I am REALLY sorry to ask this question, but....

I cannot find an archive of posts to search for my answer.

I would expect many to view the Craftsman lathes as less than great.

I however am planning at this point to use a lathe to make mid and high
power rocket nose cones and body transitions mainly.

Mostly out of balsa, basswood, and pine; pretty soft stuff.

Some tinkering around naturally, but not for money making purposes.

Would the Craftsman 12 inch Variable Speed Lathe or the 15 inch Bench Top,
Variable Speed Lathe be O.K. for what I need?

I would like to get by as inexpensively as possible.

Sure, I'd like to get a really nice lathe, but money is a strong factor.

I have posted a few fliers at fleet stores and grocery stores around a
couple of towns, but nothing yet.

I live in north central/east Iowa if anyone near has something sitting
around that they would like to part with.

Thanks a lot for your input and time,



Greg

Greg
I use the Craftsman 15" lathe and really like it. It does everything from
pens to 15" bowls with no problems.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

grB wrote:

I am REALLY sorry to ask this question, but....

I cannot find an archive of posts to search for my answer.

I would expect many to view the Craftsman lathes as less than great.

I however am planning at this point to use a lathe to make mid and high
power rocket nose cones and body transitions mainly.

Mostly out of balsa, basswood, and pine; pretty soft stuff.

Some tinkering around naturally, but not for money making purposes.

Would the Craftsman 12 inch Variable Speed Lathe or the 15 inch Bench Top,
Variable Speed Lathe be O.K. for what I need?

I would like to get by as inexpensively as possible.

Sure, I'd like to get a really nice lathe, but money is a strong factor.

I have posted a few fliers at fleet stores and grocery stores around a
couple of towns, but nothing yet.

I live in north central/east Iowa if anyone near has something sitting
around that they would like to part with.

Thanks a lot for your input and time,

How large an object do you need to turn? You may do better to get a
smaller, higher quality lathe for the same price as the ones that you're
looking at.

Greg

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

I also have the 15" Craftsman Lathe and so far I have not had any problems
with it.

The one thing that I would stay away from is the bowl turning attatchment
for this lathe. I have one and I have found that there is exessive vibration
and chatter when using it.

Steven Raphael
http://www.geocities.com/steven_raphael/woodturnings1
"grB" wrote in message
...
I am REALLY sorry to ask this question, but....

I cannot find an archive of posts to search for my answer.

I would expect many to view the Craftsman lathes as less than great.

I however am planning at this point to use a lathe to make mid and high
power rocket nose cones and body transitions mainly.

Mostly out of balsa, basswood, and pine; pretty soft stuff.

Some tinkering around naturally, but not for money making purposes.

Would the Craftsman 12 inch Variable Speed Lathe or the 15 inch Bench Top,
Variable Speed Lathe be O.K. for what I need?

I would like to get by as inexpensively as possible.

Sure, I'd like to get a really nice lathe, but money is a strong factor.

I have posted a few fliers at fleet stores and grocery stores around a
couple of towns, but nothing yet.

I live in north central/east Iowa if anyone near has something sitting
around that they would like to part with.

Thanks a lot for your input and time,



Greg

"grB" wrote: (clip) Mostly out of balsa, basswood, and pine; pretty soft
stuff. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm surprised no one else has brought this up: your main problem is not
going to be with the lathe itself. It's going to be a challenge to sharpen
your tools well enough to cut these soft woods--especially balsa.

Thanks everybody.
I know sometimes 'Tool People" frown on Craftsman as junk.
Size of things may be pretty big; maybe upto 8 inches dia and 30 or more
long for big nose cones.
As for tools, people that turn the balsa tell me that as often as not they
use files and sanding blocks instead of traditional lathe tools.
I forgot to mention foam as a material, but that too, again with files and
sanding blocks.
Anyway, thanks again, I do actually feel better now about going with
Craftsman.
Everybody have a great Easter,

Greg

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"grB" wrote: (clip) Mostly out of balsa, basswood, and pine; pretty soft
stuff. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm surprised no one else has brought this up: your main problem is not
going to be with the lathe itself. It's going to be a challenge to
sharpen
your tools well enough to cut these soft woods--especially balsa.



Not as bad as you may believe, Leo. We even turned foam for the bottle
rocket event at Science Olympiad. It's skew work, mostly.

George,

You are a good man (woodturner) indeed if you can turn Styrofoam with a skew
chisel. You have my respect! Right on!

Barry


"George" george@least wrote in message
...

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"grB" wrote: (clip) Mostly out of balsa, basswood, and pine; pretty soft
stuff. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm surprised no one else has brought this up: your main problem is not
going to be with the lathe itself. It's going to be a challenge to
sharpen
your tools well enough to cut these soft woods--especially balsa.



Not as bad as you may believe, Leo. We even turned foam for the bottle
rocket event at Science Olympiad. It's skew work, mostly.

"grB" wrote in message
...
Thanks everybody.
I know sometimes 'Tool People" frown on Craftsman as junk.
Size of things may be pretty big; maybe upto 8 inches dia and 30 or more
long for big nose cones.
As for tools, people that turn the balsa tell me that as often as not they
use files and sanding blocks instead of traditional lathe tools.
I forgot to mention foam as a material, but that too, again with files and
sanding blocks.
Anyway, thanks again, I do actually feel better now about going with
Craftsman.
Everybody have a great Easter,

Greg
==============================
Greg,
In the size range you describe, you might want to see if you can find a used
Sears monotube lathe. There are thousands of them out there, and many are
sitting around not being used, or used very little. Many turners started
with one of these and moved on to bigger, more convenient machines. They
came with 4 speeds drives on early units and 5 speeds on later ones. Also,
Harbor Freight, Canadian Tire, King Tools, and other vendors sell Chiwanese
clones of this 12 X 36 inch model. HF also sells a pretty good clone of the
Jet 1236 as well. Used Sears or new clone monotubes are available under
$200.00. The HF clone of the Jet 1236 usually is priced about $270.00. The
15 inch Craftsman has a lot of bang for the buck, as Darryl previously said.

Ken Moon
Weberville, TX