Buying Union/Harrison Graduate wood lathe

[malcolm]

Hello
i am relatively new to wood turning, (1 year ago) I currently have a small Draper WTL90 machine with which i have turned dozens of interesting projects. my interest seems to be Bowls and hollow vessels, i have access to old woods
decayed, spalted etc, it is green timber but most is very interesting.
I am thinking of looking for a union/harrison Graduate machine short bed that can be renovated or one that has been
updated.
I would like to ask advice from turners who have these machines, as to their pro's and cons.
Many thanks

Malcolm

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi Malcolm,
I have a graduate bowl lathe which I have yet to make much use of. I have recently bought an Axminster Evolution chuck for it and am in the process of getting dust extraction sorted out in my workshop before I get down to any serious turning. I also have a myford ML8 which is fine for spindle turning but I don't like the rigidity of the outboard attachment, which is why I bought the graduate.

Regarding the lathe itself, I chose one because they seem to come well recommended by the professional turners of up to about 15 years ago since they are so solid and reliable. I think the newer generation of lathes with variable speed and swivel heads are taking over, but the graduate remains a well respected machine. The one modification I would suggest is to go for variable speed. Pulley changing is a pain the the rear. I changed my myford to variable speed and shall soon be doing the same to the graduate. It is safer too, because you can rough turn odd shaped pieces at a really low speed (although possibly with less torque). I bought a single to 3 phase inverter capable of handling motors up to 2HP (about £150) when I bought a milling machine so there was no extra expense in converting the lathes using acquired 3 phase motors. The motors themselves must be dual voltage (220/415V) else you need a much more expensive inverter. This looks pricey but it really is a fantastic improvement.

The headstock spindle is about 2" lower than the myford's so I'm going to mount the graduate on a 2-3" solid timber base.
Back to the graduate - the bowl lathe I have is really solid,made out of cast iron and pretty heavy. The short bed though has some disadvantages apparently. The peculiar arrangement of tailstock is a weak point, it's not rigid enough and can be seen flexing during turning - so I've read. See the following link for more on this

http://www.blog.turnedwoodenbowls.com/?page_id=189

So I hope that is of some help. By the way I bought my graduate as a disk sander with 14" aluminium face plate for £150 just over a year ago. (Cost more than that for the chuck !!?)

K

 

[malcolm]

HI
Thanks very much for the information, i will take it all on board. it is interesting to hear about the tailstock, and i have in mind to change the machine to vari- speed single phase.
If you hear of another at your price, i would be very interested.
Many Thanks

Malcolm

 

[Finial]

That's my blog. The short bed does have shortcomings, but it's still a very good lathe. Best you could get not so long ago. I bought mine new and it has served me very well.

Terry

 

[malcolm]

Many thanks

 

[graduate_owner]

Malcolm,
My graduate was advertised on ebay for £200 but had no bids. I was seriously thinking of bidding but let it slip away. After it finished I contacted the seller to see if he was going to re-list, and we agreed on a cash price of £150 (although this may not be something that ebay approve of - no commission). So at £200 there was no interest. It was listed as a disk sander and had no centres, rests etc, just the 14" face plate, an adjustable sanding table and a dust extraction shroud on the outboard side. I'm not interested in centres as I have my myford for that. I just want it for faceplate / chuck work. I have turned a sleeve to allow me to use my Myford rests in the graduate in place of the sanding table.

So overall it needed some tinkering to use it as a lathe but nothing serious. I was lucky to have the bits from the myford else I'd have been spending out on these. The only expenditure has been on the chuck - serious money but it's a nice chuck.

K

 

[malcolm]

Thanks I'll keep looking, and hope one comes along a a similar price.

Malcolm

 

[graduate_owner]

Malcolm,
a graduate has just been sold for £260 on ebay, in Stockton on Tees. It was a full size bed version, 3 phase with 9 faceplates, but with some damage to the tailstock. Just to give you an idea of what's around. Faceplates seem to go for £20 upwards so this looks like a good deal, and the buyer could always get something back by selling a few.

There's one on there now at a current bid of £205, finishing in 23 hours. May be worth a look?

K

 

[malcolm]

many thanks

M

 

[Finial]

Hi Malcolm,

Back to the graduate - the bowl lathe I have is really solid,made out of cast iron and pretty heavy. The short bed though has some disadvantages apparently. The peculiar arrangement of tailstock is a weak point, it's not rigid enough and can be seen flexing during turning - so I've read. See the following link for more on this

http://www.blog.turnedwoodenbowls.com/?page_id=189

That link was to my old blog. I've moved the article to my new one at http://turnedwoodenbowls.co.uk/2017/03/07/graduate-lathe/.
I don't use the Graduate now, I have a larger lathe, but it's still a great machine.

Terry