• Beware of Counterfeit Woodturning Tools (click here for details)
  • Johnathan Silwones is starting a new AAW chapter, Southern Alleghenies Woodturners, in Johnstown, PA. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Paul May for "Checkerboard (ver 3.0)" being selected as Turning of the Week for March 25, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

What is a good start??

Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
22
Likes
9
Location
Burnsville, NC
I'm new to woodturning and wanted suggestion on where to start. What is a good starter lathe that I wont outgrow in 6 months? I see there are different chucks, what is the best to start with? What tools are considered essential to start with?

Thanks!
 

hockenbery

Forum MVP
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
8,590
Likes
4,885
Location
Lakeland, Florida
Website
www.hockenberywoodturning.com
In anteCovid times the absolute best place to start is a quality class.
You could go to John C Campbell or to David Ellsworth’s for a long weekend or connect with a mentor/teacher from a local Chapter.

In the classes you not only learn basic skills that make turning rewarding an pleasurable but you also get an appreciation for what features to look for in tools.

my suggestion for getting started is to spend the first few months on spindles,
Learn beads and coves, then re learn beads and coves, then practice beads and coves.
All forms in turning are made from combinations of beads, coves, and flats.

for tools - 1/2” bowl gouge, 3/8 spindle gouge, parting tool.
For a lathe get a used mini or midi - 10” or 12” swing. Most turners with big lathes have one of these.
Get a grinder set up with a sharpening jig system (woulverine ).
For a Chuck get a vicmarc 100 or Oneway talon

after 3-4 months of spindles on the small lathe you will want to move up to a larger lathe like a jet1840

turn five each below and you will be an accomplished turner
carving mallets, gavels, goblets, set of 4 napkin rings, spheres, mortise& pestle, boxes, hollow ball Christmas ornaments,
For extra credit-
Pens, bottle stoppers, pepper mills, salt mills
 
Last edited:

Roger Wiegand

Beta Tester
Joined
Nov 27, 2018
Messages
789
Likes
914
Location
Wayland, MA
Website
www.carouselorgan.com
Check out your local AAW chapter. Ours, at least, has loaner lathes and chucks that we provide to new turners. After using any lathe for a couple of months you will develop (probably strong) opinions as to what features you really need and now deeply you want to dive in. With a little experience you'll make a much better decision about what to buy. Alternately an inexpensive lathe from Craigslist can serve the same purpose and probably be resold at little to no loss.
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2018
Messages
1,061
Likes
1,719
Location
Baltimore, MD
I agree with Roger on the point about the lathe holding its value. I started out about ten years on a basic Grizzly lathe with Reeves drive. Spent about $700 on it. I suffered through its limitations until upgrading to a Powermatic last year. Was like going from a Yugo to a Mercedes. I was able to sell the Grizzly on Craigslist for $500. That amortizes out to about $20/ year for my first decade.
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
1,814
Likes
1,416
Location
Lebanon, Missouri
What got you interested in turning? Usually folks see “things” they want to be able to make. The size of these “things” dictate the size lathe needed, then the size of your wallet guides the lathe selection. Some smaller lathes can still be expensive.

For the most part, “thing” size doesn’t drive tool size, but does at the small and really big ends of the spectrum. Your wallet size guides tool mfr selection, and to some degree sharpening equipment, chucks, etc.

IMO the term “starter” lathe, tool, etc. actually applies to wallet size/willingness to spend $ on turning. A top line $8-10k lathe is actually easier to use vs a bgt lathe, and expensive tools and accessories can be a bit easier to learn and use. As the size of the “thing” increases, safety concerns increase - bigger things have more momentum and do more damage when let loose(tho small things can still hurt you critically).

There are also a lot of ways to “skin the cat” in turning. Buying a hi $ lathe and tools and figuring out you would rather have different options available, which means different equipment, can be an expensive experiment. An example: a pivoting headstock is a must have for me (I’m in the minority) for several reasons, and not many lathes have that capability.

So help us out with $’s to spend and “things” (including approx size) you want to make.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
22
Likes
9
Location
Burnsville, NC
Thanks for all the replies. If I wanted to cap the $'s at say 2k and looked at used machine etc... Is there any brands that that are preferred/should be avoided?
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
1,814
Likes
1,416
Location
Lebanon, Missouri
Thanks for all the replies. If I wanted to cap the $'s at say 2k and looked at used machine etc... Is there any brands that that are preferred/should be avoided?

