On 7 May 2007 06:34:40 -0700, Neillarson
wrote:


So, now I am ready to get a lathe. Since I'm a little low on room, I
was thinking the Jet or Delta Mini, then I saw the Rinkon mini at
Woodcraft. All three are 1" X 8TPI so accessory cost should be
comparable. The extra room on the bed of the Rinkon is attractive. Any
experience of words of advice here would be appreciated.

I've never seen the Rikon firsthand, but by all reports, it's a good
lathe. I don't imagine you'd go wrong with any of the three- when it
comes to the Jet or Delta, you could almost go by which color you like
better.

Once a lathe is selected, what else do I need to get stated and do
some pen and small bowl/vase/plate turning. I was looking at the Nova
midi chuck or the Grizzly G9829 4" 3-Jaw Scroll Chuck. 4 Jaw or 3
Jaw? What is best for basic bowls and such as can be done on a small
lathe?

I have a Grizzly 4 jaw scroll chuck, and while it will never be
mistaken for a Super Nova, it does the job very well- I had intended
to replace it when I upgraded from my Delta Mini to a larger Delta,
but so far, I haven't had $200 worth of complaints about it. It's not
fancy, but it gets the job done.

I've used it to turn bowls up to 12" diameter, and vases up to 8"
diameter x 10" deep. I even did a few vases that maxed out the midi
lathe, and the chuck was fine.

Turning tools, I plan to get a set, maybe the Harbor Freight 8 pc HSS
one or the Woodcraft 5 pc Mini set and adding a bowl gouge. Any
recommendations?

If you go for the Delta Midi, check their website first and see if
they're running any promotions. When I bought mine, I printed off a
coupon from their site for a free 8-pc set of tools with the purchase.
It takes a while for them to show up, but I used a $15 set from
Menards until they arrived. The set goes for about $100, so it's
worth checking into before you decide- I figure with that thrown in,
the Delta Midi was the best deal going, even though the purchase price
was slightly higher than the Jet.