Lathe

[DarkProphet918]

Whats a good wood lathe and metal lathe for pen turning.

 

[mark james]

I have an older Jet mini, and a Nova 16-24. Both are wood lathes, and I am happy with both.

 

[danhoke]

I have a Rikon 12" X 16" Mini Lathe and couldn't be happier. I've been using it for about 10 years without a single problem.

 

[1shootist]

I used a micromark 7 x 16 mini metal as both metal and wood for a while. I bought an attachment from littlemachineshop that is about 5" flat surface which lets me use regular wood tools.
Most all mini metal lathes are made by sieg if I remember correctly..sellers add their personal touches then sell to the public.
Speaking of littlemachineshop, they have a few mini metals aswell..either would be a good choice.

 

[WriteON]

Whats a good wood lathe and metal lathe for pen turning.

Welcome aboard. I bought a Cueman Micro ll lathe with a large bore chuck. Got a tool rest for it. It has a 36" bed with a 12" extension. I can turn pens or canes with it. It's portable. However for what it cost a good spindle lathe and mini Taig can be purchased.

 

[magpens]

I have done all my pens for the last 9 years on a mini metal lathe of the Sieg design .... it really has served me well. . Mine is very similar to the Harbor Freight (or Grizzly) 7x12. . Littlemachineshop has better ones for a little more money and I would say they are worth it. . If I lived in the US, .... I would have bought from them. . Many of my accessories are from them.

In my opinion, a metal lathe is the way to go for pens ... not as fast, perhaps, but somewhat better control of the process. . I have never ruined a blank. . Variable speed down to almost zero is a big plus when it comes to applying CA as a finish. . Tungsten carbide cutting tools.

 

[eharri446]

I recently bought a Rykon 70-220vsr from Woodcraft. They are on sale now for $599.00. About 6 months ago the same lathe would have cost $799.00. I bought because I can drill a 3 1/2 inch blank without moving the tail stock.

 

[FGarbrecht]

I have a Jet 1221 that I like a lot. I have the non-variable-speed model which is cheaper than the VS. It needed some tweaking to align headstock and tailstock, but works very well for pen turning. I also just bought a HF 7x10 mini metal lathe for a bit more precision. I may be able to actually use it once I get all the grease cleaned off in a week or two. Kidding aside it hasn't needed too much tweaking so far, turned a bit of alumilite without killing any bystanders or putting my eye out, so that's encouraging.

 

[DrafterDan]

The precision machine has been getting good reviews. A couple friends have the PM10-30 which they tell me is rather accurate and robust

 

[bmachin]

The precision machine has been getting good reviews. A couple friends have the PM10-30 which they tell me is rather accurate and robust

Do you mean Precision Matthews PM10-30?

Bill