Lathe suggestions for new hobby?

[Vipered]

Hi all,

I recently got a new house and I finally have a garage. I'm already hard at work converting it to a workshop, and I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

I am COMPLETELY new to any kind of lathe work, but I've always been interested in making wood and metal rings. I'm assuming that I will need 2 lathes, 1 for metal and 1 for wood? If so, can anyone suggest a wood lathe for a beginner like me? I've been looking online but there are so many options and I really don't understand a lot of the terminology. I also have no idea on what extra part/tools the lathes will need, so that's something else I would love to have advice on if you can provide it?

Thanks in advance,
Vipered

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Buy a copy of this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Woodturning-Fou ... ion+course
as new as you can find for a decent price. (Waterstone's Marketplace is down at the moment) and join a club before you start to spend, otherwise you're likely to spend a small fortune on rubbish/things you'll never use. Most clubs will give you a couple of weeks free and all the tuition you need.

 

[marcros]

You can buy the metal parts. They are called ring cores, such as https://buffalowoodturningproducts.com/ ... less-steel

They seem less popular in the UK, but I am sure that there will be a supplier or two.

 

[mumble]

Suggest you look at the AWGB website. They have a list of clubs and I would suggest you attend a few clubs local to you. I am sure there will be plenty of people who can help you out. There may well be a second hand lathe available. Our club has been asked to sell a lathe on behalf of a member who can no longer use it.

 

[Sleepy]

I think the best advice is to find a club and work out what you want to turn (which might change once you've had a go at various things) and then buy a lathe to suit that.

Having said that, I bought a Record Power DML320 for my first lathe without following the advice above and really like the machine. I know some people don't get on with Record Power these days, but I have nothing but good to say about that machine.

If you have any more specific questions then do ask them, otherwise it might be best to read the book recommended above and/or watch some lathe videos to try and get a better idea about the various attachments/tools etc.

 

[Jacob]

My favourite beginners lathe would be the Arundel J4 Junior. I had one for years and decided to trade up to a bigger one. First a Hegner (poor) then Record CL3 (pizz poor).
Made me realise that the J4 was an excellent bit of engineering and design. A pleasure to use.
Luckily I recently came by a J4 senior which is even better - very similar design but much bigger.
Record CL3 really disappointing and not well designed.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The Arundel may well be fine machine, but I cannot imagine any way that it can be better than the Hegner. :?

 

[Jacob]

I can't remember all the details but basically the Hegner (and the recordCL3) just not so nice to use. Down to details like the tommy bars and how the tool rests slid/ adjust etc etc. But the biggest disappointment with the Hegner was the loss of power at low speeds. Low power to start with ISTR - half horse? Not enough for a big lathe.
Neither of them had out-board head stock thread which makes themt only half a lathe IMHO. CL3 overall construction very crude - especially the bowl tool rest add-on - which is very poor and badly finished.
The Arundel J4 (junior or senior) is just very refined and a pleasure to use, in comparison to both the above, which I wouldn't have known if I hadn't had the chance to compare them hands-on.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I agree with you on the CLs - they're "agricultural" according to our pro. The club use them because extras are easily found and they're easy to repair. As far as finesse is concerned they're bottom of the list.

 

[gregmcateer]

Vipered,
Already you can see that there are a wide variety of lathes and of course opinions, (a fact I am not criticising - it just shows how variable one's needs and wants can be).
I too would agree that visiting a club and/or a professional woodturning tutor is worth its weight in wood!
It will save you hours/days of potential frustration and probably wasted money on tools you'll use once then put to one side, (don't ask me how I know!)
Enjoy the slippery slope of turning.
Greg

 

[Jacob]

Nice J4 Junior here. It's re-listed - didn't make the price first time so could be a bargain. I'd snap it up if I hadn't just bought the Senior.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arundel-Wood ... 3338479420?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yet another of my posts disappeared. ](*,)
As far as tools are concerned there are only five on every lathe - spindle, roughing and bowl gouges, a parting tool and and a skew. For run of the mill turning anything over and above that is a choice rather than a necessity. greg is perfectly corect, it's ery easy to to get drawn into spending a ludicrous amount of money on gear you'll not use.

 

[Dalboy]

Vipered I have just sent a PM roughly what part of Kent are you in

 

[Blockplane]

Assuming the 'rings' you are making are jewellery, I would suggest that a small metal turning lathe is the way to go - you can use a hand turning rest on it for 'freehand work in both wood and metal.

 

[Vipered]

I'd like to thank you all for being so responsive and helpful!

My main goal here is to make wooden and metal rings. Initially I was thinking of buying both a wood and metal lathe, but based on comments here and doing investigations myself, it would probably be better for me to use a metal lathe and use it for both (and deal with the extra cleaning needed when I turn the wood).

So essentially it looks like I might need to start asking metal lathe enthusiasts as to which lathes would be a good starter!

 

[Bale]

My main goal here is to make wooden and metal rings. Initially I was thinking of buying both a wood and metal lathe, but based on comments here and doing investigations myself, it would probably be better for me to use a metal lathe and use it for both (and deal with the extra cleaning needed when I turn the wood).

On the whole it is true that you can turn wood on a metal lathe, but not metal on a wood lathe. I have successfully turned small wooden boxes on metal lathes. However, they are not designed for woodturning and have one or two restrictions that you will need to get around. It's easily do-able though.

To expand on Blockplane's suggestion:-

Are these finger rings? Wedding-ring-sized objects, for instance? If so, and if that is the size you will be exclusively working at, I think any of the lathes recommended so far are rather large. You might be better off looking at model lathes. There are plenty of small precision lathes available new and used and turning small diameters in wood on one of them is not going to cause you too much trouble. They should cut steel with care, but will turn non-ferrous stock easily. Unimat, and Toyo machines come up on the second-hand market from time to time, as do larger Myfords. I've got all three of those. New Chinese machines can be had from Axminster and Arc Euro Trade, amongst others. They will be less intimidating to use for a novice too. Until you have some experience, you are going to find hand-turning small diameters close to a chuck spinning at maximum speeds on a large lathe frightening and dangerous.

I don't mean to complicate your quest, but hope this may help. Any more questions, fire away

Pete

 

[Robbo3]

FYI- Arundul lathes
- http://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/index.html

" The Senior had an inboard spindle thread of M30 x 3.5 and an outboard of M25 x 2.5 while the Junior used an outboard of M20 x 2.5 and inboard M24 x 2.5." The Senior has a 6" centre height & the Junior 4.5".

These are not common headstock thread sizes so the choice of chucks & faceplates may be restricted.

 

[Jacob]

FYI- Arundul lathes
- http://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/index.html

" The Senior had an inboard spindle thread of M30 x 3.5 and an outboard of M25 x 2.5 while the Junior used an outboard of M20 x 2.5 and inboard M24 x 2.5." The Senior has a 6" centre height & the Junior 4.5".

These are not common headstock thread sizes so the choice of chucks & faceplates may be restricted.

Yep - restricted to ones that fit. They do seem to be available however.
The Junior M24 x 2.5 is same as Record C3 and others, and is extremely common

 

[Vipered]

I feel at least for the first year or so, I would be turning wedding ring sized rings. Maybe in the future I might feel I want to expand my horizons, but the rings is essentially the only reason I want a lathe right now.

So do we all agree then that if I have no immediate plans for larger work, I could start with these smaller "model" lathes that should be able to deal with metal and wood if needed?

When I started building my workshop, I made workbenches for 2 large lathes, one for wood and one for metal, but if I don't need this, then I'm sure I can re-assign this real-estate to some other hair-brained idea