle eventually. If you're using a chuck, you may have to grind down one of the wrenches slightly to get them both to fit width-wise, but it makes it very very easy to tighten and loosen a chuck with the bigger wrenches.
Cost: Currently listed for $279.99. I got mine on sale for $199, and had a 20 percent off coupon that made this lathe a no-brainer.
Final Thought: There's no better lathe on the market for the price. You get all the capacity of a larger lathe, and it costs less than the Jet Mini.
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