# Newbie buying a Lathe



## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

I know, I know....the topic's been done, over and over... sorry. 

I have done some reading on here and other forums, and the main lesson I learned is stay away from the many used Craftsmen Lathes out there. I'm basically a total newbie. I got to turn the inside of a green cherry bowl a couple of weeks ago at a seminar that I've been wanting to take for several years. Now of course I want more. But, space and money are both issues. I need to keep the costs down. My main interests will be spindle work (drop spindles for hand spinning yarn), pens, and small to medium bowls.

The overall reviews of the HF Lathe's seem to be positive, at least for the newer ones. I did see a total negative review of the 14"x40" HF though, which is the one that seems to be most common in my local CL ads.

Turns out they have a super coupon on Sunday for the holiday, and I have a couple stores near me, so I'm thinking it's time to take the plunge and that it would be best to go with a new lathe. The ones I'm looking seriously at are the 12"x33 3/8" on a stand http://www.harborfreight.com/12-inch-x-33-3-8-eighth-inch-wood-lathe-with-reversible-head-34706.html
or the 
10"x18" five speed http://www.harborfreight.com/5-speed-bench-top-wood-lathe-65345.html

I don't have any workbench space in my garage, so the stand is a necessary thing. I think they have a free standing stand for $40.

My thought is that for the small incremental difference in price, I'll be much happier with the first one in the long run. I think the second one is probably something I would outgrow much more quickly.

So what do YOU think?


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

There is a reason for the one that is seen in CL ads. The other two HF latheds are OK for a beginner as long as you recognize that they are fine for spindles, bobbins, pens, and bottle stoppers. They are not great for bowl turning, but at least they can be used. Don't expect them to have any resale value.


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## bandman (Jan 15, 2009)

*Lathe for Newbie*

Congratulations on deciding to get into turning. I had the money all set aside to buy a new Nova, variable speed, full-sized lathe last year and then ran into a minor emergency and had to get a Harbor Freight
variable speed (33") like you describe and compared to the mono-rail Craftsman lathe I had been using since 1972, it is working great. I had the coupon and after tax it was right at $216.00. I don't think you can beat it for that price. I have turned bowls and vases and wine bottle stoppers on it with no problems. I do intend to get my new Nova this summer but for a beginning lathe I don't know how you can beat it for the price. It has some issues, but for the price you can work around them easily. I did replace the belt as many have mentioned in their reviews. Have someone help you put it together and set it on the stand, I had to do it by myself and it was a pain.

Best of luck,

Bandman


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## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

So now I'm ready to get the lathe, and know I'll need some tools. Planning to get HF's HSS set - I think it's around $70 and should provide a decent starter set.

The question is, what else do I have to have in order to be able to dive into this?

Face plate is a given.

I know I'll need to sharpen the tools, but am thinking I might be able to do this at the local woodturners group, especially since I don't have the first clue about angles and such.

I know that I want to try to use reclaimed wood as much as possible, so I'll need a way to shape it up a bit. I have a circular saw, but I don't think that will help much except on planks. I'm thinking I need a chainsaw as the "next" item to cut logs and branches and get them to a basic size. I think the chainsaw is "more critical" than a bandsaw. That's more of a nice to have, and again, probably something I can use at the guild worksession.

What are your thoughts? If I can only afford one more pricey toy RIGHT NOW, what should it be?  Is there anything else that I haven't listed that you would call critical?

Jody


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

The wood turners club is a great place to learn how to sharpen tools, but they need sharpened far too often to drive out there every time. If you don't turn bowls you don't need a bandsaw or a chainsaw.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

JodyS said:


> I know I'll need to sharpen the tools, but am thinking I might be able to do this at the local woodturners group, especially since I don't have the first clue about angles and such.


 By all means have folks at your local club teach you how to sharpen, but you're going to need to be able to do it at home too, so you'll need a bench grinder (or some other thing, but a bench grinder is less money than the other options) and I'd recommend placing it just a couple of steps away from the lathe.

Woodturning tools require sharpening very frequently even if they're the expensive ones made from chi-chi steels. Economy tools like the HF line need sharpening even more often. Since they are fairly inexpensive, they are an excellent choice for learning to sharpen though. No sense to grinding away high-dollar steel.

With some real tough and abrasive woods (bone-dry local Elm, for example), I'll often be at the grinder touching up the edge on a gouge every few minutes. Even in green cooperative woods that are almost like turning cheddar cheese (local Aspen, say), I'll need to refresh the edge fairly often. At least every thirty minutes.

You need a grinder. Really. You do. If you're restricted to waiting to sharpen at local meetings of a turner's group you will be unhappy, I promise.

