I have been turning for all of about 2-3 months.
I live in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
I mainly do traditional woodworking using handtools. The bandsaw is the only power tool I use on that side of the hobby.
I started with a WEN 8" and a set of Amazon carbide tools to see if I was going to like turning or not.
Made a few snowmen, angels, birdhouses, and a few bowls and quickly decided I was enjoying it but not the underpowered / undersized WEN
I upgraded to a Jet 1221VS with the legs and extension bed and lucked into a bin full of HSS traditional lathe tools.
That was 3 weeks ago, since then I kind of feel like I went backwards a bit. The WEN taught me some good habits like taking small bites, but also some bad habits, I used it on my bench top and it was so small and light I move it around when I needed a different angle instead of moving me. Now at the Jet I feel a bit uncomfortable and haven't been able to develop a good stance just yet. Like wise with the traditional tools. I picked up the carbide tools quickly and was able to start making things quickly, but also learned that they can be challenging for small details, and of course the quality of the finish. But now with the traditional tools I watch lots of videos (I am usually pretty good at learning this way) and think I have it but then I go out to the Lathe and there is just way too much swimming around in my head, I am able to do ok and avoid all but a few catches, I feel I am close, but I just "don't know what I don't know" I suspect with a few corrections with someone that knows what they are doing watching over me I could probably get back over the hump and be back to making things and expanding my experience.I included a few of the things I manged to produce on the WEN. So far I haven't produced anything keepable on the Jet with traditional tools
I live in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
I mainly do traditional woodworking using handtools. The bandsaw is the only power tool I use on that side of the hobby.
I started with a WEN 8" and a set of Amazon carbide tools to see if I was going to like turning or not.
Made a few snowmen, angels, birdhouses, and a few bowls and quickly decided I was enjoying it but not the underpowered / undersized WEN
I upgraded to a Jet 1221VS with the legs and extension bed and lucked into a bin full of HSS traditional lathe tools.
That was 3 weeks ago, since then I kind of feel like I went backwards a bit. The WEN taught me some good habits like taking small bites, but also some bad habits, I used it on my bench top and it was so small and light I move it around when I needed a different angle instead of moving me. Now at the Jet I feel a bit uncomfortable and haven't been able to develop a good stance just yet. Like wise with the traditional tools. I picked up the carbide tools quickly and was able to start making things quickly, but also learned that they can be challenging for small details, and of course the quality of the finish. But now with the traditional tools I watch lots of videos (I am usually pretty good at learning this way) and think I have it but then I go out to the Lathe and there is just way too much swimming around in my head, I am able to do ok and avoid all but a few catches, I feel I am close, but I just "don't know what I don't know" I suspect with a few corrections with someone that knows what they are doing watching over me I could probably get back over the hump and be back to making things and expanding my experience.I included a few of the things I manged to produce on the WEN. So far I haven't produced anything keepable on the Jet with traditional tools