Advice sought..... Looking to change my lathe

[=Adam=]

Hi guys,

As per the title, I am looking to get a new lathe in the not too distant future and was wondering what you guys would recommend.

I currently have a record cl1 36, it is 3 speed (manual change), has a round bar bed and doesnt have a cam lock system. It does also have a swinging headstock which is very nice to have, but I do not have the bowl turning attachment, so I am quite limited as to how far off the bed I can go.

Ideally I would like:

- Variable speed
- A flat bed with cam lock
- A swinging headstock (not essential but it would be nice)
- A handle to wind the tailstock in/out
- The bed to be a little over 36" so that I can turn full size spindles

Now I have been looking at the Axminster AWVSL 1000 as it offers all of things that I want and the price seems like an absolute bargain! I have read up on it and most people comment that the frame is a little flimsy, is this a huge problem or can it easily be sorted by adding steel bracing? I also really like the fact that it has 1100mm between centres which would allow for some fair sized pieces of wood to be turned!

Apart from that, I also quite fancy a union graduate as they are incredibly sturdy and feel so precise ( I use one in my wood turning course). Now there are a couple of downsides to this lathe, such as the fact that it is manual speed adjustment, I am aware that you can get it upgraded to variable speed, however that is another £2-300 which I wouldn't really want to spend. Also the lathe does allow for large bowls to be turned outboard which is great but does anyone have any issues with the work essentially spinning in the opposite direction?

I suppose the important thing to mention is my budget! I would like to be in the £300 region (not including chucks etc) as I can't really justify much more than that at present. I am aware that I could just upgrade the lathe to the spec that I want (less the flat bed), but I am not sold on this idea as I wouldn't really be increasing the re sale value that much.

Any help would be great guys!

Thanks

Adam

 

[Grahamshed]

The axi lathe has variable speed but it is not the 'proper' 3 phase type..... but then I dont suppose any lathe in that price bracket will be.

 

[henton49er]

Adam,

I had the Axi AWVSL1000 as my first lathe. I bought it new from Axminster in August 2010. I found that the variable speed was very useful and the motor was good enough for the capacity. The bed was fine, but the stand for the lathe is not very robust or heavy and allowed the lathe to vibrate considerably with anything even a bit out of true (even when I had 50kg of snadbags on the shelf).

The levers to lock the banjo and tailstock in position wear out and need replacing with annoying frequency (but they are only about £3 each). I had to ask for more during the 12 month warranty period, which Axi provided f.o.c. without any hassle whatsoever.

In summary, it was a good lathe as a first lathe, but I outgrew it inside 2 years. If you are looking to upgrade, I would suggest that the Axi 1000 would not give you what you want.

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi,
I recently bought a second hand Graduate for bowl turning. It had no bed (neirhte long nor short) - just a disk sander on the outboard side, but I was very pleased as it cost me £150. The sanding disk is a 14" face plate so I've been using that, together with a home made rest to do some bowl turning. As you say, they are very sturdy.

My plan is to weld up a 'free standing' rest support for the inboard side, which I will bolt to the graduate casting for extra rigidity. A Goliath chuck from Axminster (which fits both sides) will then allow me to turn inboard and outboard, although I'll probably re-fit the sanding table and stick to inboard turning but without a tailstock and bed to get in the way.

In your case with a £300 budget, perhaps a bowl turning graduate would be an affordable possibility (as a second lathe, keeping your existing one as well for between centres), since a fully fitted graduate with bed etc. is sooo expensive - certainly way beyond what I wanted to spend. If you do go down this route, be aware that spares are also very sought after and expensive, e.g. faceplates on ebay go for over £20 + carriage (go to Axminster and get a replacement backplate for their Super Precision chuck - £21 or £26 for R & L thread). Just make sure you don't buy one with loads of bits missing, as it won't be a bargain if you later have to source things like a support arm or a short bed. Regarding the lack of variable speed - whilst it is indeed very useful, I am sure there are very many woodturners who manage without it. I'm not an experienced turner but I think a good, solid lathe with no variable speed but as little vibration as possible is preferable to a flimsy lathe with 'extras'.

Since you already have a lathe, you could possibly hold off buying a new lathe until you see just what you want ( regular looking on ebay). One more thing to mention is the variation in thread sizes and the corresponding lack of interchangeability of accessories. If you have already spent out on chucks etc then you might want to get a replacement lathe with a matching thread. Alternatively if you have to change thread sizes you could perhaps save money by looking at the second hand market for chucks etc in which case you may want to go for a really popular size.

Whatever you decide, good luck with the search.

K

 

[=Adam=]

Thanks for the replies guys!

The £300 budget is subject to selling my other lathe, therefore I would only have one lathe, so the option of having a separate bowl lathe is out of the question (although it would be nice).

For those of you with the axminster 1000 lathe, can you tell me if the 1100mm between centres is taken before the live centre and spur drive are inserted or is it taken as 1100mm between the points of the drives i.e. you would be able to turn a blank that is 1100mm long. The reason for this is that an 1100mm bed is ideal for me as I sometimes turn spindles for work (at a cost) so the 1100mm bed will allow me to turn the larger spindles that are sometimes required (industrial use etc).

 

[=Adam=]

Anyone?

 

[nev]

Thanks for the replies guys!

The £300 budget is subject to selling my other lathe, therefore I would only have one lathe, so the option of having a separate bowl lathe is out of the question (although it would be nice).

For those of you with the axminster 1000 lathe, can you tell me if the 1100mm between centres is taken before the live centre and spur drive are inserted or is it taken as 1100mm between the points of the drives i.e. you would be able to turn a blank that is 1100mm long. The reason for this is that an 1100mm bed is ideal for me as I sometimes turn spindles for work (at a cost) so the 1100mm bed will allow me to turn the larger spindles that are sometimes required (industrial use etc).

Reading the manual - http://www.axminster.co.uk/downloads/700206_manual.pdf yes 1100mm is the distance between centres so i guess that would be the maximum spindle length, (the lathe itself is 1680mm)
One thing to note though is that it is a 2MT and 1" x 8tpi so none of your existing chucks/ tapers will be a direct fit

 

[Aden30mm]

Adam

I have PM'd you with a lathe I am selling, may be of interest as it meets most of your list.

If not sorry to have bothered you.

Kind regards

Aden30mm