Beginner - scheppach 450 or tyme Avon?

[robsmuddygloves]

Hi, I'm very keen to start turning and a local guy to me has two lathes he's selling - a scheppach DMT 450 with extended bed and a tyme Avon 48". They are both in good nick, so as a complete beginner which should I go for? As an aside the scheppach is half the price, though that's not prohibitive in any way. Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[Spence]

Are these listed on eBay? If so I can see the Scheppach DMT 450 on eBay. It looks alot like many of the midi lathes, does not have variable speed but belt changes would be simple. I think Midi lathes are pretty good for the beginner. I don't know what model of Tyme Avon he has selling but they will be much heavier duty.

I'd go with the Scheppach personally, big lathes are nice but small ones are good for beginners. Do either come with chucks? The Scheppach being newer would probably be easier to get accessories for.

 

[robsmuddygloves]

I'd not seen the one on Ebay. Thanks for the advice. Plenty to ponder. I'll have another chat with him re chucks.

 

[minilathe22]

My first lathe was a Scheppach DMT450 and I found it to be a solid and easy to use machine, without being too difficult to move around like some larger floor standing machines. I did find I needed to bolt it down when turning larger or unbalanced items.

If you are new to woodturning I would suggest it as a good buy, the one I had was 1" 8tpi thread which is easy to find chucks/faceplates for. However if you really get into woodturning, you will start to feel limited by the diameter and power of the motor, which does get very hot. But its a waste to spend lots of money on a new hobby that you might not get into, don't want to be "all the gear, no idea" :shock:

 

[SVB]

One Q i’d ask is what spindle thread the lathes were. 3/4” x 16, 1” x 8 and m33 x 3.5 are the three most popular (and therefore easy / cheap to get used chucks etc). IIRC the earlier tyme lathes had a slightly odd ball size (M20 x 2mm rings a bell but I may be wrong) that would make getting used accessories more difficult.

I also am not sure about the comment that smaller lathes are good for beginners. If anything, smaller lathes can be more awkward to turn on with tool handles fouling bed bars needed compensation in cuts etc so I’d not rule a lathes out on size myself (unless it won’t fit in your workshop of course).