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Woodturning (rec.crafts.woodturning) To discuss tools, techniques, styles, materials, shows and competitions, education and educational materials related to woodturning. All skill levels are welcome, from art turners to production turners, beginners to masters. |
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#1
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Lathes sold in Canada - King or Craftex opinions
Hi, I'm a pre-newbie as I haven't yet even turned a thing, but I am
definitely looking to get started. There are a couple of 3/4 to 1 HP lathes I am thinking about here in Nova Scotia and I am wondering if anyone that might read this has any experience with these lathes. One is a King Canada model KWL-1443VS. http://www.kingcanada.com/Products.htm?CD=29&ID=20771 The other is made by Craftex.Model #B2338 http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=B2338 Any thoughts? I would like to turn bowls/hollow vessels. Varying sizes, so I was thinking a bigger model like these would be better than one with a 10" swing and/or a 17" (or less) center. Thanks to anybody who replies |
#2
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Lathes sold in Canada - King or Craftex opinions
well, you may get specific advice from some folks in your area, but from my
perspective, neither of these will be suitable for what you want - the minimum speed is way too fast. You would be much better served by a used and larger/heavier lathe - even in Canada you could buy a used lathe, a used 3 phase 2 or 3 hp motor and a surplus variable frequency drive and spend about the same amount of money but have a very much better lathe. I would suggest that you start looking at "price is no object" lathes, not to buy, but to understand what features really excite you. And join a turning club and turn a few things, so you can find out something before you buy. If you must buy first, I'd suggest starting with a mini-lathe, used if possible - with the plan to upgrade in a year or two. a quick review of the specs says that the lathes must be just about the same thing, by the way, so if you had to choose between the two, choose either on price, or the vendors reputation for service "P Nick" wrote in message news:SHVpn.10$Jw4.5@edtnps82... Hi, I'm a pre-newbie as I haven't yet even turned a thing, but I am definitely looking to get started. There are a couple of 3/4 to 1 HP lathes I am thinking about here in Nova Scotia and I am wondering if anyone that might read this has any experience with these lathes. One is a King Canada model KWL-1443VS. http://www.kingcanada.com/Products.htm?CD=29&ID=20771 The other is made by Craftex.Model #B2338 http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=B2338 Any thoughts? I would like to turn bowls/hollow vessels. Varying sizes, so I was thinking a bigger model like these would be better than one with a 10" swing and/or a 17" (or less) center. Thanks to anybody who replies |
#3
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Lathes sold in Canada - King or Craftex opinions
On Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:29:06 +0000, P Nick wrote:
Any thoughts? I would like to turn bowls/hollow vessels. Varying sizes, so I was thinking a bigger model like these would be better than one with a 10" swing and/or a 17" (or less) center. I'm not familiar with those brands, but I have a General variable speed mini-lathe that I'm quite happy with. General is a Canadian company, but the lathe is imported as, according to other responses, are the ones you mentioned. The Geveral will do an 18" bowl using the outboard tool rest. Here's a link: http://www.general.ca/site_general/g...he/25-200.html One hint if you do buy it. I flipped the bed around so the outboard tool rest is on the tailstock end. That way I can just slide the head down to that end instead of rotating it 180 degrees. Less fuss with the cord. -- Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw |
#4
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Lathes sold in Canada - King or Craftex opinions
"P Nick" wrote in message news:SHVpn.10$Jw4.5@edtnps82... Hi, I'm a pre-newbie as I haven't yet even turned a thing, but I am definitely looking to get started. There are a couple of 3/4 to 1 HP lathes I am thinking about here in Nova Scotia and I am wondering if anyone that might read this has any experience with these lathes. One is a King Canada model KWL-1443VS. http://www.kingcanada.com/Products.htm?CD=29&ID=20771 The other is made by Craftex.Model #B2338 http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=B2338 Any thoughts? I would like to turn bowls/hollow vessels. Varying sizes, so I was thinking a bigger model like these would be better than one with a 10" swing and/or a 17" (or less) center. Thanks to anybody who replies My only direct experience with King products was a miter saw which was so awful I returned it a week later. I had a look at some more King products in my local KMS Tools including a bench grinder and a metal lathe. I rejected them both. Shoddy and overpriced was my impression. Craftex is the very low end of machinery. I bought their 4x6 metal band saw on sale, There were a few minor issues with it but it cuts rather well. I am in the process of assessing their 9x20 lathe. One of the issues I have discovered is that the description on the web site is incomplete and the manual (also on their web site) does not correspond exactly to the machine they sell. Thus if you do decide to buy the Craftex make really sure that you know what is included. Then there is the Busy Bee customer service. The opinions vary. I have had no problems dealing with minor stuff in the past but now I am entering a process of dealing with some warranty issues and it is too early to tell how that will turn out. Grizzly (relative of Busy Bee) now ships to Canada, but only UPS (as per their web site) and quite expensive. Their customer service is said to be very good. Personally I do not buy from any US firm that ships only by UPS to Canada. FWIW I bought the Delta 46-460 from Busy Bee and so far it has performed flawlessly. -- Michael Koblic, Campbell River, BC |
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