New lathe for £1,000?

[Mike313]

Semi-hypothetical question.

If you had a budget of £1,000 for a NEW lathe (just for the sake of having something that is brand new and under guarantee) what would you buy?

The three that spring to my mind are:

• Axminister AT350WL VS (3/4HP Motor, 14" x 16" over bed, 3 belt positions, fixed head, Taiwanese manufacturer?, £850 from Axminster, 3 year guarantee)
  
• Jet 1221VS (1HP DC Motor, 12" x 21" over bed , 3 belt positions, fixed head, manufacturer noted as Walter Meier Tool AG, Switzerland in user manual, £965 from Axminster, 2 year guarantee?)
  
• Coronet Herald (1HP Motor, 14" x 20" over bed, 3 belt positions, sliding/swivel head, Taiwanese? £999 from Record Power, 5 year guarantee)

Have you any thoughts on the above? Are there others to consider? What would you recommend? Thanks in advance 

[fuzzyturns]

Other models to consider are

• Record Power CL4-PK/A, 12" x 24", swivel head, stand, 1HP motor, speed control, 90kg
• Nova 1624-II, 16" x 24", swivel head, stand, 1.5HP motor, 8 belt speeds

My personal preference out of all these would probably be the Record Power CL4, mostly down to the weight (double that of the Herald). I wouldn't buy anything without variable speed control and I would consider a non-swivel head lathe only if it was for travelling. I have used the predecessor to the AT350WL on many occasions and it is a fine machine, albeit on the light side ( if I had the money, that would be my travelling lathe). Any turning of larger diameters and specifically of unbalanced pieces will require a lot of mass, otherwise you'll have the lathe dancing all over the shop. In addition, for anything larger than 14" diameter you really want more than 1HP (my lathe has a 2HP motor, and I can get it to stall or slip the belt on large pieces).

[JohnHewes]

Fuzzy, I have been pondering power requirements this week as I have had my motor slowing down from max speed and sometimes stopping altogether on a Laburnum bowl about 8” diameter and it’s very frustrating!
Sharpening the gouge improved it of course, but only a bit.
I have an old Viceroy with a frequency control for speed and I know that torque reduces as I wind the speed down, so I always try to use it at the highest motor speed I can, and use the lowest speed pulley in this situation to maximise torque. Not sure if my £500 speed control package was a good deal now.

Almost glad to hear that you have the same problem.

My motor is a nominal 3kw, and the Laburnum is fairly tough, I have checked all the shafts and bearings and everything runs freely.

Maybe I am trying to take too big a cut, or is 3kw not enough for a tough timber? Does anyone have any similar experience?

Thanks,John

[fuzzyturns]

Hi John,

a 3kW motor (= 4.5HP) is huge for a lathe and should be able to shred your 8" laburnum bowl without any effort at all. In other words, the problem is elsewhere. From what I know, inverters used to provide variable speed need to be very finely tuned to the actual motor they are used on. They cannot just be bought and wired up and expected to work properly. I suspect that is where your problem lies. Having said that, £500 for a 3kW inverter sounds about right, so that unit itself is probably not to blame.

[Mike313]

Thanks for the advice Fuzzy