cyrille de Brebisson wrote:
hello,

Does anyone have comment on the $200 lathe from Harbor Freight (sale price)?

I have a limited budget and can not afford a $500 jet lathe, so for me
unless there is a better alternative in the sub $300 range, there is no
woodturning for me :-(

so, the question, is, knowing that it is a HF tool, is it worth it's price?
Also, what accessory will I need to purchase? I plan to do spindle turning
for furniture and small objects and my wife wants to turn bowls...

thanks, cyrille
Cyrille,

Get the HF lathe (34706) and their HSS tool set (47066). I
have both and they do the job. The lathe is IMHO under powered but both
$500 Delta and Jet owners complain about the same thing. Sometimes
people complain about the centers not kissing. Get the warranty and
take it back for another one if needed. Better yet come over to
Woodturners resource http://www.turnwood.net/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.pl join
us as several their have or have had this lathe. I go by BAM overthere
and PM me. I would be happy to to go through the ups and downs of this
lathe . But in short I have had to only replace 2 things so far , drive
belt (less than $5 dollars at the local hardware store) and the tool
rest ( a large chunk of wood broke it in 2 but I have heard from
Jet/Delta owners doing the same thing). BTW the tool rest was about $6
dollars (plus shipping) to replace , at the same time I ordered more
6in face plates at $5.35 each ( they come in handy). The biggest
problems with the lathe are the stand (it is too light weight ,entire
lathe only weights 177lbs and the stand does make up for much of it)
and the lowest speed is 600 . Making your own stand with more weight
and a larger foot print would help, right now I have 300lbs of play
sand on it. It will get you started and take you a fair ways. I would
love to have Jet 1642EVS or even better a Powermatic 3520 but it not in
the cards right now.