loooking at new lathe

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sgimbel

sgimbel

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Joined
Dec 23, 2008
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675
Location
Round Rock, Texas
Looking at the pen state VS lathe. How important is an indexing head? Is there something you can add later either aftermarket or homemade? People have given the lathe high praises and I just can't afford the new one coming out. Grizzly instead of Penn State? Does it make a big difference between MT 1 and MT 2? I need opinions please.
 
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Index head is one of those that if you need it it is very important. If you don't it means nothing at all. I have never needed one. I have seen ofter market plates offered for various lathes. Cannot vouch one way or the other for this particular lathe.
MT2 it is much easier to find accessories later.
 
I previously had a JET 1220, non variable speed. I sold it and purchased the Turncrafter Pro VS from someone locally for a song. The JET had indexing, and the Turncrafter does not. The only use I had for the indexing was for holding the spindle while I was unscrewing something. Other than that, I really rather enjoy the VS, and I haven't moved the belt since I bought the lathe.
 
I am like Justin, I love my Turncrafter Pro VS. It is MT2 so it takes all of the common tooling. I would love to have the new Commander but I think I am going to buy the Harbor Freight that I have been hearing good reviews about.
 
I agree about the MT2. It's the most popular. Robert Sorby carries an after market indexing system that will fit all lathes (according to the site). It may cost more to go this route, than to get a lathe that is all ready equipped with it in the first place. I have a Jet 1014I that has an indexing head, but have not used it. I got a great deal on my lathe, so I didn't care that it had an indexing head. after turning for a short time and seeing other machines, I would opt for variable speed over indexing.
 
rjwolfe3 said:
This one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34706

Also look here for a good review:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42750
Click to expand...

Maybe I did not say enough in that thread. If anyone buys this lathe they should also buy 2x4s or some angle iron to beef up the legs ,they are going to bend .I was lucky mine bent when loading it up in the guys truck that bought it from me. If you are going to be moving this lathe around in your shop you better beef up legs,also wear earmuffs. and have a tap and die set on hand to fix adjustable handles.
Thats what I needed for mine!!
PS don't forget to change speeds before you turn it off. I was finishing a bowl on the highest speed and turned the lathe off and put another bowl blank on ,and had to take back off ,to turn the naked lathe on, to lower the speed then replace the blank back on the lathe. It happed to me more than once and under difference circumstances.
Maybe I just got another bad one, oh I did'nt tell you why I went home with this lathe. My wife had bought me a metal lathe for christmas from HF and it worked a week and I took it back and the replacement worked two days so I got the wood lathe and now you know the rest of the story!!!!
 
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