New from Houston, Texas

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greg544

Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
20
Location
The Woodlands, TX
Greetings to all!

I live north of Houston in Spring, Texas.

I took a pen turning class at Woodcraft and liked it. I would like to make the purchases I need to get started. I am very "price conscious" ( or as my wife says "cheap").

I was looking at Harbor Freight, but some of you have had bad things to say about that. I see some afordable lathes at Sears. I am not looking to invest much because I want to make sure I find it as fun as I think I will. Upgrading later sounds like a better option for me.

I'm open to any suggestions you might have.

Could someone explain MT#1 and MT#2 to me? Can you buy a lathe that accepts both?
 
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Greg, Welcome from Spring, Tx too! I live opposite of the Woodlands, off of Rayford Rd.
Come by sometimes for a cup of Joe.
 
Didn't see the MT question. As previously stated it is the size of the taper hole in the head and tail stock. You can buy an adapter and use the MT1 in an MT2 hole but I don't recall seeing an adapter to use an MT2 in an MT1 hole.
 
greg544 said:
Greetings to all!

I'm open to any suggestions you might have.

Could someone explain MT#1 and MT#2 to me? Can you buy a lathe that accepts both?
Click to expand...

Howdy from Round Rock, I lived in Spring for about a year before moving to Round Rock.

The lathe is only about 40% of what it costs to get set-up. The is a great wood turners club in Houston and IAP chapter. I would visit to some pen turners and check out what they are using. I would not be in a hurry to buy anything until you try a couple of different lathes.

It's not hard to find a used Jet 1012 or something similar on Craigslist at a reasonable price. I bought a Delta Midi to replace my vintage Craftsman lathe.
Check the local clubs classified listing and the equipment on this forum. My own experience is that Harbor Freight seems to be a crap shoot so far as quality is concerned.

About Morse taper, the defacto standard is Morse Taper #2. You can buy an adapter to use #1 MT accessories on MT#2 lathe for about $10. Not the other way around.

My Sears lathe is a MT#1 and accessories were harder to find. I wouldn't go MT#1 on a new lathe.
 
Welcome from another newbie.

In addition to what was said above, wikipedia has a good explanation of Morse tapers, with sizes I think. You can buy adapters and so forth off of ebay pretty cheap. Also pen blanks and kits...but I would be careful about the quality of the kits.

I use a metal lathe I bought from Bolton Hardware (a Chinese import, but aren't they all?), which I am pretty happy with, but it was not cheap. It is a much bigger machine than needed for pens. I actually never use any of your normal wood turning tools. I turn the pens to the basic diameter with the lathe, then do any shaping with wood rasps, then 60 grit sand paper, then sand and polish like everyone else.

I love the hobby, and I am really looking forward to advancing my skills. People love and appreciate the pens. It is really cool to make something that beautiful.

Welcome and enjoy the hobby!

Frank
 
Welcome from Wichita Falls,TX!! My first lathe was the cheap mini(mini)lathe that HF sells, found it at a pawn shop for around $70 brand new! Made my first 200 pens on it and decided it was time to upgrade, so i sold it to a friend who was just getting started. It wasnt really good for much else than pens though, IMO.
 
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