$2k for the lathe only or total for all equipment?

sharpening - ~$350-400 for 8” slow speed grinder withAl oxide wheels & Wolverine/varigrind jigs

Cutting tools - bgt Benjamins Best or Hurricane~$25-30/tool say $200. They cut just fine. IMO start here, try different sized and types of tools then spend $100/tool on a few specific ones used most.

chuck - $100-$500 depending on brand and jaw sets, key or tommy bar.

Pretty easy to spend $800-1000 other than the lathe to get started.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
5,435
Likes
2,792
Location
Eugene, OR
You will end up spending more on 'accessories' than you will on the lathe. As you get more into it, that can be by a factor of 5 to 1 or more. Best buy would be to find one that comes with 'extras' as in some one is getting out of it and selling everything. Contact the nearest club, probably a better source than Craig's List. You can turn small things on a bigger lathe, but you can't turn bigger things on a smaller lathe. I turned one or two spindles to start, and went straight to bowls. No limit to things you can turn....

robo hippy
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
22
Likes
9
Location
Burnsville, NC
$2k for the lathe only or total for all equipment?

sharpening - ~$350-400 for 8” slow speed grinder withAl oxide wheels & Wolverine/varigrind jigs

Cutting tools - bgt Benjamins Best or Hurricane~$25-30/tool say $200. They cut just fine. IMO start here, try different sized and types of tools then spend $100/tool on a few specific ones used most.

chuck - $100-$500 depending on brand and jaw sets, key or tommy bar.

Pretty easy to spend $800-1000 other than the lathe to get started.



That makes sense. If I budget 1k for just the lathe, any suggestions?
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
1,814
Likes
1,416
Location
Lebanon, Missouri
I agree with staying away from tube style lathes. Reeves drive is “ok”, especially if you want to stay below $1k, even used. Thats a full size lathe, midi size you can find under $1k with evs. Midi size will do most spindle turning, and up to ~ 10 inch bowl. Grizzly G0844 and Nova Comet 14 are 14” swing 20” length, that could do 12-13” bowls. As Robo said look around the local turning clubs and FB and CL to see what is available.

Best to have a 1”x 8tpi or 1-1/4”x8 tpi spindle thread and mt2 tapers, cast bed not stamped steel, evs. There are some older powermatics, 45?, someone will know the right model #. A lot the older lathes will either be multiple pulley or reeves drive - I’d take the reeves drive if in good shape, but either can be converted to evs if you wanted a project.
 
Joined
Feb 28, 2021
Messages
1,207
Likes
1,047
Location
Roulette, PA
Website
www.reallyruralwoodworks.com
I'd add, definitely stay away from the cheapo harbor freight (Central Machinery) lathes.. I have one.. (a 12 x 36) I absolutely HATE it.. Things won't stay aligned (I had to shim the headstock with a piece of 1/8" steel to get drive to line up with live center in tailstock.. Granted, however the machine HAD been badly abused by the prior owner trying to turn bowls with pretty much the cheapest possible 8-piece tool set in existence, which I quickly relegated to scrap pile) and banjo and tailstock constantly need re-adjusted to stay locked in place, and with the 25mm post tool rests, its hard to find any good, decent tool rests that will work better than the crappy soft cast iron rests.. It might do for a "once in a while on a weekend" turner that only plays around with spindle stuff (lowest RPM that sucker will do is 650, so I would never trust it to turn a large bowl (over 10") ... (Only reason I have it is , it came with a chuck worth half the cost of the lathe, and a set of accessories that if I had bought them all new, I'd have spent about the same, making the lathe essentially free) So, a decent lathe (Im considering a Jet Midi lathe,although I'd really love to get a Robust, but that's WAY out of my price range... and keeping the HF lathe for the rare 36"-ish spindles I might turn such as for stool and table legs) is my next planned purchase
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
1,814
Likes
1,416
Location
Lebanon, Missouri
Sounds like the original owner screwed up your HF lathe pretty good. I started with that lathe, and while I did have some issues like broken handles and bolts, nothing that couldnt be fixed relatively easily. It may have helped that I bought it new and stripped it down, filed the bed and mating surfaces, and deburred all contact surfaces. I did some 14” bowls with it, but yes, 650 rpm is too fast for the slowest speed. As much as anything it showed me a lot about what I did and did not want in a lathe and accessories. Possibly a curse, I loved the pivoting headstock and the ability to get in front of a bowl to hollow it, and to hang a piece at 90 deg to the bed to sand and finish and not worry about the bed getting in the way. The reeves drive was low maintenance for the 6 years I owned it, but the pulleys were starting to wear enough to need replacement. 6 years for $180 investment was a pretty good deal.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2021
Messages
320
Likes
415
Location
Wrentham, MA
As for reeves drives, the Older Powermatic 45 and 90 as well as the Rockwell/Deltas are generally ok, esp for a starter lathe. YMMV, depending on condition, etc. but units built before the 'value engineering' mindset would be robust enough. Generally available for well under 1k, but may need some minor work like bearings.

