benchtop or floor model lathe?

Im looking at getting a lathe for mostly making bowls possibly some pens. I was wondering if I should go for a benchtop or a floor/fullsize model, and a recommendation for either. My biggest concern is money. I could easily go out and buy a $4000 lathe have it be overkill, but I dont want to go for the cheapest model an it not be able to perform what i want it to do.

You are kind of at opposite ends of the spectrum and somewhat cross-purposed between the 2 task/project envelops you describe. I have sometimes wondered aloud on this forum why pen makers (and similar size/gizmosity project makers) do not scavenge up all the Hardinge split bed lathes for the task. Cheap, solid, precision bar none, tooling and accessories available on ebay out the wazoo, and building block simple. Sheer ignorance and herd mentality, I suppose.

You can even turn bowls on them, up to about 9", but for that task thinks are getting a bit more awkward and the speeds are high without a vfd.

I've got a half dozen or so of the little critters, in various stages and combinations of miscegenation for multifarious purposes including metal working, plastics, and wood turning.

smt

It sounds like you want maximum flexibility at the minimum cost?

I'd suggest you consider buying a decent used 12" or so swing lathe with an outboard turning option for larger bowls and platters. Maybe $250 for a decent one and maybe you have to build a bench for it. Be happy if it has a 3 phase motor -- you'll likely get it cheaper and for $100+ you can add a VFD and be able to turn slow enough to work decent sized bowls.

You'll likely spend as much again on chucks, turning tools, sharpening aids etc. -- but hopefully the used machine purchase will have enough to get you started (and decide what work you really enjoy).

A tiny lathe works fine for pens and tool handles. You can build your own massive bowl turning lathe for a fraction of the $4000 or so a decent OEM version might cost.

Per what Bill said, you can also crank the head over on a turret mill and use it for pretty good sized bowls. The height can be a little awkward, but the table makes a great controllable tool slide or T-rest positioner. South Bend for one, showed some configurations of their mills for similar wood turning purposes. Or use a horizontal if you have one. I've used both for similar, and also my tool & cutter grinder once, to do a rather large bowl. The bowl was mounted to and turned with the workhead, and a tool in a T-slot on the wheel head column. Just use your ingenuity.
A pretty darn good lathe can be built for 1/10th of your mentioned $4,000 especially if you scrounge a cheap used 3ph motor. The cost of the VFD to run it would be extra & will depend on the HP needed, but should be under $200 for something around 1 - 2 HP capability.

smt

Just keep in mind that you can turn small on a big lathe, but you can turn big on a small one. If you go to a floor model you can also outboard turn larger pieces.

I know plenty of turners who started on bench tops only to upgrade to floor model lathes.

I use a nova 1624-44. It didn't break the bank and gives me flexibility with small and large turnings. I turn pens just fine on it as well as large bowls, plates, wall decorations, etc.

It really depends upon how large the bowls you want to make are. My father bought a variable speed Jet lathe a few years ago and put a NOVA 4 jaw chuck on it and made some really nice salad size bowls and a bunch of other stuff on the lathe. The lathe wouldn't have worked for a serving size bowl, but for the small bowls it worked fine.

Always glad for the opportunity to drag my lathe back out of the corner again for show & tell.



Sized to make anything from pens, to pool cues (actually a furniture leg in process, but the pool cue joint should be suggestive)



To porch posts.





better yet, it uses all the other Hardinge accessories and can transfer them to other machines.





The reason the frame is so light is that it is actually my glue clamp.

For veneering and pressing,
(stacks of floor parquets for the EEOB ("White House")



As well, or originally, for edge gluing:



I have not needed to turn a large bowl, or similar large rings on this set up yet. But if it occurs, the Hardinge headstock has plenty beefy bearings to mount to some iron contraption or onto another machine table such as the metal planer, with a T-rest, to turn up to a couple feet or more in diameter.

smt

Steven,

What is the size of the beam used?

Scott-

W4 x 13lbs

Keep in mind that this system evolved, it was not pre-designed.

in the 70's & 80's we still did a fair amount of construction, and I had a few W4's laying around from jobs. It occurred to me one day to select one that would span horizontally between (across) 2 lally columns in the shop, prop a 2 x 4 under under it around work-table height at each end, and clamp it to the columns. Then i made the adjustable/levelable hangars for the bar clamps and that was it until I moved up here. The system was far from perfect due to the lack of torsional rigidity, but nevertheless worked so well that I added legs for the new shop, and continued to add "features" as needed. We used to clamp a lot of stuff pushing 16' long, so the original beam was 14', IIRC. Think it is only 12' now. But with the installed clamps spread to the ends; that still allows 16' in a pinch with 2' extending each way and the loose clamps added to the overhanging material.

The lack of torsional stiffness has always sort of bothered me from a design esthetic. But in fact, 3 decades on, it really is more than adequate for the glue up clamps. I have had not only 12 - 14' long, 4' wide, glued up in 60" bar clamps; but an additional 2 layers built with loose clamps on top of that. I do start adding props under the cantilevered clamps in situations like that. Also have a once made but rarely used set of outboard posts that clamp on the feet, and a parallel rail can span between them to support the clamps. Again, almost never used. It was convenient for a large L shape counter, once, many years ago.

When using air, I do calculations and keep a decent safety factor. There is a regulator in line, grade 8 allthread intermediary hangars/tie bars, and the air is not left on. The Firestroke actuators are inflated to the calculated value and shut off. Each actuator is good for 5 tons (10,000lbs) at around 100 PSI. I seldom use over 40 - 50 psi.

For a lathe, the W4 x 13 really is pretty flexible, but obviously works. Designing from scratch, I would either weld or maybe just bolt (to avoid distortion) a "suitable" over hanging plate to a 3 x 4 or 3 x 5 rectangular box column of sufficient wall thickness (1/4"?) or possibly box the I beam (W section beam) and then plane it to mitigate any distortion.

Assuming good legs bolted to the floor, the lathe would also be stiffer merely if the I section was turned on its side to an H section and the components straddled both flanges. But it would be less convenient for the quick prototyping and for the legacy uses.

Actually, that suggests another method of adding quite a bit of stiffness: box the W4 with, say, 2 5" wide plates, one on top of the H and one under. Then hang components from those new flanges. It starts to get a bit wide, though.

smt