Way back in middle school the lathe was one of my favorite tools in shop class. I'd love to own one, but I'm having a difficult time convncing my wife that I need it. We just made candle holders in shop class, and while I'm sure it's great for things like table legs, lamps, and baseball bats I have to concede that I really can't think of any practical uses for it since I don't have any need to make any of those things. Actually making a homemade baseball bat would be kind of neat but it's tough to justify buying a lathe just for that. If you can help me convince my wife (and myself for that matter) of the usefulness of a lathe I'll be eternally grateful.
Seems to me if you don't have a need to make things "round" (like lamps, table legs, bowls, pens, etc), then maybe you really don't need a lathe. If you're taking a class with access to a lathe, maybe that will have to satisfy your desire to turn.
I don't mean this to sound rude, but if you have to ask this question then why do you even want a lathe in the first place?
Table legs, chair legs, any cylindrical parts (spindles, dowels, furniture knobs and pulls), bowls, pens, etc. etc. etc. etc. Honestly, the lathe is one of those things where creativity is key - so having to ask what you would use it for sort of tells me you wouldn't really use it that much. I personally don't have much experience with the lathe, but I plan on using it in the future as I know it will enable me to be much more versatile in my woodworking.
Mainly because I had fun using it many years ago in shop class. You mentioned making pens, which sounds intriguiging. I'm sure I could make some nice gifts through the course of the year that way. Can you make small things like that on a big lathe or would I need a smaller lathe? In other words, could I make a baseball bat and a pen on the same lathe? Making bowls might also be fun, and would have some potential for gift-making.
In heaven there aint no beer (or toys), that's why we buy them here.
If she's a cook, tell her it's not a lathe but a device for making salad bowls and candlesticks. One can never have enough salad bowls or candlesticks.
If she's a gardener, tell her it's not a lathe but a device for making mulch. Plants love mulch.
Yes, you can use a big lathe to make pens. And, as you probably surmise, there is a limit to how big you can go with a smaller lathe. Right now I just have a mini lathe. Eventually I'll go bigger, but since I don't know crud about using the lathe I have, I don't see the need right now. If you think you'll want to make larger items, it probably makes sense to get a mid-sized lathe right off the bat.
Definitely not being sarcastic here, so bear with me. I can justify anything to my wife by telling her, "Honey, I'd like to buy XXX. I *could* be sitting on my ass in the recliner drinking beer and watching football, or smoking a pack a day, or playing golf, or (insert expensive hobby here), but since I don't do any of that stuff, I need something to occupy my time."
Find a local woodturner's group and attend their meetings. Get a cheap mini lathe (JET or Delta) and a decent set of lathe tools, and start by making some stuff for her. Lathe work doesn't have to be practical at all (just pick up a copy of American Woodturner magazine and see how much of that is practical), but it's sure relaxing and lots of fun.
Keep in mind that lathe work, also, doesn't have to cost you a dime in terms of wood supply. There's a lot of turners I know, and myself included, that basically grab chunks off the firewood pile or beg short chunks from local loggers or tree services. What will cost you is when you get into it and start buying expensive tools, accessories, exotic burls and turning blanks, and eventually a really big lathe. Obviously, you don't need all that, but I bet I could *easily* spend more on a high-end lathe, tooling, accessories and supplies than I could on an entire flatwork shop.
========================= I have owned a Lathe for close to 40 years BUT vary vary rarely NEED the darn thing... BUT I find that using the Lathe is extremely a FUN way to spend an afternoon, evening etc...
Honestly I have made my share of candle stick holders, plates, bowls, cups etc...even got into making nut crackers at one time... not too many of my "projects" require the use of a Lathe..... BUT I would never sell my machine...just offers way too much fun and relaxation...
In article , snipped-for-privacy@aol.comAntiSpam says...
(with tongue planted firmly in cheek...)
Don't do it. Listen to your wife. Woodturning is an insidious hobby, no, strike that last- it's not a hobby, it's an addiction. Sure- you'll start with the inexpensive mono-tube crapsman lathe third-hand from ebay and a set of $49.96 tools from Harbor Fright. You'll learn to turn bowls, boxes, cups, pens, scoops, tops, toys, more bowls. Your firewood budget will go up and then you'll get a woodburning stove for the shop just to hide the errors. You soon start noticing other lathes calling to you- the Minis and Midis... so you get one of each, and a set of tools just for pens, and another set just for bowls, custom tools for mushroom cap insides or the lip on a box lid... then you want more power to make bigger bowls- and you begin looking at that Poole, or Vicmarc, or Oneway... or (insert ominous music) the Stubby!! And another new set of tools, because you just cannot possibly use a multi-thousand dollar lathe with a $19.95 gouge. Then as your skills get better and the wife actually notices on the rare occurrence that you step out of the shop.... she needs a bigger salad bowl so you get the Osolnik giant sit- on-it monster and turn a bowl the size of Rhode Island... and then she wants columns for the porch... so you get yet another lathe, so you can turn that 10-foot-long, 20" diameter post. Next thing you know you're building a new shed in the backyard for the collection of lathes, with it's own power and HVAC plant.