Also be sure the threads on headstock are one of the normal pattern 1x8 etc. some older lathes (Walker Turner) used strange thread combos.
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2021
Messages
1,007
Likes
1,348
Location
Parkersburg, West Virginia
There are quite a few decent variable speed lathes with 12” swing for $700 or less. I have a Rikon 70-220 VSR that has been a good lathe. I just out grew mine and went bigger. You can buy the Rikon new for $699. Welcome.
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
2,326
Likes
1,105
Location
Nebraska
You need to determine the type and size of items you intend on turning over time. A small dc motor powered lathe would work fine for someone turning pens for the next ten years. If you want to turn hollow forms like bowls and vases, how large do you want to turn? Larger heavier pieces require adequate horsepower and turning capacity. If you want to turn spindle shaped pieces, how long of pieces do you want or need to turn. If you know the types and size of items you want to turn you will also end up with a list of face plates, adjustable chucks, collets, spur drives, screw drives and other items used to hold the work piece between centers. Join a turning club and try out a few different lathes, many clubs have loaner and lease programs on club owned machines. Pen turners use small handled tools, long handled CS, HSS, Carbide tools for most turning projects, Large diameter and deep hollow vessels will require heavier and longer designed tools and support systems to reach into these larger deeper vessels. Long spindle work pieces can require additional support systems on a long bed lathe. There is no perfect lathe designed to make every item out there. Start out with a smaller lathe and turn as many items as you can to develop your turning skills, if you are in it for the long haul you will soon figure out the machine that will work best for the items you want to turn. There are well over a thousand different shapes and sizes of items a person can turn on a lathe.
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
1,814
Likes
1,416
Location
Lebanon, Missouri
Grizzly G0844, Nova Comet 14”. Both 14” swing, 20” between centers, ~$600. A12” swing can get you ~11” bowls but the blanks have to be dressed to clear. 14” swing gives more room for imperfect blanks. There are other 14” midi’s but a lot more $.

You may as well throw some $ in for a chainsaw. I use a 16” Craftsman electric ~$100 in the shop, a 20” bar gas for outside. Using free wood is the way to go.

Favorite chuck is Oneway but fairly hi $. Look at Nova protek g3, and Craft Supplies Apprentice 3-1/2” I think with 4 jaw sets for $200.
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
22
Likes
9
Location
Burnsville, NC
Grizzly G0844, Nova Comet 14”. Both 14” swing, 20” between centers, ~$600. A12” swing can get you ~11” bowls but the blanks have to be dressed to clear. 14” swing gives more room for imperfect blanks. There are other 14” midi’s but a lot more $.

You may as well throw some $ in for a chainsaw. I use a 16” Craftsman electric ~$100 in the shop, a 20” bar gas for outside. Using free wood is the way to go.

Favorite chuck is Oneway but fairly hi $. Look at Nova protek g3, and Craft Supplies Apprentice 3-1/2” I think with 4 jaw sets for $200.


Thank you! What do you think about carbide tool? Are they good to start with?
 

hockenbery

Forum MVP
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
8,590
Likes
4,885
Location
Lakeland, Florida
Website
www.hockenberywoodturning.com
What do you think about carbide tool? Are they good to start with
Yes and no. Like everything in woodturning it’s a trade off.
@john lucas has some nice video on using carbides.
I use a #4 Hunter a often on but not on bowls or hollowforms.

The carbides are easy to learn with. You don’t need to sharpen them
The traditional gouges in most situations remove wood faster and leave a cleaner surface.

In general you need more carbide tools and they are expensive. I can turn a finished beads I can sand with 320 with spindle gouge or a skew. Turning a bead with carbides you need a point carbide to cut the groove on the sides of the bead and a square or round to shape the bead and you probably need to start with 180 or 220.

