As a prospective "newbie" to turning, what would you recommend as a good
"starter" lathe, within a reasonable $$$ entry point?

I've seen the JET 1014 and saw a Wilton 99177 for $99.99. At that price,
is it junk or just a toy?

I plan to start with pens and small stuff, etc.

Thanks,

CW

Also, I've heard the Harbor Freight has a reasonable HSS turning tool
set?

Hi there and welcome to the madness!

The best bang for the buck in my humble opinion is to look at the Jet Mini lathe. Model 1014. I don't know what your budget is, but it can be had at Amazon for $249. Now if you can afford just a bit more, try to get the the Jet Mini with the variable speed option. It will make your life a lot simpler. I know, I have the 1014 and wish I saved just a bit more

For Pens:
Get the small 3 piece pen turner set. Can be had at Penn State Ind.

Pen Kits: The best prices around are at woodturningz.com slim line pens can be had for $1.70 and they are great people to work with (no affiliation to said company). Basically anything in the Penn State Ind. Catalog, they can get just a bit cheaper. They can set you up with pretty much everything you need to get started in pens.

As you get more addicted to woodturning, and you will because it is a drug, start looking at Packard woodworks and Craft Supplies as you expand your base.

Hope that helps some.

William

In article
outcrafting.com,
"charflem" wrote:

As a prospective "newbie" to turning, what would you recommend as a good
"starter" lathe, within a reasonable $$$ entry point?

I've seen the JET 1014 and saw a Wilton 99177 for $99.99. At that price,
is it junk or just a toy?

I plan to start with pens and small stuff, etc.

Don't know the Wilton, but the price is, well.... low?

Grizzly has a solid rep (I don't own one)
http://www.grizzly.com/products/item...emnumber=G9247

Delta also has one (which I do own)
http://www.deltawoodworking.com/index.asp?e=136&p=985

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Of the two lathes that you have mentioned I would go with the Jet. The Delta
Midi Lathe would also make a good starter lathe.

Steven Raphael
Ithaca MI
http://www.geocities.com/steven_raph...turnings1.html

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 23:53:47 -0500, "charflem" wrote:

As a prospective "newbie" to turning, what would you recommend as a good
"starter" lathe, within a reasonable $$$ entry point?

I've seen the JET 1014 and saw a Wilton 99177 for $99.99. At that price,
is it junk or just a toy?

I plan to start with pens and small stuff, etc.

Thanks,

CW

Also, I've heard the Harbor Freight has a reasonable HSS turning tool
set?


I have the Jet mini and love it.. I also have a Shopsmith with more power and
bigger capacity, but never turn on anything but the mini..

HF has 2 basic sets.. sale prices are usually $15 and $45 or so....
If possible, get a quality set, but the cheap set at HF is usable and when you
get good chisels later, you'll appreciate them a lot more..
HF also has a 3 piece mini turning set for $15 or so, and it seems to hold up
well.. I love the small skew and the parting tool is nice..




mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Hope you read the thread where I got educated. It's about the King
Lathe. Learned more than I bargained for - and enjoyed the help.

See : King Canada KWL-1016C Any opinions on this lathe?



charflem wrote:
As a prospective "newbie" to turning, what would you recommend as a good
"starter" lathe, within a reasonable $$$ entry point?

I've seen the JET 1014 and saw a Wilton 99177 for $99.99. At that price,
is it junk or just a toy?

I plan to start with pens and small stuff, etc.

Thanks,

CW

Also, I've heard the Harbor Freight has a reasonable HSS turning tool
set?




--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 23:53:47 -0500, "charflem" wrote:
SNIP ...
Also, I've heard the Harbor Freight has a reasonable HSS turning tool
set?


I have the Jet mini and love it.. I also have a Shopsmith with more power
and
bigger capacity, but never turn on anything but the mini..

HF has 2 basic sets.. sale prices are usually $15 and $45 or so....
If possible, get a quality set, but the cheap set at HF is usable and when
you
get good chisels later, you'll appreciate them a lot more..
HF also has a 3 piece mini turning set for $15 or so, and it seems to hold
up
well.. I love the small skew and the parting tool is nice..
SNIP .........
==========================
HF has a cheap set of carbon steel ($12) and a HSS set in the $40 range. Get
the HSS set and a 3/8 or 1/2 inch bowl gouge from another vendor. (Penn
State Ind. has a new line of low cost HSS steel gouges that look like they
may be a good budget solution for a starter.) Also see some of the turners
web sites for some home made tool sugestions and instructions.

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX

My Jet mini kicks butt and takes names. Excellent piece of machinery!
John

charflem wrote:

As a prospective "newbie" to turning, what would you recommend as a good
"starter" lathe, within a reasonable $$$ entry point?

I've seen the JET 1014 and saw a Wilton 99177 for $99.99. At that price,
is it junk or just a toy?

I plan to start with pens and small stuff, etc.

Thanks,

CW

Also, I've heard the Harbor Freight has a reasonable HSS turning tool
set?

You should run away from Grizzly as fast as you can! After being lured
in by the price, I bought their G1495 lathe a couple of years ago.
After I got it home I found that the clamshell pully was jammed, and I
had to remove the motor assembly and ship it back to them for a repair
before I even turned it on. Now, I just sprung for a nice Stronghold
chuck and discovered that the finish of the housing around the
headstock is so poor that I'm going to have to grind some of it down to
get the chuck to seat correctly. About a year ago, I stupidly bought a
table saw from them -- again lured by the price. The tabletop and wings
were a mess, and I had to ship them back for replacements. Sure, they
fixed the pully and sent new parts for the saw, but who wants to spend
the time taking the machines apart, packing all that stuff up,
arranging to be home when the UPS guy comes around to pick them up and
then waiting for a few weeks while the machine you just bought sits
idle in your shop? A hobby is supposed to be about fun, relaxation and
enjoyment, not about frustration with a company with such poor quality
control. Remember the saying: You can buy a quality tool and weep once
about the price, or you can buy a cheap tool and weep every time you
use it. Others may have different experiences, but for me, I learned my
lesson: I wouldn't even buy a T-shirt from that company for fear it
would have only one sleeve. Good luck in your new hobby.

Anonymous wrote:
On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:31:30 +0000, wrz0170 wrote:


Hi there and welcome to the madness!


Pen Kits: The best prices around are at woodturningz.com slim
line pens
can be had for $1.70 and they are great people to work with (no
affiliation to said company). Basically anything in the Penn State
Ind.
Catalog, they can get just a bit cheaper. They can set you up with
pretty
much everything you need to get started in pens.

I have gotten two orders from Ryan at woodturningz.com and can vouch
for
both the price and the quality of his pen kits.

As you get more addicted to woodturning, and you will because it is
a
drug, start looking at Packard woodworks and Craft Supplies as you
expand your base.

That's "Craft Supplies USA", I believe. Also, look up Arizona
Silhouette
(Google for it) and also Google for specific types of wood such as
"Bethlehem Olive".

There are a LOT of resources out here ... welcome to the insanity.
Pull
up a lathe and get those chips ON your shoulder. ;-)

Bill

Hope that helps some.

William



charflem Wrote:
As a prospective "newbie" to turning, what would you recommend as
a
good "starter" lathe, within a reasonable $$$ entry point?

I've seen the JET 1014 and saw a Wilton 99177 for $99.99. At that
price,
is it junk or just a toy?

I plan to start with pens and small stuff, etc.

Thanks,

CW

Also, I've heard the Harbor Freight has a reasonable HSS turning
tool
set?

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