# new lathe time this year



## TopCat 32 (7 Feb 2019)

Be looking to replace my lathe later this year, and very few choices out in my price range (sub 2K), i like the look of the stratos twister FU 180, anyone own 1 and can give me a rundown on pros and cons, or used 1 and report, or any thoughts on any type out there i may of missed?, needs a swivel head with outboard turning attachment as im left handed and suffer with a bad back and leaning over the bed while turning bowls is a no no 

cheers Tim


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## Dalboy (7 Feb 2019)

Will be interested in any answers as I have been looking at the Stratos FU-230 Woodturning Lathe with the extras so that I can up my turning as it would be heavier than what I have at the moment


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## woodbloke66 (7 Feb 2019)

Given any thought to the Ax VS 1628 (as was) on a ci stand? - Rob


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## Robbo3 (8 Feb 2019)

The capacity of the Stratos is quite small @ 350mm x 560mm with quite a high price £1700 = unspecified delivery cost), whereas I have been saying for several years the lathe with the best specifications & value for money is the Record Maxi-1 (533mm x 950mm & a weight of 231kg).
You might even get it cheaper than £1900 at one of the Record shows.


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## TopCat 32 (8 Feb 2019)

woodbloke66":2dnwhs4r said:


> Given any thought to the Ax VS 1628 (as was) on a ci stand? - Rob



Yes the AT406WL as they call it now, i like that and price is ok, but no mounted outboard turning option , you seem limited to how far the bed banjo and rest will reach, wheas the twister has a bedextention that can be mounted on the leg and has a swing away hinge, all this and still in the 2k area, i think axminster missed a trick here as wouldn't been difficult to design something similar to the twister

thanks for the reply
Tim


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## TopCat 32 (8 Feb 2019)

Robbo3":2wcbkvh8 said:


> The capacity of the Stratos is quite small @ 350mm x 560mm with quite a high price £1700 = unspecified delivery cost), whereas I have been saying for several years the lathe with the best specifications & value for money is the Record Maxi-1 (533mm x 950mm & a weight of 231kg).
> You might even get it cheaper than £1900 at one of the Record shows.



Cheers Robbo, yes looking at the Maxi 1 as well , just over a foot longer which will need some shop adjustment, but not impossible to overcome, price is good, outboard turning attachment good, weight ? it will go on a wooden floored workshop with 4X2 bearers(600mm spacing) on concrete slab with 19mm floor boards as standard, i have overlaid this with 18mm OSB to strengthen it, do you think this is man enough for a 250kg lathe ? like the 5 year warranty, i have another piece of record equipment which i found to be faulty yesterday, and am awaiting there response, if they act like most say on this site and sort problem quickly this will be a big + for buying the maxi 1, went to D&M tools roadshow last october and was disappointed that the maxi 1 was not there,.
have you got the maxi 1, any problems with it?


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## woodbloke66 (8 Feb 2019)

TopCat 32":16v1zwbx said:


> woodbloke66":16v1zwbx said:
> 
> 
> > Given any thought to the Ax VS 1628 (as was) on a ci stand? - Rob
> ...


Ax didn't miss a trick as there is a lathe bed extension that you can get for the machine, which bolts onto the stand in two position. In the lower one, the swing over the bed is 870mm which ought to be big enough for most turners  - Rob


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## Dalboy (8 Feb 2019)

This may interest you a review on the 230 which is the next size up from what you are looking at HERE


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## Robbo3 (9 Feb 2019)

Dalboy":3ojscu5e said:


> This may interest you a review on the 230 which is the next size up from what you are looking at HERE


Interesting, but out of his, under £2k, price range at £2,499. 
- https://hopewoodturning.co.uk/woodturni ... os-fu-230/

I haven't used a Maxi-1 (I have the APTC 1628VS), I'm just going by the specifications & feedback from owners.
As to the flooring, if you can get the leg at the headstock end over a joist everything underneath will be solid. If you can't, then I would consider cutting a trapdoor in the floor so that you can insert further support.


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## Dalboy (9 Feb 2019)

Robbo3":84zasimg said:


> Interesting, but out of his, under £2k, price range at £2,499.
> - https://hopewoodturning.co.uk/woodturni ... os-fu-230/


I knew that, but it was just so people could see what stratos lathes are like just have to pick out the bits that suit the smaller lathe


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## TopCat 32 (9 Feb 2019)

Dalboy":2rybckmb said:


> This may interest you a review on the 230 which is the next size up from what you are looking at HERE




cheers delboy, that looks the dogs danglers, but i'm afraid out of my price range at the moment, i have seens Mike's vid on it before, and looked at Hopes website , that's where i spotted the twister

cheers Tim


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## TopCat 32 (9 Feb 2019)

Robbo3":2efxlnmz said:


> Dalboy":2efxlnmz said:
> 
> 
> > This may interest you a review on the 230 which is the next size up from what you are looking at HERE
> ...



Cheers Robbo, great minds i just got back from workshop and been measuring up where the head stock leg would come, would need to rearrange a few thing in shop, but a possibility, the other thing i was thinking was cutting 2 holes in the floor (just over stand size footprint) boxing in and drill a couple of holes in concrete pad and pour concrete pillars to bolt stand to,


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## Jacob (9 Feb 2019)

Ebay bargain brag:
I got a new (old) lathe recently. Arundel J4 Senior. 72" bed, 12"or 18" dia behind headstock with bowl turning attachment. 3 tool slides. Tilting table. Two 6" face plates and one 12". Very heavy, beautifully designed/made and a pleasure to use. 
£100 :lol:


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## TopCat 32 (9 Feb 2019)

woodbloke66":32iqsa5s said:


> TopCat 32":32iqsa5s said:
> 
> 
> > woodbloke66":32iqsa5s said:
> ...