For roughing bowls -Carbides are harder on the body and I think harder to make nice curves with.
A bowl gouge the tool does the work being held lightly in the hands

Where it can be used the hunter can leave a fine surface- I use it as a finishing tool for boxes and goblet cups.

I know a turner who lacks the range of motion to use gouges well, does incredible work with carbides.
When he did a demo for our club he used 6 or 7 different carbide tools to make a piece i use 4 tools to make.

It’s your choice. But sooner or later most carbide users want to switch to gouges but keep the carbides for some jobs,
 
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
1,814
Likes
1,416
Location
Lebanon, Missouri
Not a fan of carbide. I do use carbide inserts for my shop made hand held hollowing tools because they are less aggressive than hss tool bits (which I use for my captive tool hollowing rig). All carbide tools except the Hunter cup style are scrapers. New carbide edges are not as sharp as hss scrapers so dont cut as well, and the carbide just dulls and performs worse. They can be resharpened but IMO not worth messing with. I made my own carbide insert holders years ago vs buying them, and rarely use them. My hollowing rig can use a Hunter #1 carbide, but I like hss better. Never tried the Hunter hand held tools with the cupped bevel contact cutters as in John Lucas’ video above.

Carbide is for “instant gratification”, avoiding learning sharpening and tool control of the different hss tools. Use hss scrapers instead. They are easy to sharpen and are still useful after graduating to other hss tools. They can be ground to the same shape as carbide.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
5,435
Likes
2,792
Location
Eugene, OR
There are two styles of the carbide tools. Those that sit flat and are actually small scrapers, and those, like the Hunter tools, which are designed to sit at an angle so you get a shear cutting action, which is far cleaner on bowls than any scraping tool. I use scrapers exclusively for all of the roughing work on my bowls, then do finish cuts with gouges, and clean up with shear scraping. Some times the NRS (negative rake scraper) will work, but mostly it works better on the bottom of the bowl, and less so when coming up the sides of a bowl because it is still a scraper and will tend to pull at the fibers rather than shear slice them. Me, being frugal, prefer the standard scraper which I can sharpen hundreds if not thousands of times rather than a carbide tipped tool which can never seem to get back to factory levels.

Scrapers do excel in end grain cutting, like boxes and hollow forms.

robo hippy
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
22
Likes
9
Location
Burnsville, NC
I went with a Nova Comet 14. It came with a G3 chuck. I did start with carbide tools. I'm narrowing down what HSS tools to get and what sharpening system. Any suggestion on the easiest sharpening system?
BTW, big thanks to everyone for all the help!
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
1,814
Likes
1,416
Location
Lebanon, Missouri
@Carl Vitellino you should start a new thread.

I recommend the “value” route for new turners as they dont know how much they will turn. need to buy explensive tools or cbn wheels until you learn specifically what you want.

I found Benjamins Best and Hurricane m2 tools to work well (I still use mine until worn away). Cheap enough to get different sizes and some multiples to use different grinds to find what suits you.

Slow speed 8” bench grinder, AL oxide wheels, with Wolverine and Varigrind jig system.
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
2,326
Likes
1,105
Location
Nebraska
If you have carbide lathe tools you can get by without a sharpening machine for a while just stock up on a few extra carbide cutters for each style cutter you have. A bench grinder with conventional stone wheels will work for carbon steel tools. If you upgrade to CBN wheels you should only sharpen High Speed Steel tools on these grinder wheels. Oneway makes the wolverine grinding jig system that has been around for many years. There are several videos on YouTube that show the proper use of the wolverine system. There is sharp and then there is SHARP in the wood working world, honing and stropping the cutting edge is the next level of attaining a ultra sharp tool which can be required for getting clean cuts on some wood species. Many wood workers will use diamond flat "stones" for getting those wicked sharp cutting edges on some of their tools.

You could mount a grinding wheel on a spindle and mount it in your lathe chuck to get by for a while, make sure you clean your lathe ways off each time you use it. Grinding abrasive from a grinding wheel will ruin the finish on your ways and mating surfaces if you allow it to collect on your lathe bed ways. Several lathe companies have made outboard grinding wheel accessories for their lathes over the years which can provide sharping at the other end of the lathe headstock away from the ways.
 
