A guide for selecting the right lathe for beginners

what a lathe comes with is critical. steady rests, follower rests, taper turning fixtures etc. one of the advantages or buying used is a lot of valuable stuff is sometimes included. the disadvantage is that anything NOT included may be difficult to come by. I've spent a lot of time and money equipping my lathe spent $300 to buy 7x10 [now upgraded to 7x14] spent another $2000 modding and upgrading it. and all the" time cost" of the side projects is time not producing parts on the lathe.

The first side project? . . . made a tool grinding fixture for a bench grinder. because all the equipment is useless without sharp cutting tools. No one buying a lathe thinks of that, and its the first place your going to get stuck.

great blog post
 
nice blog on selecting a lathe! I think you hit every major point. I purchased a SouthBend 9A for $850. Needed cleaning badly so took every piece apart, cleaned and put together. The wires were worn so badly to the motor that I ended up puling them all out and replacing them. Other than that it didn't have any major problems or even minor ones.

It didn't come with QCTP, Follower Rest and only had a 3-jaw chuck. The ways were not worn very much, but any amount of ways wear on a non-hardened lathe like the old SB will be not good for extreme precision, which most hobbyists don't really need, only down to the one-thousandths. The time and money put into the SB could have bought me a new comparable lathe with a lot more items that add up to more than the cost of a lathe in some cases!

So I guess I'm saying the opposite of what Mack just said. It's cool if your old lathe purchase comes with a lot of parts but savvy sellers get more money selling the parts individually and the lathe with very little add-ons, which is what I got. I guess the biggest surprise for me was finding out just how quickly all those extra parts add up! Also, I didn't know taking apart an old lathe was so involved. I didn't know anything about taper pins and wicks before I took it on.

Also, I believe newer lathes have hardened ways and chucks that are not screwed on with those disadvantages. Also, I think some newer lathes have stops that prevent crashing. I've never crashed my lathe but I know some people who have.

Like just about every lathe owner, I'm happy with my lathe as I wasn't in a rush, don't do production work or use it for a living so it was worth it to me. Plus, the nostalgia that it was built in Dec 1942 during the war.

My first projects were making a mill attachment (which is not as good as having a mill -- they lack the rigidity -- so don't let anyone kid you); and I also made a follower rest and ball turner. Hobby-wise, I use the lathe mostly for making 7/8 scale garden train parts like wheels, shafts and so on.

Hope the comments were useful for someone looking to purchase?
 
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Wish I would have seen this a week ago when I was trying to get a grasp of basic lathe info. The pictures really make this guide stand out. Thank you for taking the time to create this guide.
 
This, along with his companion article on selecting a milling machine, are both posted as stickies in the Beginner's forum.
 
A nice and well written blog. I always recommend buying the best quality you can afford, and generally at least one size up from what you think you might need.
 
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