which mini wood lathe is best?

[Benjamin sullivan]

Hello, I was wondering if any of you could help me with suggesting a mini wood lathe for my self.

I have looked at a bunch of them but which ones do you think are the best from experiance. I intend to use it for cannons, spars ect 

the downside is that I am 15 so my budget is under 250$ which I will have once I sell my boat I am currently working on.

thanks.

[Bob Cleek]

You may have already come to this realization, but, if not, I'd suggest you continue saving until you have enough to buy a decent used metal-working lathe instead.  A wood-turning lathe isn't as easily capable of repetitive pattern work such as making cannon, nor of turning long, thin, tapers such as for spars. Also, hand-turning very small pieces of wood is not as easy as it looks. It doesn't take much to break a 1/16" piece of wood when shaping it by hand. A metal-working lathe's cross-slide permits applying the cutting tool to the material with great accuracy and delicacy.  Metal-working lathes are far more versatile and accurate and will shape metal, plastic, and wood, while the wood-turning lathe will only handle wood. I would guess that if you kept your eyes open, you'd be able to find a nice used Sherline or Taig lathe for about $500 or a used Chinese Sieg 7X for even less. The metal-working lathes will hold their value over a long period of time. Wood-turning lathes not so much. Once you have a decent lathe, you can add additional attachments and tooling to it over time. A good lathe should last longer than you if it's well cared for. 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Bob Cleek

[Jaager]

1 hour ago, Benjamin sullivan said:

the downside is that I am 15 so my budget is under 250$ which I will have once I sell my boat I am currently working on.

Benjamin,

Playing the numbers, knowing nothing about your real situation, 

at 15 you are likely entering a time of brain development that will only be complete when age ~22 is reached. 

Your interests may change significantly as this proceeds.  Making major capital outlays for tools now, based on a focus that may change significantly,  may leave you with tools that you have no use for.   Returns from the second hand tool market are decidedly in a buyers favor. 

 

If the buyer of your current model is family or pseudo family then you are assured of a return.  If you intend to sell to a stranger,  I believe that the experience with most who do  is that the selling price is pretty close to what was paid for the kit.   I think for most of us, getting a return that is equal to materials plus hours spent x $15  is an opium dream.

 

Check some recent threads here about adapting an electric drill to act as a lathe.  A corded electric drill is a tool that will be useful for your whole life.  A cordless rechargeable drill is more convenient but the batteries have a shelf life and buying a replacement in the future - may be difficult due to tech changes or companies being companies, or cost more than it is worth.

 

 

 

[Morgan]

Hi Benjamin,

 

Perhaps think about what your immediate needs are for the next few models you intend to build, and use this to decide the size and complexity of lathe you need, narrow down your requirements.  If you only intend turning cannon in the near future for example you can get away with a very small metal working lathe, if you want to turn masts and spars then you will need something with a longer bed.  
 

Consider a phased approach and trading up to a larger lathe as your skills develop, this way you could buy a second hand lathe to get you started, which will have more features than a brand new lathe for a similar price.

 

I am sure if you can elaborate on what size and type of fittings you want to make you will get more specific pointers from knowledgeable forum members.

 

Gary

[Benjamin sullivan]

7 hours ago, Jaager said:

Benjamin,

Playing the numbers, knowing nothing about your real situation, 

at 15 you are likely entering a time of brain development that will only be complete when age ~22 is reached. 

Your interests may change significantly as this proceeds.  Making major capital outlays for tools now, based on a focus that may change significantly,  may leave you with tools that you have no use for.   Returns from the second hand tool market are decidedly in a buyers favor. 

 

If the buyer of your current model is family or pseudo family then you are assured of a return.  If you intend to sell to a stranger,  I believe that the experience with most who do  is that the selling price is pretty close to what was paid for the kit.   I think for most of us, getting a return that is equal to materials plus hours spent x $15  is an opium dream.

 

Check some recent threads here about adapting an electric drill to act as a lathe.  A corded electric drill is a tool that will be useful for your whole life.  A cordless rechargeable drill is more convenient but the batteries have a shelf life and buying a replacement in the future - may be difficult due to tech changes or companies being companies, or cost more than it is worth.

