On Wed, 4 Feb 2004 16:41:45 -0000, "bob" wrote:

Hi
Im thinking of trying my hand at
wood turning, I was thinking of
buying a cheap lathe first just to
see if I like the hobby. These go for about
£100 on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...category=63 3

Are these OK(ish) to start with? the only
problem I can see is the bed seems a little
on the feeble side, but that's no problem
for me as im a welder. I was just wondering
if the spindle, bearings, motor etc are reasonable.

Many thanks

BoB


IMHO save your money. i bought one of these at a traveling tool show a
couple years back. a few things i found. no morse taper. odd threads
on the head stock. all set screws are too soft to be properly
tightened.they strip out and some will be striped out when you get it.
the bed flexes a lot. the motor is way under powered for anything
larger than pens.all turn knobs are realy cheap plastic and break with
very little effort. the spur center is a screw on thing that may be
crooked and.is poorly cast. [ at least mine was] a jet mini or delta
midi or fisch would be much better choices. i got rid of that anchor
before i finnished the second piece i tried to turn on it. bought the
fisch turning center and have been very pleased with it. YMMV....
skeez