Wood Lathe?

Can one of you Lathe experts give me an opinion on this? I saw this on EBAY and I know nothing about lathes. I live in an apartment and need something small.
Thanks

http://cgi.ebay.com/INDUSTRIAL-4-SPE...QQcmdZViewItem

Howdy lastchance ...
It has no stand, so you would need one. Simple enough to build one of wood, or mount it on a workbench. I have a similar lathe, mine has four speeds, adjustable by changing the belt position on two stacked pulleys. I am a machinist by trade, and at work I operate several metal cutting lathes daily. The one I have at home is more than adequate for small work, from rod grips and handles to spools, table legs and bowls. the one you indicated has no tooling in the picture, but an imported starter set of a few gouges wouldn't cost very much really. The price is certainly reasonable. Small home shop lathes like that one and mine have exploded on the scene since China entered the world market. If you don't have constant production or heavy work in mind it will probably fit the bill. I have had to beef up the ways and frame of mine to eliminate flex when tightening down hard on the tailstock, and also I put in some rubber shock mounts made from belting to eliminate rattles. The seller doesn't give any other info or specs, so I can't be totally certain about it. I'm happy to help any way I can, just pm me if I can.
................................ModocDan:)

My lathe is a Jet brand I got it from another guy for $100 and it included several inexpensive gouges, it was brand new, never used, I think he got it for about the same price off ebay.............

last chance----I was going to ask what you intended to do with this lathe. From later posts Drill Lathe and Need Help I found my answer. In the future if you plan on buying a wood lathe you could find a used Sears like the one used in my post on "Need Help" The tail stock on the one show doesn't have a hole for the rod blank BILL

You have to love the shipping cost. Unit $80..shipping $65

First, a lathe in an apartment is a recipe for disaster without some additional considerations. Turning reel seats and cork handles will generate a lot of dust, some of which could be toxic or cause varying degrees of allergic reactions, depending the species of wood and the sensitivity level of the people who come in contact with it. You won't know until it happens. That said, a dust collection system with superior filtration is necessary to avoid health risks. You could also do your turning outside on a patio or deck and save these potential problems.

Second, the lathe on e-bay will cost you $40 more to purchase and ship than by going to your local Harbor Freight and buying one for $99 and bringing it home in your vehicle. Here's the link:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45276

You can also get an entry level set of tooling at the same place.

I don't know anything about either lathe, but if money is a driving factor, then the Harbor Freight route is the way to go. You also might look on www.craigslist.com for a used lathe in your area.

Joe

Just beware of cheap tools especially foreign made they do break
and can be hard to balance. Balance is very important as
the item can come out and whack you good..


Always use safety shields. Get a good manual on lathe use
before you get the lathe, bone up it will be worth it..

my 2-cents.. go for it but be safe with use..

Steve

I have this lathe. Not used it yet. Purchased at a flea market in Quartzite on a camping trip. $79 and no shipping. However I found it on a website with a review and not well liked. The person said his head stock and tailstock did not line up. He followed instructions to line up and not enough. He had to add a plate. Then he said the support bars buckle under stress. He had to replace the bottom of the bed with angle iron. Thin he said the knurled knob to tighten the tool support broke off. he had to ream it out and install a new bolt he could turn with a wrench. On mine...when you turn the knurled knob in all the way to tight...the tool support is not solid. It will wiggle about a 1/2 inch. Then he said the bottom handle on the tailstock position tightner broke off. He has to fix that. Now the biggie. The tail stock spindle does not have a morse taper fitting. Just a cone mounted on a spindle...and on MINE the cone has a bad bearing. No warranty. I called AJ industries in
CA and they would not look up the part. They told me to take the parts diagram, circle the parts needed, it fax it to them....and will take them 8 weeks to get it. Did not inform me of cost. You cannot buy the morse taper chucks listed on PSI for this lathe as they will not mount on it. You will have to do something creative to get a drill chuck on the tail stock end.

There is a Turncraft Pro lathe with many positive comments. The newer one is variable speed. It has the proper morse taper fittings. It is normally $279 plus shipping. It is on amazon.com now for $227 with free shipping. Then you can also get the extended bed for about $30. Buy them together and get free shipping for around $258. I cannot afford it.

But if you are in the market for a new lather, and can afford it I would go with this outfit.