 

 

 

thank you, I feel like I will probiably continue making model ship's in the future as I have been into this for a while and am still quite interested. 

The ship I am making is from scratch and there is not that much I need to buy supply wise mabe 60$ at most, but I deffinetly look for second hand metal mini wood lathe as Cleek  sudgested.

cheers.

[mtaylor]

Ben, is there a Makerspace where you are located?  If so, they probably at least have a wood lathe and possibly a metal one also  as well as many other power tools... mills, saw, sanders, etc. (the local one near me has seemingly a warehouse full).   Pretty reasonable to join them and they do have training on all their tools, both power and hand.   If it's like ours, they won't let use and tool unless a) you had their training and/or b) prove that you know how to use it.

[Roger Pellett]

Benjamin,  If you are 15 years old, you must be in high school.  If you have time in your schedule, WITHOUT NEGLECTING REALLY IMPORTANT SUBJECTS, you might check to see if you can take a basic machine shop course.  This would teach you what these tools can and cannot do as well as how to use them safely.  This could also help you to avoid  wasting your money on the wrong tool.

 

I also agree that adapting a corded electric drill to make a homemade lathe is a good idea.  An electric drill is a basic tool that you will never waste your money buying.

 

Roger

[Bob Cleek]

4 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

If you have time in your schedule, WITHOUT NEGLECTING REALLY IMPORTANT SUBJECTS, you might check to see if you can take a basic machine shop course.

And a basic machine shop course isn't a REALLY IMPORTANT SUBJECT? Go to your room!    

[Bill Tuttle]

Benjamin,

 

Dremel made a small inexpensive lathe years ago.  It would serve you well for the small wooden things like, cannons etc.  I have never been much for turning spars finding that these are better made on a long cutting surface with a small plane and sand paper. 

 

The little Dremel would give you some experience that you would find useful when you move up to a metal working lathe.  I would offer the suggestion to watch ebay for one of these and follow Bob's advice to save your money for the future purchase.  I had one of these years ago before I purchased a Unimat III and it worked well for me.  I may even have that laying around somewhere and will look and see if I can find it.  

 

Bill

[Bob Cleek]

17 hours ago, Bill Tuttle said:

I had one of these years ago before I purchased a Unimat III and it worked well for me.  I may even have that laying around somewhere and will look and see if I can find it.  

As I expect Bill will attest, the Emco Unimat DB/SL and Unimat III models are great little modeling lathes but, unfortunately, they are no longer in production and have developed a strong collectors' cult following. I have a DB/SL that I bought used and refurbished it to "as new" condition, but, I must regretfully admit, that while I obtained the basic lathe for a very reasonable price, I probably spent more on eBay for used parts for the rebuild and for the required basic tooling than I would have to acquire a decent used Sherline, Taig, or Sieg lathe with equivalent tooling. (E.g. On eBay a used DB/SL collet holder and collet set goes for more than a thousand bucks and a dividing head and dividing gear set for around five hundred bucks on eBay, so, no I don't have either!) The lesson I learned was that when purchasing a lathe, models which are "in production" or which have still have strong after-market parts and tooling availability are the best choice. 

 

 

[reklein]

Check every garage and estate sale within 30 miles of your house.

 

[Benjamin sullivan]

On 12/21/2022 at 12:16 PM, Roger Pellett said:

Benjamin,  If you are 15 years old, you must be in high school.  If you have time in your schedule, WITHOUT NEGLECTING REALLY IMPORTANT SUBJECTS, you might check to see if you can take a basic machine shop course.  This would teach you what these tools can and cannot do as well as how to use them safely.  This could also help you to avoid  wasting your money on the wrong tool.

 

I also agree that adapting a corded electric drill to make a homemade lathe is a good idea.  An electric drill is a basic tool that you will never waste your money buying.

 

Roger

kind of funny actually my grand father is a carpender and my family live on a farm so I have quite an expirence with building thing from sheds to 1.2 kilometer long fences to pig pens . we are home schooled so while we do have quite a few tools which is nice  one of my uncle's works in a  high school  and he says they have some realy cool tools there.