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lathe comparison

Joined
Apr 3, 2018
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Location
Tecumseh, Ontario
Would some of you care to comment on 2 lathes I'm interested in ?? King Canada KLW-1218VS and Craftek CX 813. I suppose mainly Canadian turners use these. Many thanks
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
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Location
Freelton, ON
John, I think you do need to register at CanadianWoodworking.com in order to post and log in until it recognises you automatically. I frequent the site regularly too. I Just looked the lathes up. There is a good chance they come out of the same factory. Edited - both have variable speed contollers. The sale price on the BB is pretty attractive. They will both get you to the addicted stage and both have in country support for parts. The electronic controllers on these import lathes seem to have a short production life and many owners have been stranded when they fail because they are no longer available. These are not bowl lathes by any stretch of the imagination but a decent way to start. The lathe is only going to be about a third of your starting investment if you look out a year or so. Grizzly and Busy Bee are independently owned by two brothers. Some BB products are similar to Grizzly. It all depends which nameplates and colors the factory is using that day.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 3, 2018
Messages
10
Likes
13
Location
Tecumseh, Ontario
John, I think you do need to register at CanadianWoodworking.com in order to post and log in until it recognises you automatically. I frequent the site regularly too. I Just looked the lathes up. There is a good chance they come out of the same factory. Edited - both have variable speed contollers. The sale price on the BB is pretty attractive. They will both get you to the addicted stage and both have in country support for parts. The electronic controllers on these import lathes seem to have a short production life and many owners have been stranded when they fail because they are no longer available. These are not bowl lathes by any stretch of the imagination but a decent way to start. The lathe is only going to be about a third of your starting investment if you look out a year or so. Grizzly and Busy Bee are independently owned by two brothers. Some BB products are similar to Grizzly. It all depends which nameplates and colors the factory is using that day.
Thanks for the info Mike. I used to be on CW, but returning from vacation 3 years ago , I could not get in and password did not work. Will try again, happy turning. JR
 
Joined
Oct 13, 2016
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Rainy River District Ontario Canada
For your info Leo, I just tried CW and followed instructions NO register. JR

I don’t know what you did John, I just went from an other E-address and got this right away, and you can read messages on that forum, but to ask questions and post on the forum you do need to get registered, the same as every other forum, like here as well.

Anyway I did look for the lathes you asked about, I have no experience with these VS lathes, though the Craftex is a model that is very much like a older JET and is a well liked lathe, it also has 3 deferent speed ratios rather than just 2 for the King, I do like that better, however the motor is ¾HP and the King 1 HP according their info, (These ## are not always reliable).

I do like the placement of the controls better by the King lathe, the short distance between the bearings of the King I have never liked by their other models I have turned on (vibrations and play because of it)

Going by my gut feelings here, I would choose the Craftex over the King, as all the other parts are very much alike, and the reliability of the electronics is probably similar, just a toss-up ??

Still you would get more/better info about these lathes if you took the time to get registered on the Canadian Forum.

Oh, and yes I’m still turning, and will be for a while if I survive the pandemic.
getting to register.jpg Craftex CX813.jpg King 1218 VS.jpg
 
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
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Location
Bashaw, Alberta
I choose a nova comet over the king when it was on sale at kms tools the first time I was looking at lathes but it was only because it was on sale and included a free chuck. I didn't look at the craftex lathes. When I was looking last time for a midi lathe to be a second lathe I looked at the king and the comet ii, but I ended up getting a laguna 12/16, I realized the cost is a lot higher but so is the quality. If you can afford it i'd definitely suggest going into kms tools and looking at it alongside the king.
 
Joined
May 5, 2017
Messages
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Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
Not trying to be negative but I've had bad experiences with both Craftex (BusyBee) and King when it has come to service and quality. I've had really bad experiences with BusyBee warranty support and generally avoid anything Craftex. To be fair, none of these experiences were with lathes, but with other woodworking machinery both personally and professionally.

If it were me, I would avoid both of them as an entry level lathe and look at other entry level lathes such as a Nova or Laguna. Better still, watch Craigslist for used Delta or Jet lathes since you'll probably want to upgrade in a couple of years once you have a better idea of the type of turning you want to do.
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
326
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154
Location
Freelton, ON
Not trying to be negative but I've had bad experiences with both Craftex (BusyBee) and King when it has come to service and quality. I've had really bad experiences with BusyBee warranty support and generally avoid anything Craftex. To be fair, none of these experiences were with lathes, but with other woodworking machinery both personally and professionally.

If it were me, I would avoid both of them as an entry level lathe and look at other entry level lathes such as a Nova or Laguna. Better still, watch Craigslist for used Delta or Jet lathes since you'll probably want to upgrade in a couple of years once you have a better idea of the type of turning you want to do.

I agree Steve Nova is a step up. Lately they seem to be rationalizing their product line. Normand, the importer and distributor in Eastern Canada does not even reference anything but the Comet on their site. The Nova website now only shows an 18" version of the DVR technology (whatever name it has now). So it evolved from 16" to 20" to 18". Nova seems to have had a reasonably good performance record. The new small Laguna is a robust (npi) lathe but it is not in the price range mentioned in OP. The Comet stumbled when it first came out but I think that has been resolved. Also agree buying used is a great alternative for starting out.
 
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