Having come to the point where I realize my old HF Jet 1236 knockoff just
isn't going to cut it any more, I am in the market for a new lathe.

It has to cost less than $1,000. It needs to be able to handle at least 12"
swing. It needs to be built like a battleship. It needs to have 300 or
less rpm. I do a lot of bowl turning and am not interested in having a
turreted head, as they usually are not all that solid when that 12x8" piece
of magnolia wobbles before you get it turned to a cylinder.

Now that I have filled out my "wish list" am I dreaming, or is there such an
amimal out there?

Thanks

Deb

If you can spare the 300rpm for 500, sounds like you're describing the
medium-duty lathe of 30 years ago. Start haunting the local classifieds.
If you've got one of those iron monsters, the 500 is usable, especially
given that your gouge pressure can slip the belt if you want it to.

It'll likely be less than $500 in good condition, though you won't find me
parting with mine even for that.

"Dr. deb" wrote in message
...
Having come to the point where I realize my old HF Jet 1236 knockoff just
isn't going to cut it any more, I am in the market for a new lathe.

It has to cost less than $1,000. It needs to be able to handle at least
12"
swing. It needs to be built like a battleship. It needs to have 300 or
less rpm. I do a lot of bowl turning and am not interested in having a
turreted head, as they usually are not all that solid when that 12x8"
piece
of magnolia wobbles before you get it turned to a cylinder.

Now that I have filled out my "wish list" am I dreaming, or is there such
an
amimal out there?

Thanks

Deb

As I've said here more than a few times, go looking for "estate sale" or
"post estate sale before we sell the house cleanout the heavy equipment
sale" Old, Big Lathes. The less the present owners feel like moving
them, the cheaper they are. If you need riggers to move them, just
factor that into the price. I got two lathes with 8 foot long cast iron
beds (one 20" swing, the other 17, both about 60 between centers) for
$250 and $400, respectively. In both cases I simply paid the asking
price, not caring to haggle overly with the surviors. The less expensive
one is a wood lathe with metalspinning abilities (or a patternmakers
lathe, depending who you ask) - anyway, it was set up for wood. The more
expensive of the two is a full-on metalworking engine lathe - it could
be converted to a very solid wood lathe, but I happen to have the other,
and do metalwork as well. Both have plain (Babbitt) bearings, which
appear to be in good shape, and run quietly; but which could be reworked
if need be. It does take a minute or so per day to oil the bearings - I
can live with that.

If you buy the same lathe 2 days later from a used machinery dealer, the
price will have gone up a great deal...and the family will probably have
taken somewhat less money for it, too. Try asking a real estate agent -
while I've found both of mine in the classifieds, they were both in
houses that were about to be put on the market.

Toss the remainder of your budget into a new drive system (a surplus new
drive system, or splurge and get a brand new drive system) either 3
phase VFD or DC, and you have a very solid lathe with speeds from 0 to
whatever, and several steps available (from the old speed system) for
different torque to speed relationships if your drive system and use
demand it.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

Dr. deb wrote:

Thanks for the input. Maybe I am just a hermit in sheep's clothing, but
here in rural southern Alabama, there are not a lot of estate sales that
contain power wood working tools, especially lathes.

That being said, I will keep my eyes open.

Thanks for the replies.

Deb

In article ,
"Dr. deb" wrote:
Thanks for the input. Maybe I am just a hermit in sheep's clothing, but
here in rural southern Alabama, there are not a lot of estate sales that
contain power wood working tools, especially lathes.

You may need to extend your distance, or your search time, or both. Use
any network of people you have access to to help keep an eye out,
including this one (I doubt you want to come as far as New England for a
lathe, however, so I personally am not going to be a lot of use - but
other RCW folks in your area might be). Let people know you are looking.

Farm or machine shop auctions are another possible avenue, with the
usual auction caveats (keep an eye on that tailstock!). Government
surplus seems to take a delight in putting equipment out in the rain to
ruin it before selling it off, but businesses that are either going
belly up and selling off (from under a roof), or doing well and buying
new stuff can be good sources for what they used to use.

Scrapyards (the horror, the horror) might be another avenue, if they
know in advance that you want one intact, so you don't come in and find
that they have 6 they got last week, and dropped with the crane to see
how many little pieces they could make out of them. Shudder.

Be open to a metalworking lathe - a lathe that's "utterly worn out" for
metalwork is often just fine for woodwork with a simple tool-rest
transplant, and they are generally built quite heavily. The spindle
still needs to be good, but a case of bedwear that's terrible for
fixed-carriage-tooling metalwork is no problem at all for hand-held
tooling woodwork.

Have you got a local "ad paper"? Do they have a web site you can search?
Sometimes the bigger stuff gets moved out of estates though those
channels. Is there a local business that specializes in buying up house
contents - they might occasionally get a lathe they don't really want.

