# New Lathe



## glycerine (Dec 7, 2009)

Well, it's used, but new to me. Thanks to MDWine for a great deal on a Turncrafter Pro, I was able to go from this...




 

to this!!



 

Now I can use the good old HF drill press to... well, drill stuff I guess!


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## areaman (Dec 7, 2009)

I dont think you will regret that at all. Congratulations on the new lathe!


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## witz1976 (Dec 7, 2009)

I got a turncrafter pro as well...not a bad first lathe.  I am sure you will have plenty of fun with it!


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## johnnycnc (Dec 7, 2009)

Very nice upgrade, don't see how you can go wrong there!


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## CSue (Dec 7, 2009)

Great upgrade.  Happy turning ahead.


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## gothycdesigns (Dec 7, 2009)

Nice, I had thought about one of those for a while, but with what I want to do I went with the Nova 1624 a couple weeks ago.

Congrats on your new lathe !!!  Have fun. and thanks for sharing.


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## glycerine (Dec 7, 2009)

gothycdesigns said:


> Nice, I had thought about one of those for a while, but with what I want to do I went with the Nova 1624 a couple weeks ago.
> 
> Congrats on your new lathe !!! Have fun. and thanks for sharing.


 
I was looking at the "bigger and better" ones, but for the price, I couldn't turn it down.  So far, I have only been turning pens, so it will suit me well until I decide to embark upon some larger journeys... whenever/if ever.


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## nava1uni (Dec 7, 2009)

Congratulations on your new lathe.  I am sure that you will have a great time making lots of different things.  It will open your turning to lots of new things.  Have fun.


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## Karin Voorhis (Dec 7, 2009)

Very nice congrats!!! Now we expect lots of great project pics!


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## gvanweerd (Dec 7, 2009)

Now theres one sweet upgread.  i'm still spining on my trusty HF mini. 1\3 hp. you got to love it.


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## rjwolfe3 (Dec 8, 2009)

I like the first one better, lol. How did you figure out how to do it like that? I have one of those drill presses and it would be neat to make that into a dedicated buffer.


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## randyrls (Dec 8, 2009)

Imagine Jamie (Mythbusters) saying, "Well there's your problem, you're using a drill press as a lathe!"

On the other hand you now have a drill press!


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## glycerine (Dec 8, 2009)

rjwolfe3 said:


> I like the first one better, lol. How did you figure out how to do it like that? I have one of those drill presses and it would be neat to make that into a dedicated buffer.


 
Well, I got a "verticle lathe attachment" from Grizzly.  Used some kind of drill bit extender from Home Depot to attach the pen mandrel because it wasn't quite long enough.
After turning a few pieces vertically, I figured I better find a way to lay it down so that someday when I got a "real" lathe, I wouldn't have to re-learn how to hold my tools and all.  So I built a wooden base to support it and went from there.


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## glycerine (Dec 8, 2009)

randyrls said:


> Imagine Jamie (Mythbusters) saying, "Well there's your problem, you're using a drill press as a lathe!"
> 
> On the other hand you now have a drill press!


 
Yeah, funny thing is, a while back I had a friend give me an old drill press that they weren't using and it didn't have a belt anyway.  I took the belt off of my drill press and tried it and couldn't get it to spin.  The motor made noise, the belt and tension seemed fine, but it just wouldn't turn.
So, I used it as my pen press.
I've been using my working drill press as a lathe and my broken drill press as a pen press...


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## rjwolfe3 (Dec 8, 2009)

Have you noticed any problems with turning on its side?


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## Stick Rounder (Dec 8, 2009)

Nice Upgrade.  Can't wait to see your pens.


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## KenBrasier (Dec 8, 2009)

Very nice upgrade.  However, the old one showed some great Yankee ingenuity.


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## glycerine (Dec 8, 2009)

rjwolfe3 said:


> Have you noticed any problems with turning on its side?


 
No.  I have read that drill presses should probably not be used with the lathe attachements because they were not made to handle the side to side pressure and you'd probably wear out the bearings faster.
I never noticed it getting loose or anything like that really.  It seems like the more I used it, the louder it got, so I'm sure I was wearing out something inside, but I imagine you wouldn't have a problem using it for a buffing system.  I got the drill press from Harbor Freight at half price for $40 and paid $20 for the lathe attachment from Grizzly, so for the price, it couldn't be beat!


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## Daniel (Dec 8, 2009)

Great upgrade and hope the press still serves as a drilling tool at least for a while.
I don't think you will be sorry that you went with a smaller lathe, even if you add a larger one later. I have 3 lathes in my shop right now and not entertaining any ideas of getting rid of any of them. of course at times I have 3 people working in my shop at the same time also. The turncrafter will hold it's value at the very least so no wasted money.


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## glycerine (Dec 8, 2009)

Daniel said:


> Great upgrade and hope the press still serves as a drilling tool at least for a while.
> I don't think you will be sorry that you went with a smaller lathe, even if you add a larger one later. I have 3 lathes in my shop right now and not entertaining any ideas of getting rid of any of them. of course at times I have 3 people working in my shop at the same time also. The turncrafter will hold it's value at the very least so no wasted money.


 
That's funny because the gentleman that I bought this one from also had 3 lathes.  He had this one, a Shop Smith and a Jet.
I really plan on drilling on the lathe too as soon as I get an MT2 jacobs chuck... so I may end up with 2 pen presses!


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## artme (Dec 8, 2009)

Well mate, you did so well with the old set-up you should be in seventh heaven with this one!! Congrats. and enjoy your new toy!!


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## glycerine (Dec 8, 2009)

artme said:


> Well mate, you did so well with the old set-up you should be in seventh heaven with this one!! Congrats. and enjoy your new toy!!


 
Thanks!


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## Lenny (Dec 8, 2009)

Yes, congrats! 
The pen you made that was the featured photo awhile ago was amazing... even more so now seeing what you were turning on!!!  I think maybe there is a lesson to be learned in this ....but I'm not sure I want to hear it.   =0)
Enjoy that new lathe. Look forward to seeing more of your work.


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## glycerine (Dec 8, 2009)

Lenny said:


> Yes, congrats!
> The pen you made that was the featured photo awhile ago was amazing... even more so now seeing what you were turning on!!! I think maybe there is a lesson to be learned in this ....but I'm not sure I want to hear it. =0)
> Enjoy that new lathe. Look forward to seeing more of your work.


 
Thanks.  It was actually a decent lathe just for pen turning.  I felt like sometimes it was slightly off center and some of my pens would be a little "out of round".  I'm looking forward to using the new lathe.  It feels as solid as a rock compared to the drill press.


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