Best Lathe for around $1000

[Jim Smith]

I am helping my neighbor select a lathe that will be a gift for her husband. He mainly turns small items like pens and pepper mills, but I'd like to get him one large enough to turn a 10-12 inch bowl. I have an older Delta Midi lathes (the smaller one) that have served me very well. So well in fact that I bought a second used one to use as a dedicated buffing station. I was looking at the Delta 46-460 for her, but there are a number of reviews that suggest that the Delta products have some pretty serious quality control issues. So, what do you think is the best midi-sized lathe for around $1000. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

 

[mmayo]

Laguna 1216 with extension.

 

[Mortalis]

I've owned and still use a Delta 46-460 for over 7 years now. I havent done anything in the way of maintenance and it still turns out pens and bowls like a champ. It needs a new belt and I bought a set of bearings but havent installed any of it yet. That being said, my brother just replaced his old mini for a Laguna Revo 1216 and likes it a lot.

 

[Joebobber]

Definitely NOT a Turncrafter commander! Although the warranty on them is great, after that expires in 3 years you will probably be looking for a new lathe again (like i am)

 

[KenB259]

I also would recommend the Laguna 1216 I have one , with the bed extension. One thing it offers that many midi's do not is the ability to turn on the outboard side. To use that feature though, you do need to purchase the bed extension as it comes with all the necessary parts for outboard turning. It's a flat out beast.

 

[monophoto]

You ask three people this question you will get at least six different answers.

I happen to like my Turncrafter.

 

[Mr Vic]

Would highly recommend a gift certificate unless he is dropping hints for a specific model. A grand is a lot to spend on an item he may be disappointed in.

 

[Gregf]

+1 on the Laguna 1216

 

[jttheclockman]

I too suggest looking into the Laguna line of tools. Well built.

 

[Curly]

Not to disparage the Laguna but one of the wood turning club members had his a turning gathering and he had one complaint. There was play between the tailstock base and the bed gap, enough that the centre point could be as much as 1/16" out either side of the headstock point when locked. He was going to go back to where he bought it and see what they had to say.

I don't know If this is common or he has a dud. Something to check before buying.

 

[TDahl]

I have used a Turncrafter for the past 5 years and have no complaints.

 

[KenB259]

Not to disparage the Laguna but one of the wood turning club members had his a turning gathering and he had one complaint. There was play between the tailstock base and the bed gap, enough that the centre point could be as much as 1/16" out either side of the headstock point when locked. He was going to go back to where he bought it and see what they had to say.

I don't know If this is common or he has a dud. Something to check before buying.

Mine has zero play, I think he got a dud.

 

[turnit2020]

Laguna 1216 is a good lathe no doubt. However the price of the stand is about $350 and the mobility kit is another $150. A Rikon 70-150 has a 1hp motor, 16 1/2 between centers and will allow one to turn a 12" bowl. They are about $700. The stand is $200. A set of wheels about $100. They have a 5 yr warranty that they do stand behind, I know for a fact.
Turncrazy43

 

[SteveG]

As Vic asserted, it is best to NOT buy a significant tool FOR someone (unless they have provided a list of choices). Why not ask the guy what he wants!

 

[WriteON]

Jet VS1221. Only complaint is I do not use it enough.

This looks like a nice set up for $999.99.....99999999
$999
Laguna..SKU MLAREVO1216EVS

 

[WriteON]

You ask three people this question you will get at least six different answers.

I happen to like my Turncrafter.

Nothing wrong with a TC. They are bulldozers. PSI stands behind their products.

 

[greenacres2]

For 10-12" bowls, plan on adding plenty of weight to any stand. In the "midi" class I'd not bother with the standard stand sold for them, would mount to a more solid table or such. 5" or 6" only needs to be a little out of balance to be an adventure on a 12" lathe on a midi stand. No live animals were injured.
Earl

 

[Jim Smith]

For 10-12" bowls, plan on adding plenty of weight to any stand. In the "midi" class I'd not bother with the standard stand sold for them, would mount to a more solid table or such. 5" or 6" only needs to be a little out of balance to be an adventure on a 12" lathe on a midi stand. No live animals were injured.
Earl

I agree with you completely. I have both of my lathes bolted down to VERY heavy and stable bases. One is on an old cast iron base I bought at an auction that weighs considerably more than the lathe does, and the second one is bolted down to a tube-steel bench with a top that is 4 1/2" thick. Neither one of them wobble or move at all.

