I’d like to start out by saying that creating beautiful lathe turnings is an art which requires a certain amount of specialized talent. The only way for you to know if you have this talent is to take some lessons from someone who does. You can be an excellent woodworker, adept at the table saw, band saw or router and yet, you may not have the particular kind of fine touch that it takes to be a master at the lathe. Before you fork out your hard-earned dollars for a dream lathe, get some experience first.
There are some basic things to know when shopping for a lathe and probably the most important question you might want to ask yourself is, “What do I want to produce on my new lathe?” and, “What do I think I might want to produce on my lathe in the foreseeable future?.” If all you ever want to do is turn pencil and pen blanks, a micro lathe is all you need. If you plan on turning out huge bases for round tables, you might want to consider investing in an industrial behemoth.
Numbers wise, you will want to consider the lathe’s bed length, the distance between the base of the tool rest and the center (diameter that can be turned), the maximum diameter of bowls that can be turned safely (usually on the outboard side of the lathe head), the horsepower and RPM of the lathe motor and the variable speed range.
One thing that may not be immediately obvious is that all lathes create vibration. This vibration is transmitted to the point where the cutting tool touches the wood. Vibration makes for poor or rough cuts and vibration must be dampened out as much as possible. A flimsy lathe stand is not going to do this for you. I went so far as to build a heavy lathe bench which incorporated a large box which I filled with sand bags. A heavy-duty stand might suffice for you, however.
Be sure to check out my review of six lathes, small to large, at http://www.perfectwoodworking.com/. I examine and compare the Jet JML 1014 10" x 14" Variable Speed Mini Wood Lathe, the Jet JWL-1220 12" x 20" Wood Lathe, the Delta 46-460 Variable Speed Midi Lathe, The Jet JWL-1642-EVS-2 16" x 42" Full Size Wood Lathe, the Powermatic 3520B 20" x 34 1/2" Wood Lathe and the Powermatic 4224 24" x 42" Wood Lathe.
Bob Gillespie
Woodworker
For similar articles and tool reviews see:
http://www.perfectwoodworking.com/