Wanted Lathe

[Dale Hatfield]

Ok so Im in Pa for the summer,and Grizzley tools is just round the corner. My MIL just got me a Gift card from their for my birthday. Heck shes been their and I havent yet.
So at any rate been thinking about Pen turning and bowl /plate turnings. Is their a good sized small Lathe that will work for both that wont cost a fortune. What size or number machine should I look for. Help me buy my birthday present. Just a something to kill long winter evenings with.
Thanks
Dale

[Tom]

Dale,
Pen turning is more of a finesse thing and the table-top lathes work real good for the small pieces of wood being turned.

Bowls, on the other hand, come from large, out-of-balance, blocks of wood.  The lathe has to be able to handle them without walking out ot of the room or being broken.  Bowl turners are interested in clearance (swing) on the lathe, how much over the bed and how much over the gap.  They are also intersted in outboard tuning capabilities so that they aren't limited to the over-the-gap swing.

Pens are turned between centers and Bowls are not.  Bowl turning requires a very sturdy piece of equipment.

Their model GO584 looks like one that may do both jobs OK.  With a cast-iron stand like that, you can add sandbags to help stabilize it.   You'll also need a set of chisels and a way of keeping them sharp.  It's handy to have more than one face plate if you start turning bowls seriously.

I can't speak for the workmanship, but Grizzley has a better reputation than they did ten years ago.

[thedeeredude]

Dale,
From what I read their larger lathes(12" range) are too fast for bowl and plate turning unless the blanks are already trimmed and rounded and well balanced.  I have the mini delta for pen turning and it works great for that, but actual turning of anything with size it is useless.  The g0584 lowest speed is 600 rpm.   

[Tom]

If you lean toward a bench lathe,  the GO658 is interesting.

[treenail]

One of the lathes that I have used for a few years from Grizzly is the G0462.  The key for turning large bowls with it is the fact that I initially saw them to thickness with my sawmill which makes the top and bottom parallel. Before mounting them to the faceplate, I mark the blank with a compass and shop bandsaw them round.  Not uncommon for me to be turning 14"-16" by 5"thick rounds. The key is to reduce all the vibration possible before turning it. Have never turned pens with it, but have done a lot of pen sized spindles, and it works pretty well.

[crtreedude]

We have a whole shop of Grizzly tools - they have been holding up well. After about a year of using them for two shifts, we had to replace the bearings in a motor in a shaper, but that wasn't their fault... someone thought pushing harder on wood is the better thing to do on a shaper.  : Oh well, training is always interesting.

The lathe seems to do well and we got a copier attachment for it. we do balance the piece before putting it on, and going at slow speed till it gets less wobbly - not a bad idea even if you have a big lathe.

[Engineer]

My only Grizzly tool is their older model 4-knife, 8" jointer (Taiwan model, not Chinese) and I think it's a great machine.  I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Grizzly tool if I was buying new. 

As for a lathe - if you're not set on Grizzly, there's a LOT of mini lathes out there that would fit the bill for pens.  I have used the Delta mini and liked it, having variable speed is a big plus.   I think a Grizzly would work fine.  I guess I'm going to have to check out their website, haven't been there in a while.

I'm saving up for a Nova DVR, which is not really for tha casual turner, but that's my goal, to do turnings on a GOOD lathe, in 20 years when I retire.  :D

[Lud]

Engineer,
                 I'm livin' your dream.  Got the Nova DVR XP in June  with the outrigger arm. 

Turned 20 some bowls with some close to 2', shavin's flying like sillystring.......then it quit runnin' .  But they have a good support system with forums and websites and I just mailed the circuit board to the rep in Parkersburg, W.V. and expect it back in a week.  Apparently  they got some bad capacitors but they're fixing them.  Plus I got to take it apart and see the guts.  Very robust.  It's a safety feature that the computer will stop the motor if there's a catch like a tool digging too deep.  And the speed control is awesome,  from 100 rpm to 3600 at the touch,  with presets and reverse (for sanding) built in.

I think lathes and sawmills go hand in hand.  Squares up the cant faster, eliminates edging some outer cambium , twisty , lot of work boards,  and  you stack up bowl blanks after bandsawing the round and Armorsealing and can e turning in the dry barn in the bad weather.

Haven't met a woman yet who doesn't like big bowls.

My buddy, Don,  had me help him cut two cherry logs.  I got the 8 thickish slabs and  will shortly have 70 some turning blanks in the granery stacked and drying for the future.  Got some big ash from my stepbrother's place where the town is putting thru a waterline and he made them drop it since it was leaning at his garage and they were going to trench thru the roots on the away side.  Why the tree guy cut them 6' I can't guess but some big sticks free for the haulin'.  And then I had a neighbor 3 doors west who sold 26 trees that logger took in one day.  He was kind of rough and these 2 sisters are cleaning up and I helped by taking 2  loads  of walnut and cherry crotches up to 3' x3'.  More blanks with some processing.

It only takes time...,  as the world turns. 8)