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Budget Lathe

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By Dave, on 28-11-2006 13:54

Favoured : 13

Published in : Cheap woodworking, CheapWoodworking

I have and use a Harbor Freight Lathe. It is NOT the best lathe in the world. It DOES have issues. It CAN work out well for you if you just have to turn and your budget is tight. SHARP TOOLS make a lot of things possible that couldn't be done otherwise. Keep your tools SHARP, KNOW your limitations, and above all else, practice creative thinking! IF you are looking to be a production wood turner, this is NOT he lathe for you. Bite the bullet, spend BIG BUCKS and get a lathe suited for what you intend to do. A lot of folks knock Harbor Frieght tools and in a lot of cases they are right to do so. I just happen to be one of the folks who has had more good than bad from them. The lathe is workable PROVIDED you pay attention to what you are doing. Stop and think about the early lathes, driven by a bow or tree limb, this lathe is better than that. It can do what Joe Average, hobby turner, wants to do.

Table pedestal, pine

Table pedestal, pine, turned on cheapy lathe. Yes, turned between centers and was dicey to begin with since the blank was SQUARE and I didn't cut it down to make it a little more round. This is probably the biggest thing you would want to do on this lathe and things get shakey, FAST.

Table pedestal, better view

Table pedestal, better view, you can see some of the details and get an idea of what I am up to. This lathe has turned many bowls, candle holders, tops, and pretty much anything else I happened to think of. It owes me nothing and I am still using it. Yes, I would like a Oneway, or Powermatic, or any other big buck lathe but, this is what I have so, this is what I use. So far, I have used and abused this lathe and it may very well crap out on me tomorrow (it developed a knock while turning the pedestal), I don't regret buying it. My next lathe won't be this one but, I have learned a lot using this one and my work will be better on my next one! You always need to keep in mind that a great photographer can take great pictures with a junk camera...a good woodworker can STILL produce good work with less than stellar tools!