What lathe do you all use

[WolfmoonCT]

Ok... so my older Delta full bed lathe is having issues again. It uses one of the Reeves pulley designs for the variable speed. Basically on the motor shaft there is a split pulley. One half should stay in place, and the other half has a cup on the end that pushes in as you turn the variable speed handle to make the pulley larger, thus making the speed change. My problem is that the half that should stay put, just won't anymore. I've pulled the motor off a few times, cranked down as best I could on the set screw. but after doing it again today, it ran about 3 min before that pulley half slipped left and came off again. Not sure how much more time or effort I want to put into this thing. It's about 15 years old, is loud and clunky, and not sure they will even have parts for it anymore.

 

So what lathe do you all use or recommend? I was looking at possibly getting one of the Jet ones.. Maybe the 10" VS..

http://www.jetwilton.com/us/manufacturi ... uct=273523

 

Or maybe one of the PSI ones..

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/TCLC10VS.html

 

The Delta...

http://www.deltamachinery.com/products/ ... egory_id=5 (looks kinda cheezy with all the plastic, but I guess that's pretty standard now)

 

Thought about a grizzly.. just not sure how good they are.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-x-16 ... athe/G0657

[don in brooklin on]

A lot depends on what you are going to be doing on the lathe and how much you use it.

 

I have a Nova 1624. Love it. It is rock soild and I do bowls up to 16 inches. I have the outrigger but have never done bigger. These are often on sale around the $1000 mark. It has 8 speeds but if I was buying again I would make sure I had variable speed. I would buy the Nova DVR.

 

The club I belonged to before had the deltas and they are real cheezy and a real pain to change speeds. There was always something broken.

 

The club I belong to now has the General maxi lathes (along with a couple of big deltas). They seem to be pretty good. There have been a couple of electronic issues and the head was replaced no problems. They get abused somewhat but seem to be holding up.

 

http://www.general.ca/site_general/g_produits/lathe/25-200.html

 

Make sure you get one compatible with you existing chucks, live centres etc or the cost builds up. When I got the nova I had to get a couple of adapters for my chuck.

 

Don

[Clayton717]

I have the Jet 1014vs(the one in your first link) and love it. works great. There are 3 positions for the belt, the variable speed dial, controls the speed for each position. I generally keep my belt on the center position. I turn mainly pens and bottle stoppers and this setting gives me the speed range I need to turn the object and apply my finish.

 

I started with a lathe from PSI (before the commander series came out). overall it was a good lathe. but I like the Jet better.

[Firedkm]

I bought the PSI lathe but its the 12"model. So far no real issues. The digital readout stopped working and psi sent a replacement right away. By there time the replacement came the old one started to work again.

 

I love the variable speed and I feel its pretty quiet.

[WolfmoonCT]

I only do pens and stoppers.. so I don't need a full sized lathe, and I really don't have $1k to put into one. After reading some reviews on the new commander series, I'll probably end up going with the commander. I like how it has only 2 belt positions, and one position has all the speed range I need and use. Right now after messing with the delta again, I think I have 500rpm - like 1200rpm and that's it. but i did get to finish the pens I wanted to. But I don't trust it to not break down again.

[Travis]

I also have the Jet 1014vs and love it. I only do an occasional pen and other simple turnings. I wanted something that would grow with me if I ever decided to step up my game. Right now, I only turn something once a month or so. Maybe someday I'll have some more free time to play with it. But so far, I'm very happy with my Jet.

[Dan]

I've got PSI's Commander 10VS. I'm happy with it but it seems a little noisier than the Jet's that I've seen in action. Knowing what I know now, I'd spend the extra $150 and get a Jet.

[WolfmoonCT]

You haven't heard how loud my Delta is.. that Reeves pulley system makes a racket.. even brand new it was not a quiet machine.

[HamTurns1]

Out of the lathes that you have listed the Delta has the best reputation. Our turning club has two.

 

I have a big lathe out in the shop for things up to 32" in diameter, but I wanted a small lathe for inside on those really cold or really hot days.

 

So, when I went to buy a small lathe I bought the General Maxi VS+ 25-200e because it has a rotating, swiveling headstock. But it does NOT have reverse.

 

Good luck.

 

Tom

[susieq4131]

I have a grizzly G1495 which has a 14 inch inboard. I'm very happy with it. I made bowls and plates/platters but wish it had a larger inboard.

 

SQ