Lathes for a beginner

[burywoodturners]

As promised, what lathe would you recomment to a beginner/
Ron

[bodrighywood]

Depends on so much. How much can they afford, what space do they have etc. As a basic rule  would recomend the biggest and best they can afford and, if they have guidance, possibly going for a good 2nd hand one. Variable speed, swivel head, etc are all useful but can boost the cost. Personally I would avoid cheap imports rather have an older british make.

Pete

[Twisted Trees]

Basic questions:

Budget, can lead to new or second hand
Previous experience, makes a lot of difference
Space, timely reminders that woodturning leads to sharpening, bandsawing, dust extraction, and wood hording all of which takes space
Estimated projects, no good going for great throw size if the object is dolls house furniture

I would aim that a new to turning person gets something that will keep them busy for 5 years, by which time they will be so addicted they will spend any amount 

[Derek]

Some of the things I point out to someone.

Cost
What do they want to turn
What features do they want, V/s manual belt change swivel head
Space available
Advise them to go for the most common thread size as well as morse taper
At the early stages, they may only need a small one but will the bug bite and they would want larger.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

There was one lathe that was always put into schools and that was the Union Graduate lathe. Forget all the fancy stuff you can get with very expensive lathes today and buy a Graduate and learn to turn properly. You should be able to get one these days for less than £1000 and it will do all and more than you need for the next 40 years.

[Twisted Trees]

There was one lathe that was always put into schools and that was the Union Graduate lathe. Forget all the fancy stuff you can get with very expensive lathes today and buy a Graduate and learn to turn properly. You should be able to get one these days for less than £1000 and it will do all and more than you need for the next 40 years.

Very good lathe, but specific workshop requirements, and possibly inappropriate for model makers.

[Derwent Woodturning club]

I recommend all beginners to woodturning split their budget into three. None of us has an unlimied budget so I find this works quite well.

One third goes on the lathe, one third goes on tools and required equipment - sharpening, dust extraction, PPE etc, and the final third on sundries - wood, abrasives, finishes, glues, and the equipment to use and apply these.

It is a rule of thumb so not hard and fast but all too often I come across students who have spent virtually all their budget on the lathe, and then struggle with cheap tools, often blunt as they don't have a good means of sharpening them.