A lot of turners, including myself, also use a sharpening jig such as the Oneway or one of the other brands. 
They're not_ totally _necessary because it's perfectly possible to sharpen without them, but the learning curve for sharpening without them is a little steeper and requires more practice. 
So they're enormously convenient, and a good way to spend a few more precious bucks in the early going.

You don't "need" a bandsaw for turning bowls. I turn several hundred per year, and I don't have a bandsaw. I'm not saying they're not convenient, because they are, but I don't think that's where to spend your money at this stage.

If you plan to process local wood that you scrounge up from here or there, a chainsaw is real nice, but not absolutely necessary either. It's perfectly possible to crosscut logs with a good handsaw (some of the "pull" style saws designed for pruning trees are really pretty damn fast) and split them with a wedge to prepare turning blanks.
If you do get a chainsaw, and you're going out and about to get your own wood from wherever, you'll need a gas-powered one, but if all your chainsaw work is at home, a decent electric one is maybe a better choice.

But for now, I don't think that's where to spend your money either. If you get started at a local club, you'll find wood to turn which won't require that you have a bunch of power tools to get it ready to mount on the lathe.
Then once you're into the turning process a bit deeper, you'll start to get a feel for what kind of work you really want to do, and then you'll know more about what to buy next.

For now?
Get a grinder.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I have the oneway jig, and I would highly recommend it.


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## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

Ok, you convinced me, grinder before chainsaw. Did a bunch of reading this afternoon. I think I'm aiming for a 6" grinder out of monetary necessity. Will keep reading.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I haven't looked up the price difference, but an 8 inch grinder would be better.


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## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

Made my first trip to Woodcraft today. Dangerous place. I was there for three hours. Learned a lot. Purchased a few scrap blocks to start with. Spoke with a height challenged pen turner (I'm 5' 3") who suggested that a standard bench would probably be too high for me. I have a very sturdy shelf that is about 2 1/2 feet deep and 3 feet long. I think if I put heavy duty locking casters on the bottom of it, I can make it into a great workbench that I can roll out to my driveway to work.

He did talk me into a Woodriver roughing gouge instead of the HF set. Then when I need another tool, I'll go carbide. It will get me started, with quality tools, and without the immediate need for a bench grinder. The slow speed 8" Rikon goes on sale for $99 occasionally. 

I do feel like this plan is slowly coming together. Also picked up a book on pen turning and a lot of good information about the tools and techniques needed. Also some ideas of the preliminary tools and aids I can turn for myself.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I would get a 1 inch skew and learn to use it. A spindle gouge would be nice, but not needed for pen turning. A slow speed grinder is much better than a high speed. The center point on my lathe is 45 inches. It is about right (for me) for spindle turning, but for hollowing a bowl I wish it was higher. You were right, you are in big trouble with this turning hobby.


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## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

Got the lathe, converted the shelf into a workbench. It has locking casters, a power strip mounted inside, a small hole in the back for cords, and two big shelves for storing supplies. All the neighbors were very amused watching it come together on Sunday. Once I got it all set up, I chucked up a 2x2 piece of 2x4 that I'd cut in half. Started at 750 rpm and tried the roughing gouge. It didnt do much. I increased the rpms to the middle speed of my 5. Still didn't do much.

I put it away and called it a day. Went to you tube for some vids on using a roughing gouge. One of them was particularly good as he stopped the lathe frequently, so I could see just how little he'd taken off in each pass. Between that and how to introduce the gouge to the wood, I'm ready to try again, but it will probably be the weekend before I'm able to.

My question for you is about the wood choice. I'm guessing what I have right now is pine. I also have elm and oak in the same size. Is there one of those three in particular that you would recommend I start with? What about the rpms?


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Pine is easy to turn, but difficult to turn tearout free. Oak is a poor wood to practice turning. I have never turned elm, but I think it turns good.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

To just play around getting the feel of the tools, it's hard to beat green wood for ease of turning and lack of dust....

Since you're not really making anything at this stage (except shavings of course) I'd recommend finding a tree limb 3 or 4 inches in diameter, cut it to about a foot long or so, then mount that on the lathe between centers and just play around turning it down. Watch videos on the roughing gouge and then on turning coves and beads with a spindle gouge. 
Try it yourself. Then watch the video again. Then try again. Pretty quick you'll get a feel for it and start having some fun.

Turning spindle-oriented wood like that is really the best way to learn how to turn in the beginning. You'll get a catch now and then, and they kinda make you jump a little, but they're not dangerous when turning like this.

You can often find green tree limbs just laying around, especially in the spring when people often prune trees. If you're anywhere near any countryside, they're everywhere, just about. Almost any species is just fine when it's green.