I have pounded the cone off my tailstock spindle. But I don't know how to remove and replace the bearing inside of it. I also bought a router speed control from Harbor Freight to use on my lathe. A friend said not to do it. He tried it on a motor....not necesairly a lathe but scary enough....the motor burned up and he had to replace it. The router motor speed control says only use on motors with brush's in the system.

Now I have to ask Modocan about my bearing problem. Since he is so skilled. Glad to see this post. If you want the link....well....maybe I just go find it and come back here and post it for you.

Gemrod

Here's the link. You move around on there and it will show a place to order the lathe and the bed extension as one order.

http://www.amazon.com/PSI-TCLPROVS-T.../dp/B000KI8CZ2

Gemrod

I remember those posts, but after fashioning a cork handle manually, I swore I'd have a lathe. What if I built a portable one and just used it outside? Is that possible. I'm sorry for posting lathe questions twice. That lathe posted today looks so cool. I just had to ask.
Sorry!

Gemrod

Take your cone to a auto parts store that has a machine shop and see if they have the bearing and can replace it for you.


Knucks

Lastchance......You can certainly fashion a simple lathe and use it outside, all you need is a sturdy work table of appropriate size to put it on. If you have room for a couple chaise lounges, you prob'ly have all the room necessary. Do you have a 3/8" drill motor, either corded or cordless to start with??. and do you have a source for some small scraps of plywood? If no to either question, I can help. If yes, I can help too........................ModocDan

lastchance
Grizzly.com has a hobby lathe under $50 that's been highly recommended. It is also recommended to just get the drill shown with it for under $50 also....just to get a perfect fit. 24" 'tween centers I think. That's enough for turning grips. And you have a drill chuck on one end.

The Pitbull 40" lathe I bought at a flee.....I wish I did flee....flea market will not accept Morse Taper components you can see at Penn State Industries. You have no jaw chuck on the headstock and no drill chuck on the tail stock. Tail stock will not accept morse taper components. And the cone on mine has bad bearings. 3-4 jaw chuck about $80. Morse Taper drill chuck another $30-70? And my lathe wouldn't work with them anyway.

Brand new never used worthless lathe. DO NOT BUY A 40" PITBULL LATHE!

Go to http://www.thomaspenrose.com/cork.htm
to see endless possibilities. The griffin could be mounted on a piece of plywood. Portable. Take it outside and set it on a couple of sawhorses and you in business. That pic turning a grip on the butt end....with the drill attached to the tip end.....boy that guy must be good. No way would I try that. Turning at high speed from the tip end is just asking for trouble I thinki.

Anyway...on rodbuilder.org I posted a topic VS PSI Turncraft Pro $ FYI. A comment made to it tells some very good information on tools that you would probably want for a lathe.

Also somewhere...think on this website I told of all the probs someone else has with the Pitbull. It buckles under load. He had to replace the bed with angle iron. The tool rest knob broke off in a week. (on mine as tight as it will turn the tool rest will still move on either end at least 1/2"). He had to drill it out and tap it and install a bolt he can tighten with a wrence. Then the lock down handle of the tailstock broke on him. He had to bailing wire fix that. Then his headstock and tailstock would not line up even with the adjustment instructioons in the manual. (yeah...toons...cartoons). He had to add a plate to it. And you still have to figure out how to mount chucks to it.

Hope I have provided you some useful info.

Just FYI

Gemrod

Lastchance-- Ive watch this post and added to it in the past but I still would like to know if you want to wood turn or use it for rod building. My local library purchasted the book on making fly rods from wood. He only uses the head ,drive part, and a small PVC tube mounted on a camera tripod for the turning the blank. Complete wood blank and grip.The tripod is easily adjusted up or down. The drill setup will work great for rod work--not for wood turning. Put a dowel in the drill masking tape the blank to the dowel and start sanding-------BILL

lastchance
Mr. Fitz brought up a very important point. I mentioned the cheaper grizzly...but I would only turn cork and foam grips on it. If you got the bucks a much better lathe would be in order.

Thanks for pointing that out Mr. Fitzgerald.

Gemrod

I really appreciate your replies and I've been studying them for some time now. I do live in an apartment and agree with Joe Valencic's warnings about using a lathe inside. I've also read the posts that suggested getting something that will turn wood because it will be something I will want to graduate to eventually. All I know is that after shaping that entire rod handle by hand, I vowed to never do that again, so I'm looking for an alternative.