Joined
Jan 24, 2010
Messages
3,058
Likes
900
Location
Cleveland, Tennessee
Came in late but my question would be...what is your budget or what will the bank account afford? As you see, there are a lot of options given here.
 

hockenbery

Forum MVP
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
8,590
Likes
4,885
Location
Lakeland, Florida
Website
www.hockenberywoodturning.com
Any suggestion on the easiest sharpening system?
If you are starting with carbides wait a while.

I’m thinking July- August will be a return to in person meetings Once COVID becomes rare through vaccinations and mask Use reducing the spread.
if you are able to get some classes or mentoring that will lead you to the tool choice and grinders set ups.

my bowl Students learned to use 3 tools.
1/2” bowl gouge with Ellsworth grind, 3/8 or 1/2 spindle gouge, 1.25 “ round nosed or domed scraper.
Add a diamond parting tool and you can turn any open form of modest dimension. These tools will easily do a 20” bowl 10” deep.


I do all my sharpening with a platform or an Ellsworth jig.
in my shop I have a woulverine and varigrind for use in classes.

where ever I go to demonstrate or teach there is always a wolverine available.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2021
Messages
29
Likes
28
Location
Livonia, MI
Website
www.lumberjocks.com
I went from a Steel City Mini that crapped out, the motor just quit to a Laguna 12-16 Midi it is a huge improvement. The Steel City is probably the same lathe as the Central Machinery one sold by Harbor Freight for under $300. It worked for a few years with not much use. a waste of money. But I did not have the best tools either. I'm still learning the Laguna but with a D-Way Roughing Gouge & Skew plus a few Carbide tools, it is a much better experience. Mostly practice pieces for me with some tool handles and a pepper mill so far. Purchased the handle for the Skew because of the flat tang, made the handle for the gouge. The 2 D-Way tools I have are a pleasure to use, more than I wanted to spend but after a few turnings, I am glad I got them. You are in the 2K range with my setup, I had the Nova Chuck with the Steel City and had a few of my grandfather's tools. I see you went with the Nova Comet 14. I had considered that one, not a bad choice.
 

Attachments

  • D-Way Handle1.jpg
    D-Way Handle1.jpg
    552 KB · Views: 16
  • D-Way Handle2.jpg
    D-Way Handle2.jpg
    857.4 KB · Views: 16
  • PepperMill1.jpg
    PepperMill1.jpg
    154.8 KB · Views: 16
Last edited:
Joined
May 28, 2015
Messages
1,554
Likes
178
Location
Bainbridge Island, WA
Noting that I barely scanned 5he earlier responses, I'll throw these out :
  • Al's tool list is a good start. A cheap parting tool is fine. Used or inexpensive gouges are good while you're learning how to sharpen. Ditto to Al on the sharpening set-up.
  • Midi is much better than mini. Jet 1221 great starter lathe. Avoid the Nova Comet. I've owned both, and will keep the 1221 even if a Powermatic moves in some day. The 1221 has met the challenge of a 10"+ sopping wet Madrone bowl blank and it's great for spindle work.
  • Oneway Talon is my/our go-to chuck for general use. I've had mine for years. If you get a Nova G3, plan to upgrade not too far down the road. Vicmarc's are high quality (drool), and Records are worth asking around about.
  • The Rikon slow-speed grinder is (generally) a good machine, about $160. I yearn for the Jet variable speed, but that's overkill on my budget. :p
  • Carbide: the tuners I've worked with who started with carbide seem to have difficulty switching to gouges. Muscle memory interferes I guess.
  • Keep a eye on the Marketplace here, there have been some good tools and accessories but they go fast!
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2021
Messages
29
Likes
28
Location
Livonia, MI
Website
www.lumberjocks.com
I agree with everything Jamie Straw posted, I started with a Mini, it worked for some stuff and eventually died. I did purchase 2 tools from D-Way a Roughing Gouge & Skew, They are a game-changer from what I had been using, and I felt a need to get away from my fear of a skew, watched quite a few videos. Then from PSI I got a Benjamins Best Set, to practice sharpening and I can say I feel better practicing on a set of six that cost about $100 than a single tool at that price. The D-Way came perfectly sharp, The Benjamins not really but with a little touch-up are fine. My grinder is the Grizzly 8" Slow speed with Wolverine Jig, still with the Alum Oxide wheels for $150 it is a nice grinder. I have some carbide tools and use them quite a bit I'm not experiencing the difficulty switching. Have Fun and be careful the main AAW site has some good safety info,
 
Back
Top