I'm New... what would you buy?

[Hayseedboy]

Hello All,

Newbie here. Need some advice. Been looking at the Jet Mini VS and have had a look at the Rikon and have heard about the Grizzly. What are your suggestions?

I'm like everyone else my wallet is not a large as my wants As I am just starting out the only thing I have for fine woodworking is a Delta mitre saw. Love it but, need to know what other things you think I have to have to start. Drill press, grinder, ban saw etc. What are my must haves?

Thanks in Advance,
Larry

 

[txbatons]

Hey there, Larry. Welcome aboard. As for equipment, you only need enough to fill your garage. Then get a bigger garage. That's how most of us end up!

I can't help you with the ins/outs of mini-lathes. I use an old Carba-Tec mini for all of my work and a table saw for cutting blanks and a grinder to keep the tools sharp. I'd like to add a band saw, but I haven't figured out a way to sneak it into the house under my shirt so the wife doesn't see!

 

[R2]

G'day Larry. The Jet Mini is a good little lathe, Especially the new model. You might be lucky enough to pick up the superceded model on special. There is no real need for VS but it is handy if you are turning other than pens. Another tack is a second hand lathe. a few gouges and some sharpening gear and tou're under way. Best oluck from the land of Oz.[][][]

 

[Dario]

I bought Jet mini VS...and won't change anything even if I can go back.

I think Jet would be the lathe most owned by IAP members, for a good reason.

 

[GBusardo]

Must haves?? Hmmmmm Well, if you are on a budget, you really do not need a VS lathe. Harbour Freight has a cheap High Speed Steel tool set that will get you going. You will need to sharpen and hone your blades. A grinder is a good choice, get a better grinding wheel than comes with the grinder though. A Norton is a good choice. I would save on the grinder and get the better wheel. You can use a hard felt wheel on other side of the grinder to hone your tools, but use some honing compound. You can also hone your blades with a diamond sharpening stone. A drill press is a huge plus, get the longest throw you can afford, but you can really get away with a smaller one. Again Harbour Freight has a drill bit set that has almost all you really need and it goes on sale a lot. You'll also need to secure the blank to the drill press table. A 2x4 with a notch cut out and clamped together worked for me till I got a pen vise. The Mitre saw can be used to cut your blanks, but it puts your hands too close to the blade for my comfort, a jig is available or make your own. You'll need to mill the ends of your blanks after your put in the brass tubes, I like the pen mill best for that. but if you have a disc sander, you can use that too. After you turn and finish your pen, you'll need to put it together. A clamp or your vise can be used on a budget or you can get an arbor press back at Harbour Freight cheaply. You will also need glue, sandpaper, finish and of course, pen kits and wood!! These are all my opinions and I am sure I left something out and I am sure these are others here that have different views. All of the above terms can be searched in the site and give you more information than you will ever need. Once you get going, you'll fine 231532 tools you will have to have
Welcome and good luck

 

[GBusardo]

Oh man! I forgot you will also need bushings, mandrel and a 60 degree live center. Check the Little Machine Shop web site for the best price on the live center.
http://www.littlemachineshop.com
And while you are there, get a dead center for 4 bucks I think, believe me, you will use it!

 

[Glass Scratcher]

Soon enough you'll want a chainsaw.[]

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Yep, you can start out the "right way" and start off turning between centers and skip the whole bent mandrel phase if you like. This is where you hold one blank, with bushings, between your live center and a $5.00 dead center. Many have gone this route and will tell you that there is a big diffrence on how nice the pens come out. Plus it helps for keeping CA from sticking to your bushings and chipping at the edges.

You could look in the local craigslist for a good used lathe. Depending on how handy you are, a $50.00 lathe can be a killer deal (take a peek at my 75 year old girl on my shop site) I will chime in there with that Harbor Freight set of tools, good for a starter set and the you can add new chisels of higher quaility down the road as you see fit. Learn to mess up the cheap ones first. Don't feel that you HAVE TO have HSS chisels either, I still turn with carbon steel (except for my scrapers and bowl gouges) they need to be honed more often, but will take a finer edge than HSS steel. []

Don't be afraid to use

 

[leehljp]

I have a Rikon and it has a three of advantages over other midi lathes - 12" versus 10; easy belt speed change; 12 point indexing. However, for ME, I haven't need the indexing yet or the 12 inch turning. If I had it to do over, I probably would get the Jet. I have had a few problems that I had to work to overcome.

 

[TowMater]

Hey Larry,

I'm fairly new at this too but I'll tell you how I got started.

I posted a WTB add on my local Craigslist.

The next day I went to look at a Jet MiniVS.

I ended up walking out with the lathe, a set of tools, a pen press, about 15 pen kits, a pen mill set and about 100 blanks. All for much less than the cheapest price I could find anywhere for just the MiniVS itself.

You might try this approach before you buy new.

Good luck!!