# Kind of Lathe?



## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

:tongue_smilie: :thumbsup: Was wondering what type of lathe you wood turners use? What type and what do you think of your present lathe but mostly, what lathe do you dream of having sometime soon.

I use a Nova DVR XP, and really like it. The only other lathe I ever had was a mini Jet. It's a good little lathe.


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## ctb (Mar 10, 2007)

I too use a nova, but mine is the older version of yours the DVR3000, I love it, a very versatile lathe, I however do not have the extra bed extension, I cannot fault this lathe, and am completely satisfied with it, previously I had a belt driven one an Axminster M950, it was not powerfull enough to turn anything over 10 inches in diameter and I very quickly outgrew it.

I would not change the nova, although there are some very nice lathe's on the market, I am happy with what I have.

Chris


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## Burlkraft (Oct 15, 2006)

I started with an OLD Craftsman a long time ago. Then I bought a used Record, which was a pretty good lathe, but not big enough for some of my project ideas. I then bought a OneWay 2436 and I knew I had found my lathe. I can turn pens or 42" tabletops....  

My next purchase would be for Jill. She has a OneWay 1018 and we both have visions of a new Robust with the removeable bedway for larger turning. It has a very nice tailstock swing away feature that Jill really likes....:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

Chris
Thanks for the reply. For all the comments I hear about your lathe, it certainly is a good lathe. Is it a variable speed and do you have an option to run the motor on 110 or 220? Oh OH just remembered , maybe the wiring isn't the same in your country?

I have the 20" bed extension, it was thrown in when I bought the lathe, I will never use it though. You can see I set my tool box on it just for the extra weight. If you weren't so far away I would consider giving it to you, not doing me any good.


If possible post a few pictures of your work, hope to hear from you again. Mitch


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

Burl
Thanks for replying. Need to make a correction to my post. I also had an old time Craftsman I got from an old timer, very seldom, since 1978 did I fool with it. Gave it away to a guy who works for my oldest son.

I think if I were ever going to buy again I would seriously look at the Oneway. Am I correct in assumeing that Jill is your wife? How lucky is that? A guy that has a wife that is a turner also? All the conversations you two could have. Lucky guy. Aren't them Robust lathes monster lathes.How big turning do you want to turn? I can turn a 29" bowl on mine if I use the outrigger that is on my lathe. It extends to the leftof my headstock . As far as turning a 42" table top? No thanks, for that I will call out my arsenal of handplanes and glue and plane my table tops.

Hope to see some pictures of your work. Mitch


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## ctb (Mar 10, 2007)

Mitch Cholewinski said:


> Chris
> Thanks for the reply. For all the comments I hear about your lathe, it certainly is a good lathe. Is it a variable speed and do you have an option to run the motor on 110 or 220? Oh OH just remembered , maybe the wiring isn't the same in your country?
> 
> I have the 20" bed extension, it was thrown in when I bought the lathe, I will never use it though. You can see I set my tool box on it just for the extra weight. If you weren't so far away I would consider giving it to you, not doing me any good.
> ...


Thanks Mitch, and thank you for the offer, there have been times when a 20" extension would have been usefull, but I worked my way around that problem, I simply made a ball and bored it out at both ends with a forstner bit and used it as a joiner.
I have my lathe mounted to a made to measure steel bench, so fitting the extension would cause a few problems.
The lathe has programmable variable speed and runs on 240volts.

I will post a further pictures of my work, thank you.

Chris


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## Brodie (Dec 16, 2006)

I currently have a PM 3520A. I've had it for about 2 years now. I'm very happy with it. Its a really solid lathe. VS is a beautiful thing.

I used to have a Delta 46-715 which was too small & too fast for what I wanted to do. Even though it had a 14" swing, I decided to outboard turn a piece of green maple 15.5" and watch the lathe walk across the garage. Went out to HD and bought 400 lbs of cement to hold it down and it still did a bit of the Chubby Checker 'twist' until it was completely rounded. Very scary experience for me. The bearings also started to go bad within 8 months of using the lathe.

I've taken classes through the local community college and they use the Jet mini (the older version non-vs). Its a great little lathe, if I wanted a lathe for pen turning when something large was on the lathe, I'd probably get one of these. They're work horses.

Dream lathe? I'm not sure, I like the look of the Stubby but I don't think I'll ever really need to go up to that size.


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## mike p (Nov 11, 2006)

*?*

? Could I Use My Metal Lathe To Turn Wood 
What Speed Do You Run On


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

Best you forget about that Mike. There are a lot of good entry wood lathes out there. Take a look at the mini lathes and see if you can handle the price. Mitch


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## mike p (Nov 11, 2006)

thanks for the advice


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