In article ,
"Mike Goodell" wrote:

Any comments good bad or indifferent on this machine as a first lathe?

Well, it has the tailstock design I hate, but most of its friends (ie,
Jet mini, etc) copy the same piddle-poor design, so not a lot to choose
from there until you find one that does not. I haven't used one - I just
look at that tailstock (whoever happens to be cranking it out) and know
it's functionally poor (wrong angle for the stresses involved, mass in
the wrong places - designed for cheapness, in all the senses of
cheapness).

The general maxi-lathe mentioned in another reply has a better tailstock
design - not back-angled and with the mass on the outside of it. Any
lathe from the 1950's has a better tailstock design (well, excepting the
shopsmith, a sub-optimal design I've used a lot, and don't love for
that.)

Partly also depends what, even as a beginner, you want to turn - you can
do small stuff on a big lathe, but not vice versa.

I'm prone to advise looking long and hard for a good used lathe, but
people rarely seem to listen. They are simple tools with little to go
wrong if built correctly, which are far too prone to have had the design
cheapened in "shiny new from China" examples. There are thousands of
used units which used to be in high schools that are either already in
perfect shape, or that can be brought to perfect shape, literally better
than you can buy new, now, with new bearings and perhaps a variable
speed motor upgrade (or, if even cheaper because equipped with a 3 phase
motor, simply adding a variable frequency drive that takes 1 phase and
produces 3 phase.) Look for delta/rockwell, yates-american, powermatic
etc. - The good old names, lots of cast iron, annoying to move. Look for
estate sales. I've had lathes practically given to me when people wanted
them out of a house before a sale, with all the associated tooling.

Just as a feel for the shape of the not-new landscape:

I don't know where you are at, but looking at a craigslist "local" to my
area, there are a bunch of used wood lathes available for less money
that that goes for. Some are kinda bad, of course. Here's a nice-looking
old one with a good tailstock shape, and it includes tools (perhaps even
a chuck, though it does not say that) and a stand (no, it's not mine)
for $225
http://albany.craigslist.org/tls/2096138713.html
And a newfangled one with tools and pen stuff (and that sucky tailstock
shape) for $250 (also not mine, I haven't got any for sale):
http://albany.craigslist.org/tls/2060993269.html

I learned to turn on a shopsmith, so perfection is not required - but it
sure speeds the learning curve _not_ to have to work around the
deficiencies of a lathe. Ruth (haven't see her here in a while) learned
on a craftsman mono-tube (yes, actually worse than a shopsmith) if I
recall correctly, and several other folks have dredged the bottom of
Horrible Fright's barrel when looking for least investment to try it
out. They probably would have done better used, if avoiding HF used
(sometime for more than HF new prices...) If at all possible, try to
find someone (through here, though a woodworking club, through a local
class, put an ad up on craigslist or your local paper) that you could
actually visit and turn some stuff with before you delve too far into
shopping.

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