It all starts with one little pen...
Get yourself over to rec.crafts.woodturning and visit for a while- nice bunch of folks who will actually have excellent reasons for getting a lathe other than it's relaxing and a boat-load of fun (why I got mine in the first place).
vic who manages to avoid the addiction of new tools by being broke.
I love this question. Almost as much as I love turning wood.
There was an old Craftsman lathe in my basement that belonged to my father. I looked at it for a few months and kept saying, "I should fire it up and see if I might like turning." Well I did almost a year ago and I discovered that I loved turning wood. I soon yearned for a newer, better lathe and bought one. Now my third lathe will be delivered this Friday.
I turned all of my Christmas gifts this year: lamps, rolling pins, pens sets, and bowls. Everyone loved them and was amazed that they were hand-made by me. I even managed to sell several bowls in the mean-time.
My next challenge will be a complete chess set. I havn't quite worked myself up to starting on that one yet. I am looking for the right design.
I do finish about 2 to 3 bowls a week, when the mood strikes me, and if I have the wood handy. I always have a few pen kits laying around and may knock one of those out once in a while. My true love is bowls though.
I have my father to thank for buying that used lathe on a whim and leaving it to me. He only used it once as far as I know and that was to turn a mallet which he gave me for Christmas one year about 10 years ago. I still have it and I still use it.
Wood turning is a wonderful and fulfilling hobby and that alone is a good enough reason to get even a small starter or pen lathe.
I own a mini and a midi lathe. One will turn up to 6" diameter the other over a ft. Both will turn small things, candlesticks, pens etc, but only the larger will turn things like bolws adequately. Let's face it, a
That's the trouble with woodturning. No real use for much, too much fun to leave alone. You get yourself a lathe and the next thing is you're turning everything in sight. There's a limit to how many turned mathoms a chap needs.
I compromised and bought my Dad a lathe instead. If I want anything round, I go and visit.
I have a lathe. I have few practical uses for it. You've already figured out that a lathe is a blast to use. Immediate gratification and no matter what you make it looks cool.
Here's my advice and it's application goes way beyond whether to buy this lathe or not. It's always easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission. See all the hassle you're going through trying to buy a lathe? You could have bought it, made her a bowl and a rolling pin and a matching candlestick, taken her to dinner, and be back in your shop by now using the lathe instead of talking about it.
If you can't afford to buy it...build it. I did. Check it out...
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aint pretty, it aint super accurate, but it works for me. I can always make modifications to make it better. I'm making bowls, drawer pulls, a dome roof for a bird feeder, a holder for a magnifying glass. Also, check out the very latest edition of Shop Notes. Have fun always. Joe kb8qlr
You can say that again, brother! I haven't been able to leave the stupid thing off since I got it, but I have no real use for anything I've been able to produce with it. Especially since I'm using extremely green wood that warps like crazy as it dries. If I actually tried to use these spindles for anything, I'd introduce enough stress into the resulting piece to break nearly anything in short order.
So what I'm getting into personally is mushrooms. I got the idea from someone's (Darrell Feltmate's,
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projects site, and I've been having a blast making these stupid things.
I have no idea if the tool control I'm developing will prove useful for spindles eventually or not, but I'm really happy with my results. My mushrooms look at lot better (ie more like actual mushrooms) than Darrell's.
He says he sells a boatload of them at craft shows. SWMBO does craft shows. I'm using that as an excuse to turn all my little odd small branch scraps into mushrooms. What the hell. It gives me some justification to continue having fun anyway. That's the name of the game. :)
It's going to be a long time before I'm able to turn the chess sets which were my primary use for this thing.
It definitely is for sure. I haven't made any real stuff in my shop since Christmas. The list of things I really need and can't afford is endless.
The biggest thing about a lathe is the realization that lumber just isn't good turning stock. Especially not for newbies where one project in 30 is worth keeping out of the trash can. (My ratio has gone way up since I started turning mushrooms though. All of those have been keepers, except he one that came apart. Plus I can turn them on the round, which saves a lot of labor.)
You have to buy really thick, expensive lumber, or else spend a lot of time doing careful glue-ups. Or else use firewood.
Firewood is all but demanded, and working it into turning blanks without the proper tools is a tedious thing. I have an axe, a maul and a couple of bow saws. Making bowl blanks SUCKS. Especially when they come apart after all that freaking labor.
I need a chainsaw and a bandsaw bigtime. And a Jacobs chuck, and a four-jaw chuck of some sort, and a screw chuck, and some different drives and different centers, and better turning tools, and more turning tools, and more wood, always more wood...
More more more more more!
It's the most expensive $200 I ever spent. Too bad I'm broke. I'm limited so far to turning the pile of maple my neighbor cut out of her tree. So far. I already know where the woodpile is going to go though.
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