# Need help choosing a decent Wood Lathe.



## menglor (Mar 15, 2017)

Hello, 

I am out shopping for a reasonably priced  Lathe for turning pen’s , 
I am in Canada, though that does not limit me for what I can buy, but shipping might be an issue.

I currently have a Mastercraft Lathe & Chisel Set, 12-in  

Its variable speed,  it’s a MT1 , but the tail stock is precise as trying to use a block of Ice for a wheel bearing in the summer, the slop is at least 1/8 all over the place.

Basically , it will do well as a polished I think,  so, I am looking to upgrade to something that is a little more tight in the manufacturing.

I am looking to find out what brand names are out there, that people just love to use.

Something that has “easy adjustments” and is put together with some level of precision.

Issues I would like to resolve that the masterscraft has.

-	The tail stock has a ton of slop.
-	The tail sitting on the rest has lots of slop.
-	The holes for poping out the inserts is  hit or miss.
-	The tool rest seems to loosen on its own.
-	Handles are all plastic.
-	The tail stock slide release is hard to find as it is behind. And small

So I am looking at the 2 lathes at busy bee. 

Buy Lathe Wood Mini Var. Speed Craftex Csa at Busy Bee Tools
and
Buy Mini Wood Lathe W/digital Read Out 12in. X at Busy Bee Tools

Option #2 is the front runner,  but I want to touch and play with them both to see which is better engineered.    200$ difference seems like a lot.

My budget is un-determined,  I dont want to spend more then 1k Canadian, I think thats about 750 US, these days.
but I will if someone can offer a reason why the  more expensive one is the right choice.


So far, I have looked at :

General
CraftEx (busy bee)
Mastercraft
King
Grizzly

Nothing has screamed at me," this is the one."

I would appreciate any input.


----------



## Rick_G (Mar 15, 2017)

Out of those 2 there is no contest.  #2 is your better buy.  Headstock and tailstock being morse taper 2 means you won't have any trouble finding accessories for the lathe.  Slightly larger swing and there is an extension bed available and for the price of it I would get it now even if you don't use it right away.  My first pepper grinders were made with a delta with short bed and I had to hold the tailstock in my hand to start drilling the hole.  I have since upgraded to the Busy Bee CX802 and no longer have that problem  I got it a few years ago and it was about $500 cheaper then.
You definitely want the variable speed.  
My biggest concern with either of those two is the minimum speed available.  If you start turning bowls and the blank isn't reasonably balanced it's going to jump around on you. 
You likely have a Busy Bee nearby and you can go in and check the tailstock play before you buy.  Since the tailstock has to slide reasonably freely there will always be a small amount of play but if you test before purchasing you should be able to mimimize it.

Grizzly and Busy Bee are basically the same lathe with a different name so by the time you convert your money and pay shipping you won't save anything.


----------



## wizical (Mar 15, 2017)

the first question is what is your budget and what do you plan on making?  are you going to only do pens or do you plan on expanding?  You can make small items on a big lathe but cant make big items on a small lathe?

Jet and Delta usually make a decent mini lathe


----------



## Curly (Mar 15, 2017)

Go to Lee Valley and take a gander at the Rikon lathes they now sell.

And welcome to the forum.


----------



## menglor (Mar 15, 2017)

wizical said:


> the first question is what is your budget and what do you plan on making?  are you going to only do pens or do you plan on expanding?  You can make small items on a big lathe but cant make big items on a small lathe?
> 
> Jet and Delta usually make a decent mini lathe



budget is what ever I want it too be, but over 1k, i really need to justify it too myself.

I have access to a Rockwell 48" my dad has up at his place, and I have a G0602 metal lathe, but I am really trying to avoid getting it covered in dust.

I am going to look at the prices for the Rikon, delta and Jet.  I have heard of them, but never considered them yet.

I wouldn't dare try making bowls on the mastercraft, the thing is great for turning pen's,  but i am also using it for drilling the holes, and it feels unsafe to do that.


as for long term , right now I am having a great time making pens.  I may get into making bowls  or other things.   but  working out sharpening Chisels is next on the list.  

I gotta say, I like finding the hidden beauty inside the wood.   some of my cuts have been boring. but others  eye opening.


----------



## wizical (Mar 15, 2017)

Rikon usually has some decent deals.....

Budget is going to be the ultimate decider on what lathe you buy

good luck


----------



## flyitfast (Mar 15, 2017)

Rikon and Jet are having sales right now if you have any dealers close by.


----------



## luckyscroller788 (Mar 15, 2017)

Of those two, option 2 would be the only one Id consider. I am in the market for a new lathe as well, theres a thread on here from my recent inquiry on a few lathes. Saturday I am going up to Rockler and Woodcraft to look closely at a Rikon and a Nova Comet II . I have heard a lot of good things on here about the Rikons, sadly the Rikon is about $70 more than the Nova Comet 2 , so I'm not sure whats the best value for me.


----------



## menglor (Mar 16, 2017)

I tried looking for the sale you mentioned, but I couldnt find anything.

can you think of a store that is listing the lathes for on sale?