I was looking actively for most of a year before the first lathe came up
locally. Less than 2 months later the second one came up, and had enough
more that I wanted that I got it, too. Since then, I've sworn off buying
any more until I sell or otherwise dispose of some (depending what's
counted as a lathe, I have something like 5 lathes at present - not all
count as good).

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

Deb:
I have been a woodworker for many years but became a turning "newbie" during
the past year. With this said I might not fully understand you needs. But
have you looked at Jet's 1442? It is a pretty heavy machine for the money
but does miss some of your criteria

The lower speed range is 450, a bit above your desired 300 rpm.

It does have a turret head, but well secured and heavy.

1 HP Motor

The basic lathe and bed come in at about 200 lbs. I believe this goes up to
about 340 with addition of the cast iron legs. The leg set includes cast
supports for under-carriage weight shelves.

Price when I purchased last year was $799. I did, however, notice a week or
so ago that it has gone up to $915 in the same store - supposedly steel cost
increase.

Not sure if this is enough of a battleship for you but it has been a good
machine, and a good teacher, for me.

RonB

Nova 3ooo 829.00
http://www.kmstools.com/main.php

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 00:35:34 -0500, "Dr. deb"
wrote:

Having come to the point where I realize my old HF Jet 1236 knockoff just
isn't going to cut it any more, I am in the market for a new lathe.

It has to cost less than $1,000. It needs to be able to handle at least 12"
swing. It needs to be built like a battleship. It needs to have 300 or
less rpm. I do a lot of bowl turning and am not interested in having a
turreted head, as they usually are not all that solid when that 12x8" piece
of magnolia wobbles before you get it turned to a cylinder.

Now that I have filled out my "wish list" am I dreaming, or is there such an
amimal out there?

Thanks

Deb

"RonB" wrote in message

Deb:
I have been a woodworker for many years but became a turning "newbie"
during
the past year. With this said I might not fully understand you needs. But
have you looked at Jet's 1442? It is a pretty heavy machine for the
money
but does miss some of your criteria

The lower speed range is 450, a bit above your desired 300 rpm.

I checked mine with an optical tachometer this weekend. Lowest spindle
speed, marked 450 rpm on the speed control, was actually around 390. Not
sure why, but I'm not complaining.

Max

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 00:35:34 -0500, "Dr. deb" wrote:

Having come to the point where I realize my old HF Jet 1236 knockoff just
isn't going to cut it any more, I am in the market for a new lathe.

It has to cost less than $1,000. It needs to be able to handle at least 12"
swing. It needs to be built like a battleship. It needs to have 300 or
less rpm. I do a lot of bowl turning and am not interested in having a
turreted head, as they usually are not all that solid when that 12x8" piece
of magnolia wobbles before you get it turned to a cylinder.

Now that I have filled out my "wish list" am I dreaming, or is there such an
amimal out there?

If you looking for a NEW lath, there is only one will fit within your price range and low RPM requirements. The Nova 3000. It has
a turret head, but its quite stout. Goes down to 215rpm, I believe. The Jet 1442 is a sturdy version of the 1236 (i.e. reeves
drive), so the low speed isn't that low. The advantage to the Nova is the fact you can upgrade to a bigger motor and EVS drive in
the future.

Peter Teubel
Milford, MA
http://www.revolutionary-turners.com

Can you tell me how your experience was with the HF knock off? I have the
much smaller HF lathe and have gotten hooked on the craft but want to
upgrade with limited $$. I have seen the HF/Jet/Delta clone and locally I
can get it for $180. What was your experience with it?

"n2sawdust" wrote in message
lkaboutcrafting.com...
Can you tell me how your experience was with the HF knock off? I have the
much smaller HF lathe and have gotten hooked on the craft but want to
upgrade with limited $$. I have seen the HF/Jet/Delta clone and locally I
can get it for $180. What was your experience with it?

=====================
If you're talking about the HF model 34706 (the Jet 1236 clone), it's
probably the best of the bottom end lathes (under $200). You may want to go
with the smaller Jet Mini (1014) with extension (manual speed change version
now availabnle through some vendors for $199 + extention + shipping).
Variable speed versions go for around $325. The Jet is a better quality
machine, but the HF 34706 is a good intro lathe, heavy enough to not walk
around every time you start it up, and versatile enough to do most things
you'll want to try for the first couple of years (or longer, if you're cash
deficient). Two things against it; the Reeves drive will probably chew up
your OEM belt pretty soon, so have a link belt on hand, and DON'T try the
tool rest extension, as it tends to break pretty easily (does the same on
the Jet 1236)

Ken Moon
Webberville,TX

Thanks for the updated answer. I decided on the HF lathe. It means I can
sink more money into accessories at this point (new fingernail bowl gouge,
new grinder with finer wheels, new chuck.....man this gets
expensive....don't tell my wife......)