what lathe to go for

[Nautilus21]

Intermediate wood turner new to the forum so please be gentle...


Currently using record dml36 with bowl attachment which gets regular use...

What would you upgrade to without breaking the bank...

Would like to move to a bit bigger motor...

Ideally variable speed (or more speeds)

Needs to have a swivel head or a large capacity over the bed for bowl turning....

Secondhand is an option if in decent condition


What would you go for and more importantly why?

Thx

[Bryan Milham]

If I remember correctly, the record series of lathes have a 3/4 x 16 thread, not used by many bigger lathes these days. So if you change your lathe you'll probably have to change you chuck as well.

Record have just released a new (or updated) range, not sure about their headstock threads but it might be a good idea to start looking there.

The big question is what do you want to turn, a swivel head suggests bigger platters or bowls. They do look dramatic but 12" to 15" is about a big as is really useful.

[seventhdevil]

Intermediate wood turner new to the forum so please be gentle...


Currently using record dml36 with bowl attachment which gets regular use...

What would you upgrade to without breaking the bank...

Would like to move to a bit bigger motor...

Ideally variable speed (or more speeds)

Needs to have a swivel head or a large capacity over the bed for bowl turning....

Secondhand is an option if in decent condition


What would you go for and more importantly why?

Thx

welcome to the forum.

where are you? you may be able to visit someone with a larger lathe and you can see the benefits of it for yourself.

personally i have owned 3 lathes.

my first was to get me started and was a crappy little NUtool device that i purchased more for the dozen or so robert sorby tools that i got with it. i think it had a 1/3hp motor.

i quickly upgraded to a decent lathe (or so i thought) which was an SIP 01490 that did me well for many years. this could handle 48" between centers and 14" over the bed. it had a 3/4hp motor.

i now have a jet 3520b. it has a 2hp motor.

i went for it because it ticked all the boxes i needed to tick at that time.

dragonfly is right, it will be down to what you wish to turn.

i wanted to turn large items so a lathe that can fit 20" over the bed was ideal for me.

your budget will be a big factor.

try looking at ebay and see if anything comes up local to you.

[fuzzyturns]

dr4g0nfly has a point with the thread, but I think whatever you end up upgrading to, this will be an issue.

I recently (well,OK, about 10 months ago) upgraded to a Twister FU-200, which is sold here in the UK by Simon Hope. 16" over the bed, 28" between centres, swivel head stock, variable speed, and rock solid build. I also bought the bed extension which gives me either 32" swing or 44" between centres. Could not have spent my money any better. A very similar lathe is offered by Axminster (in fact, I suspect it's made by the same factory and just  branded differently). With the bed extension you're looking at around £2k. No idea what size your bank is, but it's worth every single penny of it.

[edbanger]

From where you are now the next step is a 3/4 HP motor with mechanical variable speed and you would look to spend around 350 - 500 new these are hobby series lathes they are a bit under powdered to turn anything really big but they are fine for what they are intended for.

Then you move on to the 1 HP motor lathes I don't there's many of these Record do one with electronic variable speed and this will set you back around 1000.00

The next step is to the 1.5 - 2 HP motor lathes and then you have a bit more choice these lathes offer heavier construction electronic variable speed heavy duty spindles (normally M33 x 3.5) and you are starting around the 1500.00 - 2000.00

I have the Axminster AT1628VS I went down this route at the end of 2013 I was going to buy a Killinger but at the time the Axminster offer the same style of lathe for 1000.00 less. It does all that anybody would need, It's had a good 3500 hours use and has seen wood from under a kilo to pieces up to 50 Kg.

These have gone up a bit in price now and if I was buying again today I think that I would go for the Twister that Simon Hope sells as Fuzzy said they are very similar to the AT1628VS but I think that it has a couple of extra design features and works out a bit cheaper if you need the legs.

Good luck

Ed   

[Eric Harvey]

I started with a drill powered lathe had that for 10yrs which modified to a 1/2 hp industrial motor and pulley system after a couple of yrs,then I went to the axminster awvsl 1100 1 HP hobby manual variable speed lathe,had that for 7yrs,and for all people say about these machines,it never failed me the only problem was it walked about a bit with heavy pieces of wood on it,4 yrs ago I upgraded again to a jet 3520B with 2 HP electric variable speed,best thing I ever did,its a wonderful machine,the drill powered lathe has been converted to an 8 inch slow benchgrinder and the axminster lathe is stil in use by my soninlaw,bit the axminsterat1628VS and the twister FU-200 look like very good options if your on a tighter budget,cheers,

Eric.

[Nautilus21]

Thanks for rpthe advice gents

Much appreciated


What's the general view on the nova dvr??  I like the twister but think that may be a step too far for budget ( unless anyone's got a spare secondhand one)

[Bryan Milham]

George (GBF) is the man to answer that as he has a Nova DVR. I've used it and think it is a great machine but have limited experience to comment on.