I would like to see what is going on.

oddly now that I have seen these lathes, I dont like the Tool rest anymore on mine.  sheesh.

its impressive how subtle the differences are, how much I dont like my lathe anymore


----------



## KenV (Mar 16, 2017)

Woodturner in Ontario named Bob Hamilton (he passed on last year from cancer) had the little General as a second lathe and thought highly of it.   Bob did alot of you tube videos over the years.

I took his recommendations as knowledgable.

Give it a good look.


----------



## menglor (Mar 16, 2017)

So I need to go to Busy Beaver to buy some stuff, but now I am avoiding the trip to prevent my CCard from taking a hit 

I need to review and make a decision before I make a purchase


----------



## luckyscroller788 (Mar 16, 2017)

Woodcraft has the Rikon lathes on sale for 15% off until March 20th. I doubt that will help you up in Canada though.


----------



## menglor (Mar 17, 2017)

has anyone here used this?

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/TCLVSKIT.html

I just saw it when I was looking around,  I am thinking it might help me find something in the used alternatives  

just thinking out loud.


----------



## eharri446 (Mar 17, 2017)

Here is an article that I stumbled on this morning that reviews 10 of the most popular small lathes:

Best Mini, Midi & Small Wood Lathe Reviewed & Tested in 2017

This might provide some insight into the best and worst features of each one.


----------



## tonylumps (Mar 17, 2017)

menglor said:


> has anyone here used this?
> 
> https://www.pennstateind.com/store/TCLVSKIT.html
> 
> ...



Yes I have that set up.I had it mounted on my Rikon 70-100.It work pretty good .Mounted pretty easy Plug and play.But I did lose some power with it When you start out with 1/2 HP and go down from there.If you are just doing pens than it would be fine.But I started doing small Bowls and Goblets and it bogged down a little to much So I took it off and put the original motor back on.


----------



## menglor (Mar 21, 2017)

So I am still whittling down my options to pick a lathe.
I am stuck on the 

Prices are in Canadian $ (which is about 30% more then the USD)


Rikon 70-220VSR  *889.00 *
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=73599&cat=1,330,73598

General #25-200 "Maxi-Lathe VS+" 12" x 17"   *999.99*
#25-200 M1 ? "Maxi-Lathe VF+" 12" x 17 5/16" wood lathe

Busy Bee  CX813   *429.00 *
Buy Mini Wood Lathe W/digital Read Out 12in. X at Busy Bee Tools

And the 
TurnCrafter Commander  Item #: KWL-1218VS    *609*
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/KWL-1218VS.html




- So All of them have Indexing, though I am not sure I will use that much.
- The RIKON comes highly recomended,
- The General is a canadian company and a bit of an unknown,but gets good reviews.  Also, the Head stock rotates 180 deg, so you can turn bowls over the edge of the desk if you need too

I am leaning heavily towards the General because of the headstock, and its only 100$ more then the Rikon.

Busy bee is by far the cheapest, but the Turncrafter is a close second, but does indexing.



I guess what I am asking for:

- does anyone know if any of these are on sale anywhere? (turncrafter always seems to be on sale, but  its hard to understand there marketing.

- does anyone have horror story's about any of these?

- I havent been able to figure out the difference between the RIKON at 889 and the Busy Bee at 429   minus the indexing.


I am also dragging my butt hoping something used comes up.


----------



## RileyD (Mar 21, 2017)

A quick look at the Rikon vs. the Busy Bee

-Size the Rikon is a 12 1/2 x 20 the Busy Bee is a 12 x 18
-HP Rikon 1HP vs Busy Bee 3/4 HP
-Low end RPM Rikon 250 vs Busy Bee 650
-Rikon can run in reverse

I'm not sure any these really make a huge difference for making pens except maybe the low end RPM. 
I'm sure others can weigh in better than I can on the usefulness of any of these features.


----------



## luckyscroller788 (Mar 21, 2017)

"- _I havent been able to figure out the difference between the RIKON at 889 and the Busy Bee at 429 minus the indexing."_
  In addition to the above posted differences, the warranty on the Rikon is 5 years, vs. the 3 years on the Busy bee.
   The overall weight difference is in favor of the Rikon at 115 lbs,vs. the busy bee at 88 pounds. I will say, the cast bed or ways on the lathe on the Rikon are impressive, wider than my old fullsize Grizzly lathe.
   3 1/2 inch travel on the tailstock spindle on the Rikon, unknown on the busy bee.
   I cant tell on the busy bee about different belt locations in conjunction with the VS, but on the Rikon there are three pulley sets to switch to, so on the slowest speed, pulleys, your maximum speed is 750 rpms per the manual, which means you are using the full power of the motor (1hp), giving you a lot of torque, compared to just dialing down your power via the VS dial on a higher pulley setting to the 750 rpms. I don't know how to explain it correctly, so hopefully you can understand what I mean.

