Wood Lathe recommendations?

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Sebastian Cash

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Hi there!
Anyone can recommend me a good wood lathe in a budget? Something that doesn't break the pocket and still works great for woodowrking.
 
Back when I bought standing woodworking machinery Powermatic and Delta were the top small shop machines.

You want weight with a lathe (Along with quality build and machining of course.)

If it was me, I would look to by one of these two brands used.
 
ducksfan said:
Back when I bought standing woodworking machinery Powermatic and Delta were the top small shop machines.

You want weight with a lathe (Along with quality build and machining of course.)

If it was me, I would look to by one of these two brands used.
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Robust Tools is another machine builder to look at, although they are on the higher side of the price scale. But their machine tools are just like their company name implies ...
 
I have a 12 x 18 Craftsman that has served me well. It is identical to the same Rikon model with different paint and badging. I found it "new in box" on Craigslist for about half of what comparable units were selling for new.

Woodturning is not a primary focus of mine though some of my projects require "turned" components. It is for those cases that my lathe gets most of its use.

I have found that many, if not most, home shop woodworking tools, regardless of brand, are all the same castings and designs. They then get painted and badged by various manufacturers.

Have you looked at Grizzly? They have a decent quality/cost relationship.

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2black1s said:
I have found that many, if not most, home shop woodworking tools, regardless of brand, are all the same castings and designs. They then get painted and badged by various manufacturers.
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This is very true, and then the differentiator becomes the quality of drive motor and controls used.
 
Thanks for all the responses people! After all the research I find Delta 460 to be a great budget lathe to buy. I am still going through product reviews & forums & will make my final decision this week.
 
I agree this is one of the top budget lathes & I've found great reviews regarding it on youtube. I am also surfing through craiglist & hoping to stumble upon a good deal like this! Fingers crossed!
 
I just took a quick look at the Delta 460 and it appears very similar to my Craftsman. Like I said earlier, probably the exact same casting.

One feature it has that mine doesn't is the variable speed function. That is nice and something I'd look for if I ever bought another. Mine has 6 discrete speeds and requires a manual change of the belt position to change speeds... kind of like a standard type drill press. Not that big of a deal, but the VS is a nice feature nonetheless.

I think you're making a good choice.
 
No experience with wood lathes, but lots of experience with variable speed and step pulley drive setups and while the variable speed is a nice feature to have, it is expensive to fix if/when it wears out and often times isn’t really necessary for most applications. Speaking from a longevity standpoint, the manual speed adjustment pulley setups are the way to go. The most expensive repair for these will be a new belt.
 
I recommend PSI KWL-1218VS wood lathe and It has two belt tension ranges managing speed from 500 to 1800 RPM and from 1950 to 3800 RPM. This best wood lathe also brings a lot of accessories along with it e.g., four hex wrenches, safety goggles, rubber feet set, etc.
 
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