Dry oak is not the easiest wood to turn, and dry elm can be tough as nails and is often abrasive and can dull the edge on a tool really fast. Try to find some green limbs. Green wood is lovely to turn. You won't be sorry.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

1+ on green wood from 2" to 4". A limb cutting bow saw requires little effort and is fast for cutting to length. Your use of 2X4's ripped in half is also very good and cheap practice.
Here is a short video by Stuart Batty on the roughing gouge. He does not discuss it here but notice his stance and body movement.
https://vimeo.com/72448213

Stuart has three videos on stance located here and I suggest the one(s) on spindle turning in particular now. Each is about 15 minutes.
https://vimeo.com/woodturning/videos/sort:alphabetical/format:thumbnail


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## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

Great! Thank you for the video links. I'll check them out tonight.


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## Jerry Maske (Dec 29, 2013)

You'll find your path soon enough. Pay attention to the advice here and at your club. 

I've been teaching related stuff for years and can't emphasize enough that you need certain tools and the ability to maintain them. Took me a long time to follow my own advice and do that. I bought some "Hurricane" tools on Amazon. They are High Speed Steel, pretty well made and not expensive. Here's the thing. You can spend a lot of money on lathe tools you don't know how to use or maintain. Do your learning on the less expensive tools, find out what works for you and THEN go buy some good ones.

I have to endorse the advice about having a grinder within a few steps. I have a low speed, 1750 RPM with a CBN wheel and the Wolverine System. I did all that simply because that combination works! I can sharpen any of my tools pretty quick as long as I don't let them go too far. And, I've learned how to do most of them by eye using a big tool rest that comes with the Wolverine. Wolverine or Tormak are both great sharpening systems and you MUST HAVE one, or something like them.

You raised the question about other types of tools and I have to tell you that you are really on a slippery slope there. I just bought a "Jaw Horse" from Rockwell Tools and can't say enough about it; look it up and you'll understand. 

I'm of the opinion that the more preparation you do with your blank OUT IN THE YARD, the better off you'll be when you mount it on the lathe. A piece of bark flying off something turning at 500+++ is going to hurt something. So, I put my blank on the Jaw Horse, go at it with a chain saw to get it in shape and use a magic tool called an Arbor Tech Plaining blade. It mounts on an angle grinder and will smooth off ALL the surface crap so you don't have to contend with it.

Part of learning turning is learning your path. MY path includes making things easy for me. I don't like broken window, snapped roughing gouges and bleeding knuckles. I won't tell you how I found all that out but I will tell you it wasn't pretty and I don't want to go back there. So, learn how to Prepare your blank to make it as easy to work with BEFORE you go near your lathe.

Now, about smooth turning Pine? It can be done in a spindle turning mode. But, the pine needs to be dry and you'll need a really sharp skew. That'll take you down to 400 grit pretty quick. And it's a good way to practice, or start a session after you've been away from the lathe for awhile.


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## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

Thank you all for the encouragement and advice. I made it out to the local turning meeting last week. They were awesome and welcoming. They gave me a couple of old spindle gouges and a parting tool, plus a lot of great tips. I spent some time turning this weekend, watched some videos on spindle gouges, then turned some more. Will try to upload pics if I can figure out how.


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## JodyS (Apr 1, 2015)

The single piece is crepe myrtle. That was Friday. The second small piece was also crepe myrtle. The long piece was the pine 2x2 that stumped me on day 1.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

Perfect!

Something that's worth doing is to toss those pieces off in a corner somewhere, then a month or so from now grab a couple more branches of scrap wood and turn some more profiles on them. Just whatever strikes your fancy, without thinking about it too much.
Then do it again another month or so later.
Pretty soon you'll have a record of your progress that will probably surprise you and which will be really fun to look at.

Another strategy that's helpful is to make a sketch of bead and cove combinations on a piece of paper. Fuss with the sketch a little bit so that the combination is attractive to you. Doesn't hurt to take your time with this and think about _why_ some combinations look better than others. Don't get too obsessive, but just play around with a pencil and an eraser to see what happens.
While you're doodling, think about things in the real world which have curves. Onions. Water droplets. Bends in a river. Eggs. Whatever.
Then draw and erase some more. You can even watch TV and do this if you want.

Then grab a stick of wood and try to turn it so it matches the sketch as closely as you can.

What I'm talking about is taking the time to have little practice sessions, where we're just playing with form and technique, really, and not trying to make anything in particular. Mixing these sessions in with the turning we do when we _are_ trying to make something is very fruitful in ways that are not easy to describe.
I still grab an odd branch of firewood every once in a while and just start turning, without thinking, just to see what I end up with. It's worthwhile, it really is.


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