 In my opinion, the real choice for me would be between the Rikon and the General, as General makes very nice machines as well. The one disadvantage on the General is tailstock spindle travel, at only 2 1/8 inches travel. It looks like a nice machine otherwise
  Rikon was on sale until yesterday at 15% off. I will be able to give you a much more detailed review of the Rikon in a few days. I just bought one on Saturday, but haven't started using it yet because I am building a stand for it that hopefully will be done by this weekend.


----------



## luckyscroller788 (Mar 21, 2017)

The turncrafter is comparable to the Shopfox w1836 if that's available to you, or there is a King branding of basically the same machine.

 New tool shopping can be a lot of fun, but sure can be quite a headache too. I just went through the same thing you are currently doing, theres a similar thread on here that I started a couple weeks ago!


----------



## menglor (Mar 21, 2017)

So, I havent seen the Rikon up close.  but I have touched the non VS Busy bee, and the KING,  and when you release the brake on the tail stock, there is still some play. nothing compared to the Canadian Tire model, but still some.

the General itself is Rock solid and zero play, it rivals my G602 metal lathe, maybe when everything is locked up, the slop isnt that big of a deal on a wood lathe, but I am spoiled with my metal one

I would like to see the Rikon on display, but Lee valley doesnt do that.


----------



## menglor (Mar 29, 2017)

So, I just wanted to post that I eneded up buying a lathe last night.

Had to take it apart to get it into the basement without the wife seeing it, 

In the end, I went with the  KING  KWL-1218VS for a few reasons.

It was 599  (Cdn) , the Rikon is  880, and the General was 999.-

Price vs features became the deciding factor.

-	The General was  the #2 on the list because the headstock rotated 180 degree’s, but Price and it only having a 3/4Hp motor killed it for me.

-	The Rikon wasn’t really ever a choice because it was almost the same as the General just 100 more, but no rotating headstock.

-	The King Ultimate won out because it met my basic feature list.

I will post a picture once I get it all setup.


----------



## eharri446 (Mar 29, 2017)

On April 1st, Rockler will be offering the Jet 1221VS at 15% off the retail price.


----------



## menglor (Mar 29, 2017)

sadly though, as a Canadian, the exchange rate of 30%, and then the GST + delivery,  buying in the US short of showing up at the store became un reasonable.

15% is about 120$,  that would put me at about 880$ Canadian, which is the same price as the RIKON, which would be the better machine.


----------



## Silverado (Mar 29, 2017)

Good looking machine. Only problem I can see is your going to be switching
pulleys every time you want to drill then turn at high speed. That would be the deal breaker for me.


----------



## menglor (Mar 29, 2017)

well its variable speed, which is what I need for the blanks.

as for drilling, I bought a chuck for holding blanks, and mounted it on my Metal Lathe, so I have a 3000$ drill press for drilling 7mm holes 

I picked up a 4" x 1" bolt,  turned down the head and put it in my chuck.

I should post a picture of that too


----------



## nativewooder (Mar 29, 2017)

Regardless of the fact that you have already bought a cheap lathe, I will still say that you get what you pay for!


----------



## menglor (Mar 29, 2017)

Well, not sure I would call a 800$ lathe "cheap"  

knowing most lathes are knock off's of each other.

The King 
Power Tools, Woodworking and Metalworking Machines by King Canada

Turncrafter Commander 12
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/KWL-1218VS.html


Note the irony that the Model number is Identical too 

KWL =  King Wood Lathe.


----------



## luckyscroller788 (Mar 29, 2017)

Congrats on your new lathe! Be sure to give u a few updates on it after you get it set up and turn out a few pens on it! The shopfox w1836 was one lathe I was considering before I chose my new Rikon, its the same as the King I believe. Happy turning!


----------



## TonyL (Mar 29, 2017)

Congratulations! Use it in good health and to make things that make you and others happy. Enjoy


----------



## tom wood (Mar 29, 2017)

Take a look at the Jet 1221.......


----------



## MrBubblehead (Mar 30, 2017)

I also have the Mastercraft 12" lathe and had to adjust a few of the locks and such but unfortunately I have a tiny bit of runout right in the headstock itself.

I was going to recommend the king 1218vs as it was one I am considering purchasing.


----------



## JP1337 (Mar 30, 2017)

I bought the Jet 1221VS in December when it was on an amazing 3 day sale: 30% off!!!! 

I must admit, I am so glad I bought this one. Everything on it feels solid and high quality, nothing flimsy at all. 

It's not running at the moment because I decided to build a new stand for it, but haven't had time to finish it so it is just a bunch of steel on the floor of the shed at the moment.

Highly recommend this lathe.


----------



## Tim'sTurnings (Apr 6, 2017)

My first lathe was a jet 1014. I upgraded it to variable speed with a kit and I love it. It its solidly made and will do anything I want it to do, even bowls. I would recommend the 1014 unless you need a longer, more powerful monster.  I have had it since 2002 and the only upkeep I had to do was to keep it cleaned and waxed ad upgraded to variable speed with the kit from PSI. You can't go wrong with this work horse, in my opinion.


----------

