Bowl lathe

[Maca]

Morning all.  I started turning about 6 months ago and went out and bought a second hand Metabo lathe. Its a good lathe but it has turned out to not be quite right for what I'm doing.  I've found I enjoy turning bowls and my lathe doesn't have a swivel head so a lot of the time I'm leaning over the bed trying to hollow out the bowl. It also has a 1000mm bed capacity which I never use and in my small shed I need all the space I can get.

So, I'll be looking to upgrade to a more suitable lathe in the future but what do people recommend for bowl turning?  Ideally it would have variable speed too but price limit would be £1000.  I don't mind buying second hand too.  Attached is a photo (albeit not very good photo) of some of the natural edge bowls I've been doing recently.

[fuzzyturns]

I think you'll struggle a little with this. Most lathes in that price range are aimed at hobby turners, and are built with flexibility in mind (i.e. a decent combination of bed length and diameter). I am not currently aware of any lathe for under £1000 that offers a swivel head AND electronic speed control. And if there was one, I'd probably take a very close look. Swivel heads require a substantial weight in the lathe bed, otherwise your machine will walk all over the shop floor.

[Paul Hannaby]

If you are going to turn just bowls, you could go for a bowl lathe but if you want to maintain a spindle turning capability, you will have to go for a general purpose lathe with perhaps either an outboard turning capability or a swivel headstock.
Bear in mind that the smaller lathes are generally lighter and less able to soak up vibration so if larger bowls are your aim, that may not be the way to go.

Off track slightly here but I know of the whereabouts of a couple of bowl lathes. Email me if you're interested in finding out more.

[rick_dobney]

The one which springs to mind which may meet your requirements is the Record Coronet Herald https://www.recordpower.co.uk/product/herald-heavy-duty-cast-iron-electronic-variable-speed-lathe#.XMgv6OhKiHs which is just within your budget. Often deals are to be done if you want bench feet or legs so keep an eye on the Record Power flyers. I've used this lathe on a couple of occasions quite happily.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Maca with £1000 to spend I would choose a graduate lathe every time.

[Maca]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  Paul Hannaby contacted me about a suitable lathe he knows about Viceroy Bowl lathe.  So I'm just in conversation with him right now and I'm looking into transport and getting my existing lathe up for sale.  Will get photos of it up here soon.

[Lazurus]

A good choice

[BrianH]

Swimming against the stream I would council a very serious rethink. After only 6 months experience I would suggest restricting your future enjoyment by limiting yourself to turning more of what you're doing at the moment has a high risk of short-sightedness. Go for a bigger all-purpose lathe and keep your future options open would be my advice.
All the best with whatever you decide
Brian

[Lazurus]

Get one of these

[Maca]

I would get one of those if they started giving them away!  Problem I have is I only have a small shed where I also make bandsaw boxes and wooden wands.  So the lathe footprint is important.  I understand the argument about not limiting myself to bowls but I really can't see myself doing long stuff. 

Also just found out today my current chuck won't fit on the Viceroy lathe so I'll be selling the chuck with the lathe and buying a new chuck which is more expense.  If I had the space and money I would keep my current lathe and buy the Viceroy as well but we can't have everything can we.

[Les Symonds]

...my current chuck won't fit on the Viceroy lathe so I'll be selling the chuck with the lathe and buying a new chuck...

Have you considered just buying an appropriate insert?
Les

[Mike Amphlett]

I got rid of my Viceroy because I could not find chucks to fit, in the end I found a suitable face plate and got a local engineering firm to make it into a back plate for my chuck, inserts just do not seem to be available. Face plates also seem to be as rare as hen's teeth and it doesn't help that the inboard and outboard threads are different. Once I started turning on it I didn't like it. The plinth is made of sheet steel and it rattled and was noisy. I replaced it with a Graduate configured for bowl turning. It was just a headstock with a 3ph motor when I bought it for £70 . I already had an inverter and adapted a bed extension,  so all in I reckon it cost me £200.
I then went out and bought a long bed version for £300 well happy 

[Maca]

I contacted data power and asked for an insert but they said inserts for the sc4 chuck only go up to 1-1/4". The viceroy is 1-1/2". Axminster do a chuck with a 1-1/2"x8tpi but its £200.

[JohnHewes]

I bought a Viceroy off of eBay about three years ago, then changed it to a short bed version of the same, and had a variable speed system fitted by local electrical engineers. This also allows for reversing the direction for a reading.
The short bed version has a tailstock which is essential for out of balance lumps.
I now have it raised on sleepers and braced to the wall, and it will turn big out of balance pieces. I can start very slowly to get them into balance and it will swing over 20” diameter.
It has cost about £800 in total.
I solved the problem of the mandrel size by machining the mandrel on my metal lathe, but this could be done by any engineering company, it’s not difficult, as long as the mandrel is trued up on the bearing faces. Then you can have whatever thread you want.
I love it!

[Maca]

Did this on on the weekend.  Cherry, whole log, 10" across wings.  So it's not like my lathe can't do bowls but this was about capacity for it.  I haven't finished the bottom of it because this is turned wet I'm leaving it to move then I'll sand the bottom flat.