what's your dream lathe?

[Bryan Milham]

Jaffa,
how long is a piece of string?

Or more seriously, what do you want to turn?
Pens & Bobbins need a small lathe,
Bowls & Platters (especially large ones), need a powerful motor to work against the torque created by the tool.
I'm (generally) a spindle turner, I need a long bed as opposed to a large swing over the bars.

A good general purpose lathe will have a 1kW motor, 12 to 14" swing and 28" to 30" bed length, but even this varies with manufacturers.

[Twisted Trees]

Hi Jaffa,

You would probably be best served starting a new thread few lathes on this one are aimed at beginners.

However, the choice is very wide, it helps to have an idea of what you expect to be turning, and a budget area.

I have just traded up from my first lathe which was a Myford Mystro which coincidentally there is one advertised in the for sale section right now. Mine had the factory stand with it, but it was an excellent lathe very stable and turned some very heavy bits of wood over the 10 years I owned it.

[burywoodturners]

Hi Jaffa,

You would probably be best served starting a new thread few lathes on this one are aimed at beginners.

 

OK I will do it for you Jaffa, most people get a really old lathe and then sak the question!
Ron

[Mike313]

I have just traded up from my first lathe which was a Myford Mystro

As a matter of interest, what lathe did you trade up to?

[Twisted Trees]

I have just traded up from my first lathe which was a Myford Mystro

As a matter of interest, what lathe did you trade up to?

After a lot of looking, measuring, and head scratching I went for the Axminster 1628, with bed extension. The throw over the bed is what the Myford had on the bowl extension, and it can go up to 800mm with the extension fitted in lower position. This also allowed me to turn my lathe 90° in the workshop giving me a better use of my space. So far I am mostly happy, the only annoyance is the noisy cooling fan which is on all the time the lathe is powered. So once my workshop refit is done I will be taking it apart to see if I can put in a quieter cooling system.

[Mike313]

After a lot of looking, measuring, and head scratching I went for the Axminster 1628, with bed extension. The throw over the bed is what the Myford had on the bowl extension, and it can go up to 800mm with the extension fitted in lower position. This also allowed me to turn my lathe 90° in the workshop giving me a better use of my space. So far I am mostly happy, the only annoyance is the noisy cooling fan which is on all the time the lathe is powered. So once my workshop refit is done I will be taking it apart to see if I can put in a quieter cooling system.

I see from the Axminster website that this is their best-selling trade-standard lathe, so obviously a good 'un. If you get round to fitting a quieter cooling system, I hope you'll document your work on here. Thanks for the reply

[Duncan A]

Re the noisy cooling fan on the Axi lathe, I don't know what type of inverter is fitted or where it is mounted, but my Jet 3520 has a Delta inverter with no fan and no dustproof enclosure. Perhaps the problem relates to the Axi inverter being enclosed?
Some inverters have fan control parameters which can be set to switch the fan off after a set period of an idle motor, or even control the fan speed according to inverter temperature. The latter is unlikely on a lathe built down to a cost but the former may be buried in settings somewhere if you can identify the inverter and download the manual.

Just had a thought - were you referring to the inverter fan or the motor fan? Sometimes motors controlled by VFD's are fitted with independent fans to protect them during prolonged low speed running.

Nice lathes, though.
Duncan

[Twisted Trees]

It is the inverter fan, runs at high speed constantly, not looked yet but my guess is it is a 2" fan I suspect I will look at swapping it out with a quieter 4" unit with the same or greater air flow. Taking  it apart is not a high priority at the moment I am in the process of refitting all the cabinets in my workshop with castor mounted units consisting of mostly drawers not cupboards.

As you say built to a price, and maybe also an audible reminder to turn off the power when not turning, but I think it can be improved so I will set out to improve it.

[Mike313]

Nice one, TT, I look forward to hearing about your efforts to improve this lathe

[Duncan A]

Yep, my drill inverter has a horrible little whiny fan. Very annoying, but I've set it so it switches off after a few minutes and I don't have to keep turning the power off and back on again.
Good luck,
Duncan