Lathe question

Re: Lathe question

Richard Allen

>A friend of mine has a 1018 Oneway and never turns anything over 10". On the other hand I turned a 18" bowl this morning that had ovaled to 20" of swing.

A 8" square blank is just under 12".

The real issue with a 12" swing is the swing over the banjo. You can easily loose 2" - 4" of swing which makes that 12" swing as little as 8".

The good thing about that old iron is that they are beefy enough to work with risers so the 12" swing can easily be increased to 16" - 20". A riser for the headstock and tailstock then add a banjo from Oneway and you will have a very capable lathe. Risers can be made of wood or welded steel. The only issue is a drive belt. On those lathes the belt tends to be available in MANY lengths.

The 2000 RPM is only an issue if you want to turn small stuff, like pens. I would be more concerned with the slowest speed being to fast. For a lathe with a 20" swing the slow speed needs to be 250 or less. I will often turn at speeds slower than 250 as I whack off protrusions in an attempt to make the piece round (a Chainsaw or bandsaw could be used).

Anyway that's my take on it.

Good Luck

Richard

Small items...

Fred in NC

>I turn pens and other small diameter spindles, and never exceed 2000.

Re: Lathe question

newbie

>Hmm...this would be an Atlas/Craftsman lathe so I'm not sure if it will take a riser.

Re: Lathe question

John Lucas

>The vast majority of turnings I see are under 12". There is a lot of really beautiful work done under that size. Personally I don't turn over 2000 rpm very often. I just grew up turning at slower speeds and still do it. Sure you'll always want a larger lathe, I just bought one but have only turned 3 pieces larger than 12" so far. Mostly I bought it for the weight and lack of vibration.

Re: Lathe question

RonZ

>If this is your 1st lathe it should be just fine. Raffan said that 85% of his turnings were under 12". While I like to do pens at 3000-3800, 2000 is just fine. The main thing is enjoy. Once you have use the lathe for a year or two, you will either see that you're content or you'll have a better idea on which dircetion you want to go in turning,

Re: Lathe question

Donna Banfield

>If you're new to turning, you probably have a general idea of what you'd like to turn. But don't make a lathe purchase, telling yourself, for example, I'll only do spindle work (vases, pens, bottlestoppers) because Murphy's law says that you'll change your mind in just a few months. I did.

Do you have access to large blanks of wood, that wouldn't fit on a lathe with 12" swing? If you live in a rural area, or have friends/family who do, you might have more accessibility to larger turning blanks from trees in your yard, etc. But if you're a city dweller, where most of your wood will be purchased from various sources, you may not want to pay the price for large turning stock on a regular basis. In that case, on the rare occasion that you turn something large, possibily a fellow turner (join a club, if you haven't already) will let you use his/her big lathe once in awhile.

Finally, the larger the lathe, the more room you need in your shop. Not just for the lathe, but to move around it as you're turning the large stock.

Good luck on your choice, and let us know which route you took.

Re: Lathe question

Bill Hale

>Newbie

I started out with an old Atlas lathe, paid $ 50.00 for it at a yard sale. I still have it but have modified it to variable speed. Good old iron ! I still use it to teach on. If it is the same Atlas the only problem is an odd thread on the spindle. You will need an adaptor.

Good turning and be safe

Bill

Harbor freight look alike

Dennis Taylor (Akron, Ohio)

>I have a mini, and seriously would like a larger size lathe, looking at the 1442, more money, alot of people say that the HF unit like the 1236 is a great lathe, does any use/own this? and if so what is your take on it?...Dennis

Re: strumming the banjo

Arch

>Richard, To get more swing, I've thought about putting the banjo base on the underside of the ways and the clamping plate on top with a longer tool post. What am I missing? Usually something. Arch

Something like this....

Russ

>One way to get the maximum swing from the lathe.

Also, notice the slotted faceplate. These were common in faceplates at one time. Does anybody make one of them for a wood lathe anymore?? It makes off-center turning fairly easy.

Re: strumming the banjo

Richard Allen

>Hi Arch

For me, mounting the banjo on the underside of the ways would be a real pain, or impossible. Then there is the issue of the additional leverage that the tool rest post would exert on the banjo. Couple that extra force the fact that you are working larger pieces and the banjo might not survive.

For me the answer is more swing over the banjo. For many lathes made today, the castings would not handle the additional stress of spinning larger pieces. Much old iron was way over built and they can usually handle what comes with a 16" - 20" swing.

Oneway makes a nice banjo and they make the claming blocks in different sizes to fit many different lathes. They make banjos to fit 12", 16", 20", 24" swings with a 1" tool rest post. Using a tool rest with a longer post on a lathe that now swings 16" in a banjo that was designed for 12" of swing will likely end in frustration. One issue is the lack of structure for the banjo to withstand the abuse. The other is that the banjo can't extend off the ways far enough to get around the bowl.

All this said, look at the way the Japanese use a tool rest, there is no banjo. A beam is supported near the ends... So there are many ways to resolve the issue of support the tool while engaging a sharp edge with spinning wood.

Thanks

Richard

I have learned to love turning small.

John Crissman

>Like many people, I got started on a Jet Mini and then the bug bit hard. I began ending every sentence, "but I could do better if I had a big(ger) lathe."

Then reality set in.

I don't have the space for a big lathe or big pieces of stock.

I want to spend time turning, not looking for big wood.

I am still learning (now exploring segmented)and small stuff is easier on the wallet, especially when you mess it up.

The real test is not the size of the piece, but the quality of it.

So, I quelled the big lathe urge, by buying a second mini (used Nova Mercury). It is very different from the Jet, with many pros and cons. But the most important thing is that I can see improvement in my pieces.

There is so much to learn that it is best to enjoy the process.

Lovin' it,

John

Re: Harbor freight look alike

Jack (Turtle Workshop)

>I have 2 HF 1236 lathes. They are rough out of the box, take some fine tuning, but they do the work.

Getting the tailstock to line up is one of the tuning chores. Another is pulling the head cover, removing the issue belt and replacing it with a Gates. 1000% improvement.

I do pens, bowls, and tool handles. It does the work okay.

I bought my first on sale for 179. The second I got for 169 and a 3 year carry in exchange warranty.

Things like the live center are rough. I solved that problem by getting a good one.

Now, so we are all reading on the same sheet of music, I've got a Sears 15" variable speed (ugh). It is a piece of crap. I won't even go into the poor engineering and very poor finish. I've already gone through a set of main bearings in the first year and am about to go for another set. I use a dial indicator to check. The Sears drifts like there are no bearings, sort of. The HF reads right on.

I also have a PM 2036 and that is the dream machine. I lived with the first HF for 3 years. Then I got the Sears (big, expensive mistake). Then I got the second HF. Then I got the PM. That PM is such a fine piece of work that it defies describing. I love that mothah!

I do all of my Pen Turning on 1 HF now. The other HF is rigged for cutting stuff for stack lamination. The Sears sits in the corner. The PM does the heavy lifting...

Jack