WOODTURNING FOR BEGINNERS | Chapter 2 - Brief thing about the lathes and what to look for. 

Thanks for the insights Tomislav.

Thank you for all of the great information! Looking forward to the next class.

Once again a very good video. Thanks

My first wood lathe is a mini bench model, all I could get at the time, just as Covid-19 shut down importing goods into Australia-Tasmania-I learnt a great deal and with its electronic speed control and power, ideal for smaller projects. ]Yes, the more mass the lathe has the less vibrant when turning out of balance material-such as a bowl blank that is rough sawn to start with. Living in Tasmania which is an island state of Australia, we pay a very high premium in freight costs, prohibitive to get a heavy cast iron lathe bed and stand, I had to go for a heavy bench model and build the bench myself, not a problem for my new heavier lathe. I have three metal turning lathes, so am familiar with their stability requirements. I can fabricate in heavy steel or timber, so my money was spent on the lathe itself. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 👍😁🇦🇺🦘

Another problem with the steel/aluminum lathes: they're often constructed using thinner pieces of metal to save materials, which means they can not take a beating. So when you turn wood, especially if you often start out with unbalanced pieces of wood with corners that you still have to make round, the construction will slowly start to bend and twist. Over time, the stock and tailstock will no longer point perfectly at eachother, and the vibrating will get worse. Once this deterioration starts, it gets worse and worse rapidly, to the point that the lathe becomes simply dangerous to even an experienced woodturner. So yes, thick and heavy cast iron all the way!

Great video Tomislav i have the same lathe thanks for sharing.👍

A lot of good information Tomislav! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us …. Looking forward to the rest of the series 🇨🇱🤠

I did wind up going with the small harbor freight for my first one, and I've made it work but I've definitely had to do some finagling to get it do the work I want. If I had to go back and buy it again I'd probably spend more to get the midi.

Nice lathe. My club has a Coronet Herald. Seems crazy that you have to use a screwdriver to open up to change the belt setting on RP lathes. I would have thought they would have a nylon thumbscrew or a magnetic latch. or some other latch that would be more user friendly.

Great information there, Tomislav. I fully agree with you regards buying the best quality lathe you can afford and assess your options after a couple of years. I did this but was able to keep my 3/4 hp mini lathe. Mostly it is set up for buffing but my granddaughter likes to come into the workshop and turn with me, which I love.

Way out of my price range. My 12 inch doesn’t do everything I want but it’s what I have. Good luck with that one very nice.

Tomislav, good advice for someone getting into the craft regarding 1st lathe purchase. I recently purchased a Jet 1840 lathe and very pleased. 18.5 inch swing over bed with 2hp motor. Thanks for sharing your videos. Looking fwd to Chapter 3.

Thank you Sir 😁

Hi from Italy, I have an old cast iron wood-turning lathe 1930s with hadrwood bed, 1HP, from my grandfather, the ones with NO-cam-lock tool rest base but the old screw mechanisms. IYou can turn up to 480mm diameter. made some bowls of 330mm diameter so far and they were not so bad :) I don't know if to try to doing some business with the one I have and invest money in other machines and tools or to invest in a new one. I'm considering Coronet Herald 16007 RECORD POWER and DML320 VS RECORD POWER. Do you have some suggestions?

Томислав, огромнон тебе спасибо! Ты взвалил на свои плечи огромный груз-учить нас, начинающих. И хотя я работаю уже два года и многому уже научился, но я понимаю и чувствую, что ещё многого не знаю. С огромным удовольствием смотрю все твои видео и учусь. Спасибо. И у меня будут постоянно вопросы, ты уж извени. Вопрос по инвертору. На твоём станке из-за инвертора мощьность теряется? Или когда слишком агрессивно работаешь, или слишком толстый разрез делаешь. Свой станок я сделал сам, по параметрам не уступает твоему, двигатель 1,5 кВт, 3000об/мин. Скорость огромная, поставил инвертор - мощность упала катострофически. От инвертора отказался. А жаль - опция очень толковая.

Thanks for all you are doing on this channel. I have a question about shavings I've never heard mentioned before. I've turned spindles, mostly chair legs, for a long time. I just recently started back turning bowls. (Thanks for the inspiration.) While turning bowls with a bowl gouge, I've found the shavings sometimes get very hot, hot enough to make me stop the cut. I have sharp, well ground tools. Lathe speed seems appropriate for size/stage of turning. I'm turning dry north American hardwoods. Are hot shavings normal? Sharper tools? Adjust speed? Lighter cuts? Something else? Thanks in advance. Bill South Carolina, USA

Good advice. I spent two years researching lathes and, finally, swallowed hard and bought a Jet1442. I just couldn't afford the Jet1642 with variable speed because I had already got to 4 times the cost of a small, cheap, lathe but my engineer mate has since installed variable speed on the 1442 and made a very good lathe even better. I have bought two more Jet lathes secondhand since then (I was in the right place at the right time) and am more than happy with the make. As you said, a poor lathe will put you off turning very quickly. Best Wishes, Brendan.