 

[greenacres2]

The manual for Nova's old DVR3000 has a pretty good plan for a construction lumber stand—saw one when I looked at a used machine a few years back— functional.
Earl

 

[Tim R]

I also have liked my Turncrafter, and it was a lot less than $1,000.

 

[Joebobber]

If I buy another Turncrafter, I would DEFINITELY get 1 with variable speed.

 

[WoodKnot]

I have a Jet 1221 VS and it has worked well for me. However, over time the tail stock clamp began to slip. The tail stock clamp is a disk with a small contact patch. I discovered Rick's Custom Tools (rherrell) in the vendor forums on the IAP site and he has a replacement clamp that fixes the problem; it is a rectangular shape with a much larger contact patch. I'd recommend the Jet with Rick's fix.

 

[Joebobber]

I have a Jet 1221 VS and it has worked well for me. However, over time the tail stock clamp began to slip. The tail stock clamp is a disk with a small contact patch. I discovered Rick's Custom Tools (rherrell) in the vendor forums on the IAP site and he has a replacement clamp that fixes the problem; it is a rectangular shape with a much larger contact patch. I'd recommend the Jet with Rick's fix.

It also works on a Turncrafter commander

 

[monophoto]

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes is reported to have said 'No generalization is worth a damn, including this one.'

So here are two generalizations drawn from the responses to this post:

1. Every lathe is liked by someone.
2. Every lathe has its shortcomings.


It's lot of fun to help the other guy spend his money, but ultimately it is that other guy who has to live with the choices that are made. So I think the best advice here would be for Jim to suggest to his neighbor that she send her husband off to the store with permission to buy whatever lathe he wants. It would be OK for Jim to go along for the ride and help his neighbor understand the choices, but ultimately the other guy needs to make the decision for himself.

 

[RunnerVince]

I am helping my neighbor select a lathe that will be a gift for her husband. He mainly turns small items like pens and pepper mills, but I'd like to get him one large enough to turn a 10-12 inch bowl. I have an older Delta Midi lathes (the smaller one) that have served me very well. So well in fact that I bought a second used one to use as a dedicated buffing station. I was looking at the Delta 46-460 for her, but there are a number of reviews that suggest that the Delta products have some pretty serious quality control issues. So, what do you think is the best midi-sized lathe for around $1000. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

I haven't seen any shoutouts for the Rikon lathes. The 70-220vsr comes in at well under $1,000 and has been a GREAT lathe for me. Everything is accurate as can be. The belt is super easy to switch from pulley to pully (although mine mostly stays on the middle pulleys), and I've enjoyed every minute of using it. For turning pens, I particularly like the 3.5" quill travel, which makes it so much easier to drill blanks for single-body pens. That extra inch over most competitors is often the difference between being able to drill straight through and having to drill, stop, reposition the tailstock, and finish drilling. It's got a 12" swing as well.

The ONLY complaint I've had is that shortly after I got it, the tailstock quill began getting harder and harder to advance/retract. I tried lubing it up and even dissasembled it to see if it had gotten gunked up (it hadn't). I saw a YouTube video where a guy had the same issue, and he was able to get a new one from Rikon under warranty (theirs is a 3-year warranty). I emailed Rikon on Friday and just got notification today that the new quill is on its way! SOO happy with their customer service.