Thanks Robbo, i knew they done a extension , but never seen any info re mounting it as a outboard extension, just a bed extension, never noticed any holes in the legs of 1628 lathes to bolt it to, i must pay more attention in future, off to you tube to see if there are any vids on this, as i just looked through axi catalogue and can not see where it bolts to , that could be the AT406 back in the running as it would be in the circa 2K brand, at the start of this post i was sure the twister was the 1 for me, now igot that and the 406 and maxi 1, more research needed i think


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## TopCat 32 (9 Feb 2019)

Ah, just back from youtube the outboard attachment is on the tail stock end, so will be turning off the end of bed, unfortunately this is not possible in my shop it needs to be with head swivels 90 degrees and either over leg on headstock end as per Maxi 1 or stratos twister or FU230 or at least in the middle of the bed as per the axi 508 but at about 3.5 k all in out of my price range unfortunately,


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## JWD (21 Feb 2019)

Hello all, to the OP: 
are you desperate to have a bed attachment for outboard turning? what about a standalone rest? I totally understand the limitations of this but it does open your choice up to all of the lathes in your price range that don't have a side mounting bed extension. 

JD


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## finneyb (21 Feb 2019)

Get a lathe with reverse then you don't need to lean over the bed. You will need a chuck that can lock down otherwise it comes off !

Brian


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## Robbo3 (22 Feb 2019)

TopCat 32":xww3jxtn said:


> Thanks Robbo, i knew they done a extension , but never seen any info re mounting it as a outboard extension, just a bed extension, never noticed any holes in the legs of 1628 lathes to bolt it to, i must pay more attention in future, off to you tube to see if there are any vids on this, as i just looked through axi catalogue and can not see where it bolts to , that could be the AT406 back in the running as it would be in the circa 2K brand, at the start of this post i was sure the twister was the 1 for me, now igot that and the 406 and maxi 1, more research needed i think


Yes the AT1628VS has a bed extension. The mounting holes are in line with the bed at both ends.
However, like you, turning over the end of the bed involves too much hassle so I'm making an outrigger which will allow turning at ninety degrees.







I'll do a WIP when it's finished.


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## Simon_M (25 Mar 2019)

Robbo3":3b381v4y said:


> Yes the AT1628VS has a bed extension. The mounting holes are in line with the bed at both ends. However, like you, turning over the end of the bed involves too much hassle so I'm making an outrigger which will allow turning at ninety degrees.


Robbo is correct, that there are mounting holes at each end of the AT1628 lathe bed, however they are NOT the same at each end because the LH end (on the current version) has them about 2" lower. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

This means that you cannot expect to put an extension at both ends and turn something bigger between centres. I doubt you would want to do this, anyway.

It does mean that the swing is increased by 4" for bowls, if you mount the headstock on an extension on the LH end. However, you will have to stand behind the lathe and reverse the headstock and banjo. You will also need to make a 2" post extension or get a deeper toolrest (longer foot). This feature is explained in the manual and in the Axminster video, however when you ask Axminster, they don't support using it this way.


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## Droogs (26 Mar 2019)

you might want to consider this
https://neureiter-shop.at/produkte/drec ... n-dvr.html


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## Robbo3 (26 Mar 2019)

Simon_M":2goe4d54 said:


> there are mounting holes at each end of the AT1628 lathe bed, however they are NOT the same at each end because the LH end (on the current version) has them about 2" lower. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage.


Just to confirm that this is correct. The mounting holes for the bed extension are 2" lower on the headstock end. Thus the extension will be level with the bed at the tailstock end but lower at the headstock end.
The mounting holes in the legs are at the same height at both ends.

Edit: Changed from 1" to 2" lower


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## MusicMan (26 Mar 2019)

Jacob":2bkc1wyl said:


> Ebay bargain brag:
> I got a new (old) lathe recently. Arundel J4 Senior. 72" bed, 12"or 18" dia behind headstock with bowl turning attachment. 3 tool slides. Tilting table. Two 6" face plates and one 12". Very heavy, beautifully designed/made and a pleasure to use.
> £100 :lol:



Nice! But any tool brag has to be accompanied by a pic, don't ya know da roolz?

Serious point is that big lathes can go for attractive prices on ebay, indeed.


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## Jacob (28 Apr 2019)

MusicMan":3umansji said:


> Jacob":3umansji said:
> 
> 
> > Ebay bargain brag:
> ...


Snaps!
It's the Arundel Senior - identical to the junior but scaled up in every detail, plus sealed roller bearings.
The board is an 8ft offcut of fire door which gives you an idea of the size. Firedoors very handy as large heavy boards for worktops etc. This one was 8x4ft (before it was cut)
The stand is a bit of tat which I already had.
Bought the Patriot chuck, which is an excellent bit of kit but cost nearly twice as much as the lathe :shock: . Amongst other things it's perfect for door knobs. You can turn up a whole set from one piece, with spigots. Then saw them off and for final finishing the spigot fits the chuck with no messing about. 1/2" to 5/8"





























I expect the 12" disc and tilting table will come in handy but they only fit on the inboard side. They are a vestige of the days when lathes had all sorts of add-ons to make them into combi machines, now no longer in fashion (we are all better off and can afford more machines :lol: )


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## MusicMan (28 Apr 2019)

Thanks for the pics, looks a nice bit of kit.

Keith


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