Choosing the right wood for your lathe depends on what you think about now and in the future. Many people buy a lathe based on price alone without fully researching the machine’s capabilities. In almost all cases, a cheaper lathe will be repaired with a more powerful engine and it will cost you much more to buy two lathes.
If the conversion style is the only type of conversion you’re going to do almost all the time, it will work fine. The only thing to look for would be the quality of the machine.
There are three main types of damage. There are mini, mid size and full size. The difference in the three is basically the size of the bed. A mini lathe will normally measure 5″ above the bed and will be able to throw a lathe about 10 inches in diameter. A medium lathe is about 6″ above the bed and a wood turning about 12″ in diameter are just the basic guidelines.
Another important consideration would be the length of the lathe bed. If the length of the bed is adjusted by turning the spindle. The bowl can be made easier on a small bed lathe. Most bowl turners prefer a short lathe bed so that they can stand on the end of the lathe when drilling which they can see much more easily. If you planning burn now and perhaps longer conversions in the future will be the ones who are going to take the bed. A good choice if you are unsure of your future needs.
Probably the most important feature after choosing the proper size is speed control. Some boats run very fast and the speed cannot be controlled very well or at all. The best typing speed control is a combination of motor and speed controller. These are usually DC motors that are controlled by a node controller that changes the speed from a few rpm to full speed. The speed controller also has other useful functions such as a brake that quickly shuts down the motor and vice versa, which will change the direction of rotation. The opposite role is best in helping the sands. Some of the speed changers are sliding belt drives at different speeds and drive pulleys step by step. This works, but is a bit heavy. The big disadvantage of this system is that your speed is low, still too fast for some lathe operations. The ability to adjust your speed to a few rpm is good for applying film finishing. Governor drives are another type of speed control where one of the pulleys is split and can be expanded or contracted to adjust the speed by changing the inner diameter of the wheel. This type of control also suffers from a lack of slow speed.
Motor power is an important feature especially in larger boats. It makes little sense in a lathe to have the ability to turn larger revolutions if the motor is narrow. Larger lathes should have at least 1hp, but closer to 3hp would be a better option. A mini lathe you can get is good at 5″hp.
Weight is another very important consideration. Take the heaviest lathe and stand as long as you can. Overturning huge woods creates great lateral forces that can only be overcome by weight. Even if the lathe is bolted to the floor, it is not as heavy as the lathe. The spindle size is not as large today as it was in the past. The name brand last manufacturers today the size of the spindle correctly. If it was an issue, he would import or buy a low end lathe. Look at the spindle enough. Mini lathes usually start around .75″ in diameter, while full size lathe spindles run from .75″ up to 1.5″ in diameter. Indexing is a nice line to have but not required by all turners. Indexing is basically dividing a circle into equal parts.
When buying a wood lathe, you can buy the best, and you only buy it once. This is one area where this old adage really holds true.
