First lathe advice

[Natlai770]

Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing a first lathe as an Xmas gift. I've a budget upto £300. Research I've done says a swing of 12 inches but im at a loss as which one is good and if I need a chuck to go with it to start off ?

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Natasha

 

[Colin Hovland]

I would suggest looking for a second hand lathe as you may also find there would probably be various tools included. I would advise you to join a woodturning club in your area to benefit from the experience of other members. Look up the AWGB on google for woodturning clubs.

 

[Chris152]

Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing a first lathe as an Xmas gift. I've a budget upto £300. Research I've done says a swing of 12 inches but im at a loss as which one is good and if I need a chuck to go with it to start off ?

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Natasha

Have you seen this in the for sale section? I think you'd struggle to do better for the money (tho I've not seen the lathe).

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/woodturning-lathe-myford-ml8.150411/

 

[alex robinson]

Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing a first lathe as an Xmas gift. I've a budget upto £300. Research I've done says a swing of 12 inches but im at a loss as which one is good and if I need a chuck to go with it to start off ?

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Natasha

I would definitely suggest getting a chuck. Unless you only want to do spindle stuff, faceplates alone are frustrating for bowls.

They are expensive, so factor that into how good a deal a second hand lathe is.

Also, have you considered how you are going to sharpen your tools? It can be alarming how much you need to spend on the essential trimmings as well as the big machine itself.

 

[Agent_zed]

Hi all,

I'm looking at purchasing a first lathe as an Xmas gift. I've a budget upto £300. Research I've done says a swing of 12 inches but im at a loss as which one is good and if I need a chuck to go with it to start off ?

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Natasha

Forgive me if you know this already but a couple of other things you should get/consider -

A full face shield/mask. Something like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/site-face-shield-clear/6540d which is B rated (Most safety specs are lower rating and don't protect your entire face). Bowl turning is the more dangerous one as if it comes apart you get a chunk of wood thrown at your head.

Tools. if you are just starting out I'd recommend spindle turning to start with so you'll need a roughing gouge, spindle gouge, parting tool and a skew (although you could prob get away without one for a while).

Be aware that spindle gouges look similar to bowl gouges but are different.

I bought a second hand lathe for £100 with tools and it's been great to learn on. I've made loads of things. The only problem with it is it has an odd thread so I can't get a chuck easily. I'm going to have to get a thread adaptor made specially. Although it's only now I'm thinking of turning some bowls that I am getting to needing a chuck, I've managed without so far. I've made spade handles, trowel handles, chisel handles, whistles, Christmas trees, Snowmen, most of a reindeer, Nutcracker soldier amongst other things.

I have only been turning for 18months or so, so I am far from an expert so others may have better advice.

 

[Paul Hannaby]

Get the biggest lathe you can afford as the bigger they are, the more robust and stable they are and generally, the more powerful the motor is.
Bear in mind that any of the "antique" lathes you see for sale will probably have an odd spindle thread which may make it difficult to obtain chucks etc. and when you decide to upgrade, may leave you with a load of accessories you need to replace when you get another lathe with a different spindle thread. Some chucks have thread inserts so those go some way to future-proofing.

You don't absolutely need a chuck. You can turn between centres or with a faceplate or you can use jam chucks and sacrificial glue blocks. You will ultimately decide that chucks just make life easier!

The other thing you will need is a decent bench grinder to sharpen your tools. You could sharpen by hand but when you discover just how often you need to sharpen, you will want a machine to help.

There are plenty of lathes, tool and accessories out there on the second hand market. Before buying anything second hand get someone who knows what they are looking at to tell you if it's a good buy or not.