 

[skipseke]

I am helping my neighbor select a lathe that will be a gift for her husband. He mainly turns small items like pens and pepper mills, but I'd like to get him one large enough to turn a 10-12 inch bowl. I have an older Delta Midi lathes (the smaller one) that have served me very well. So well in fact that I bought a second used one to use as a dedicated buffing station. I was looking at the Delta 46-460 for her, but there are a number of reviews that suggest that the Delta products have some pretty serious quality control issues. So, what do you think is the best midi-sized lathe for around $1000. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

 

[skipseke]

I just bought a Nova dr 14 at Rockler for $742 out the tax in Pa is 6%
It came with a nova G3 chuck.Do know if I'll like it and not sure if it's s good lsthe but only replaced a harbor freigh 10 inch lsthe.

 

[EatenAppleCrafts]

I am helping my neighbor select a lathe that will be a gift for her husband. He mainly turns small items like pens and pepper mills, but I'd like to get him one large enough to turn a 10-12 inch bowl. I have an older Delta Midi lathes (the smaller one) that have served me very well. So well in fact that I bought a second used one to use as a dedicated buffing station. I was looking at the Delta 46-460 for her, but there are a number of reviews that suggest that the Delta products have some pretty serious quality control issues. So, what do you think is the best midi-sized lathe for around $1000. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

I love my Jet 12-21 VS. Sturdy, accurate, everything it's cracked up to be. And it was $850 retail. Use the extra money for a really nice skew chisel and you're all set!

 

[RunnerVince]

I haven't seen any shoutouts for the Rikon lathes. The 70-220vsr comes in at well under $1,000 and has been a GREAT lathe for me. Everything is accurate as can be. The belt is super easy to switch from pulley to pully (although mine mostly stays on the middle pulleys), and I've enjoyed every minute of using it. For turning pens, I particularly like the 3.5" quill travel, which makes it so much easier to drill blanks for single-body pens. That extra inch over most competitors is often the difference between being able to drill straight through and having to drill, stop, reposition the tailstock, and finish drilling. It's got a 12" swing as well.

The ONLY complaint I've had is that shortly after I got it, the tailstock quill began getting harder and harder to advance/retract. I tried lubing it up and even dissasembled it to see if it had gotten gunked up (it hadn't). I saw a YouTube video where a guy had the same issue, and he was able to get a new one from Rikon under warranty (theirs is a 3-year warranty). I emailed Rikon on Friday and just got notification today that the new quill is on its way! SOO happy with their customer service.

Just a follow-up: The new quill arrived, installed easily, and makes this an even better lathe than it was before!

 

[Swagopenturner]

I'm a big fan of Rikon. Their 70-220vsr cannot be beat, but their customer service is the BEST!

 

[NGLJ]

I have the Laguna 1216 with bed extension. Overall I love the lathe BUT I am now onto my 3rd drive shaft. The milling of the thread on the inboard side leaves a section that is very weak and despite great care in mounting my NOVA chuck it eventually peels off. Further this piece of thread is dangerous because it is razor sharp. This results in no longer being able to mount the chuck up against the collar resulting in a wobbly chuck. Interestingly the milling on the outboard thread adapter is different and is absolutely fine. Until my 3rd shaft arrives, I discovered that if I attach the chuck to the thread adapter and mount both on the inboard side I can get it to run correctly even though it doesn't go all the way to the collar. So I can still work on drilling and milling of the ends of pen blanks. Further the Laguna face plate works just fine and goes all the way to the collar BUT none of my other faceplates work without wobbling since they won't go all of the way. I have spent way too much time debating this with Laguna who insist that the drive shaft is "fit for purpose". If that is the case why am I about to replace it again? If the thread on the drive shaft was milled the same as the outboard thread adapter everything would be just fine. I can't get Laguna to see this and they blame it on my NOVA chuck which I think is BS since it is just fine on the thread adapter. The weakness comes about because the thread is milled and then the area for the set screw to tighten down for running in reverse is milled too far thus removing some of the thread. This is NOT the case with the outboard thread adapter where there is adequate room to run in reverse. Having said all of this, which is very disappointing, in general I love Laguna tools. I own the 1214 bandsaw and 1632 drum sander.

 

[penicillin]

Well, @Jim Smith? What did your neighbor get?