wrote: I have looked at several sites for lathes, and
have seen lathes that say 12in. wood lathe, or 15in. wood lathe. is this the
limit the the wood length you can you?? I am looking for something that can
make a baseball bat (33in.). What should i look for?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The numbers you have cited above refer to the "swing" of the lathe. The
swing is the largest diameter which will fit over the ways. It is TWICE the
distance from the spindle to the ways. To turn a baseball bat, you need a
swing of about 4"--any lathe you encounter is going to exceed that. The
toolrest assembly attaches to the ways, and the bat is going to have to
clear that too, so you really need a little more swing than 4". You also
need a little extra swing because the piece you start with is going to be
fatter than a baseball bat until you finish it.

The more critical measurement is the length from spindle to tailstock.
Every attachment you use, and the tailstock itself, use up part of the
length. If you start with a wood length greater than 33", you have to take
that into account. The Jet 1236 would probably do the job. Harbor Freight
has a Chinese knockoff with lower quality, but still usable, for much less
money, especially when it goes on sale (which happens fairly often.)