- Joined
- Jan 12, 2019
- Messages
- 163
This is a machinist forum and discussion of other fields may not fit precisely in the line of these topics. But I just had to comment. As a home shop machinist, I frequently need to work in wood. In fact, I just completed a wooden handle for a little probe that I use. I made this handle on a Wen 18 inch wood lathe. So here is the comment: Sheeesh!
To this point I had not perceived Wen machines or tools to be of optimal quality. But I am very pleasantly surprised at this little lathe. I picked it up used about a week ago. I had a Craftsman wood lathe, inherited from my father before he passed. He bought it on clearance and never even set it up. This was the version with the huge round tube for the bed. It was so rickety and so large that it just had to go.
I did not really need a wood lathe but I started looking on the Craigslist right away. In Naples, FL it is hard to find anything worth while on CL because of the social strata. If you need hubcaps for your Bentley or a license plate holder for a Rolls, you are in luck. Just don't look for anything useful and expect to find it quick.. To my surprise a gentleman listed this lathe at 150.00 with some stuff to go with it. So I snapped it up and boy am I glad I did.
Why? This is a solid lathe for those who do not need to turn anything longer than 18 inches. That suits me fine. Lathe has a half horse motor. Five speeds selected by moving a belt on a five stage pulley. The darned thing is so quiet when it is running that you can hardly hear it. The bed is cast iron as is the steady rest and the tail stock. Four jaw universal chuck holds the work-piece tightly. Live center in the tail-stock came with the new lathe and a jacobs chuck was included as an after market purchase. The locks for the steady rest and tail stock are very positive. This lathe is sold under several names all of which appear to be made in one factory. I mounted the lathe to a Seville 30 inch rolling cabinet from Samsclub. So it does not take up nearly as much shop space as the Craftsman did.
Happy to answer questions or take comments.
To this point I had not perceived Wen machines or tools to be of optimal quality. But I am very pleasantly surprised at this little lathe. I picked it up used about a week ago. I had a Craftsman wood lathe, inherited from my father before he passed. He bought it on clearance and never even set it up. This was the version with the huge round tube for the bed. It was so rickety and so large that it just had to go.
I did not really need a wood lathe but I started looking on the Craigslist right away. In Naples, FL it is hard to find anything worth while on CL because of the social strata. If you need hubcaps for your Bentley or a license plate holder for a Rolls, you are in luck. Just don't look for anything useful and expect to find it quick.. To my surprise a gentleman listed this lathe at 150.00 with some stuff to go with it. So I snapped it up and boy am I glad I did.
Why? This is a solid lathe for those who do not need to turn anything longer than 18 inches. That suits me fine. Lathe has a half horse motor. Five speeds selected by moving a belt on a five stage pulley. The darned thing is so quiet when it is running that you can hardly hear it. The bed is cast iron as is the steady rest and the tail stock. Four jaw universal chuck holds the work-piece tightly. Live center in the tail-stock came with the new lathe and a jacobs chuck was included as an after market purchase. The locks for the steady rest and tail stock are very positive. This lathe is sold under several names all of which appear to be made in one factory. I mounted the lathe to a Seville 30 inch rolling cabinet from Samsclub. So it does not take up nearly as much shop space as the Craftsman did.
Happy to answer questions or take comments.
