The Lathe

In some ways, lathes have come a long way since my apprenticeship days as a machinist. But in other ways they are just the same. In fact, I bet most of those machines I worked on 40 years ago are still in service .. and many of them were already quite old even back then! A good, solid, well looked after lathe can easily last for decades.

The big change has been the advent of the CNC lathes. These "Computer Numerically Controlled" devices are quickly replacing the old production machines. They are highly efficient, easy to set up and easy to operate.

Manual lathes are still as popular as ever though - especially for the home workshop where almost every job is a 'one off'.

Because lathes can provide so many years of great service, there are tons of them floating around the market for sale. There are many great deals to be had .. just take a look at the selection for sale here on this site. Brand new lathes are well worth considering too. Prices have dropped over the years to the point where even some small CNC lathes have become affordable to the home machinist.

On this site you will find a great selection of used and new metalworking lathes and woodworking lathes for sale. Happy hunting!

Buyers Guide to Purchasing a Woodworking Lathe

If you are thinking of buying a lathe, and you've had a look around, you've probably realized by now there's a huge range of different models out there - different prices, different specifications - it's very easy to get confused.

This guide will help you choose the right model. But beware! Wood-turning is seriously addictive. Buying the lathe is just the start of a new and pleasurable hobby. But you don't have to spend a fortune to get started.

Before we go any further, let's just have a look at the main components of the lathe - and get familiar with their names. (refer to video)

The Headstock
The headstock carries the main spindle. The spindle is powered from the electric motor through a series of stepped pulleys to give us some speed variation for different diameters of work. On top of the range models this speed variation is achieved electronically. Now, the headstock may be either fixed, or on some models - by slackening off underneath - it may swing around to give us bigger capacity for turning bowls.

The Bed
The bed can be tubes, solid bars or it can be a flat casting.

The Tailstock
At this end we have the tailstock - used for holding work between centers. The poppet barrel moves in and out on this handwheel.

Tool Rest
The tool rest moves up and down the bed as well, locks in any position, and you can also raise and lower the tool rest itself.

Mounting
The whole lathe may be supplied for bench mounting or by an optional stand.

There are two capacities you need to think about when you are buying a lathe.
1. The distance between centers which dictates the longest piece you can turn
2. The swing - which is the distance from the spindle to the bed - and obviously determines the biggest piece of work you can turn over the bed.

There are a lot of very cheap lathes on the market. They all look the same and actually some of them seem to represent quite good value for money. But there is a definite correlation here - perhaps more so in lathes than any other machine - between what you pay for and what you get.

Many of these actually come with a leg stand and may even incorporate mechanical variable speed drive as well - a feature normally reserved for top of the range machines. All is not as it seems though. If you take the cover off the headstock you can see straight away there is nowhere near as much spread on the bearings - nowhere near as much as you would think. This pulley overhangs the main spindle by a huge amount, putting leverage on the spindle. This is surely going to introduce vibration when you are turning, particularly on bigger items.

This mechanical variable speed works by moving the 2 halves of the pulley. This arrangement is very noisy and also shreds belts at an incredible rate. You'll soon be changing them. The casting on these lathes are very poor quality, very soft and prone to breaking. They are very much a beginner's lathe - enough just to get you started. But if you progress with your turning much beyond the very basics, you'll quickly outgrow them.

Lathe manufacturers like Record Power concentrate their efforts on the quality side of the equation - producing a comprehensive line of lathes to suit all ambitions and abilities. And you'll find that for not very much more money than one of the budget machines, you can actually get something that's a lot better made.

Now, for serious work, you want plenty of weight to damp down vibration - because this is a woodturner's worst enemy. So, you want strong rigid castings, you want a strong, rigid bed, you want a smooth drive system coupled to the motor - and for long turning sessions, the motor needs to be really smooth and quiet.

I've just mentioned vibration. Build quality is the key to getting a good finish straight off the tool.

All About Wood Lathe Speeds

Most of your variable-speed lathes today have 5 or 6 different speeds - and the speeds are there for a reason. When you are working with stock that's square or octagonal you need to start fairly slowly as you knock the corners off before you get it to the round cylinder or bowl you are working with - so you want to start fairly slowly. With large stock, larger bowls and things of that nature, you want to stay fairly slow because of the size of the piece you are working with. If you go too quickly you'll get excessive vibration, and worst case scenario it could damage your lathe or snap off - so you don't want to go too fast with large pieces.

Continued on video:

A selection of metalworking and woodworking lathes available for sale here today: