CL find, price too high?

[Ken Kimbrell]

Been looking to buy my first lathe, my experience on turning is zero and my budget is rather limited so I've considered the cheaper options like HF and Craig's list for lathes and found this on CL:

http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/tls/2513324633.html

Everything here is brand new, never used and purchased in June of last year. I intended to take up woodturning as a hobby, but have never gotten around to it. It is time to get this out of the garage.

- Shop Fox W1752 Mini Wood Lathe - 6 speed, 1/2 horsepower

- PSI Woodworking Midi Lathe Chisel 6-Piece set (includes 5/32" diamond parting tool, 1/2" round nose scraper, 3/4" spindle gouge, 1/2" oval skew, 3/8" bowl gouge, 3/4" roughing gouge, and carrying case)

- Homemade lathe stand

- 2 nice wood blocks for turning into small bowls (I can't remember what types of wood they are)

He is currently asking $280.00 but may go a little lower.
Is this a decent lathe and is the price close to being reasonable?

Thanks... Ken

 

[rcflyer23]

Been looking to buy my first lathe, my experience on turning is zero and my budget is rather limited so I've considered the cheaper options like HF and Craig's list for lathes and found this on CL:

http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/tls/2513324633.html
He is currently asking $280.00 but may go a little lower.
Is this a decent lathe and is the price close to being reasonable?

Thanks... Ken

Make sure it is a MT2 or you'll end up buying another lathe soon. I have the full-size HF Lathe and have been pleased with it. It's not a bad deal if you can get him to go lower it gets better. What are you wanting to turn? The set of tools is probably new around $50 - $75 and the lathe is probably in the $300 range. The stand looks a little shaky to me. One good stick of a tool and I would think it would start rocking but it may be better than the pictures show.

I don't know a lot about the shop fox lathes, I haven't heard anything really bad about them.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Ken Kimbrell]

Thanks Kevin.
I'll check for the MT2 designation.
As for the stand... that's not a big issue because if it's not substantial enough it could always be reinforced a little, or replaced if need be.

I've been considering the 12'' x 33-3/8'' Wood Lathe from HF($249.99) and their 8 Piece High Speed Steel Chisel Set, but this CL deal would be several $ cheaper... but I would only want to buy it if the value is there.

BTW... what dose the MT2 stand for?

 

[CDPeters]

Ken -

Usually the MT2 designation refers to the centers - the taper specifically. The centers have tapered pin that fits into the arbor for a "friction" fit. The MT2 stands for "Morse Taper 2" - a size 2 morse taper. This is generally the most common taper used in woodworking tools. Drill press chucks also usually use a morse taper arbor. See this link for a thorough discussion of machine tapers. It is a good practice to be consistent in the tapers your shop tools use for "interchangeability".

Not being familiar with any of these lathes, I'm not sure if the MT2 that rcflyer refers to may also be a part of the model designation.

C.

 

[Ken Kimbrell]

Thanks for that explanation CD... that helps. :icon_thum

Actually, I know what a Morse Taper is and so should have recognized the MT2 designation from the first. :embaresse

 

[rcflyer23]

I was talking about the Morse Taper. Both Shop Fox and Grizzly have two smaller lathes one is a MT1 and the other is a MT2. I believe from the looks of the CL one this is the MT2 one.

As far as the HF lathe for $249, you can usually find them on sale or find a coupon for $199 or take in a 20% coupon.

Either way you would go I don't know that you would go wrong. I will say as far as lathe's goes try and buy bigger than you think you will need. I bought a mini thinking eh I'll never turn anything more than pens and for the most part I don't but it sure is nice to have it there if you want to turn bowls, etc. and as I said earlier I have the full size HF Lathe now.

 

[Ken Kimbrell]

I was talking about the Morse Taper. Both Shop Fox and Grizzly have two smaller lathes one is a MT1 and the other is a MT2. I believe from the looks of the CL one this is the MT2 one.

As far as the HF lathe for $249, you can usually find them on sale or find a coupon for $199 or take in a 20% coupon.

Either way you would go I don't know that you would go wrong. I will say as far as lathe's goes try and buy bigger than you think you will need. I bought a mini thinking eh I'll never turn anything more than pens and for the most part I don't but it sure is nice to have it there if you want to turn bowls, etc. and as I said earlier I have the full size HF Lathe now.

Thanks Kevin.

The more reading and searching that I do the better the HF lathe sounds... unless this CL lathe get a substantial price reduction the HF sounds more and more like the better deal.

Maybe it's time to start searching for a coupon! :icon_thum

 

[rcflyer23]

Thanks Kevin.

The more reading and searching that I do the better the HF lathe sounds... unless this CL lathe get a substantial price reduction the HF sounds more and more like the better deal.

Maybe it's time to start searching for a coupon! :icon_thum

I'll look through mine. I seem to remember seeing one for a $199 coupon. Then you just need someone else to come behind you and get the Tools with a 20% off coupon.

If I'll find one I can mail it to you if you don't find it.

 

[JCraig]

I'll look through mine. I seem to remember seeing one for a $199 coupon. Then you just need someone else to come behind you and get the Tools with a 20% off coupon.

If I'll find one I can mail it to you if you don't find it.

Kevin,

As you know I have a bunch of HF 20% coupons. If you don't find one I'll mail you several. Might even have one for the HF Lathe also.

 

[JCraig]

Kevin,

As you know I have a bunch of HF 20% coupons. If you don't find one I'll mail you several. Might even have one for the HF Lathe also.

Kevin,

Yep I found a HF Coupon for the lathe at $199.99 Good thru 9/18/11. Let me know if you want me to send both to you.

 

[rcflyer23]

Kevin,

Yep I found a HF Coupon for the lathe at $199.99 Good thru 9/18/11. Let me know if you want me to send both to you.

Ken my Dad (JCraig) found some coupons if you would like them. He is going to be at the luncheon this coming Thursday over at the farmers market in GSO. If you can make it to that he can give them to you there if not just PM me your address and we will get them to you.

 

[Ken Kimbrell]

Ken my Dad (JCraig) found some coupons if you would like them. He is going to be at the luncheon this coming Thursday over at the farmers market in GSO. If you can make it to that he can give them to you there if not just PM me your address and we will get them to you.

Thanks Kevin and thanks to your Dad!

Don't think I'll be able to make it to the luncheon, although it is on my 'want to' list.
So... Pm sent.

 

[JCraig]

Ken,

Coupons on the way. Should be to you tomorrow or Monday.

 

[Steve_Honeycutt]

This might not work, but I have asked to use the 20% off coupon with a sale item before and they allowed it. The worst that they can say is "no".

Steve

 

[Grumpybear]

Give me some input on this unit, please? Price and configuration?

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/tls/2513718215.html

Also, I see that there is a comparison between shopfox and HF equipment...are they equals?

 

[Ken Kimbrell]

Ken,

Coupons on the way. Should be to you tomorrow or Monday.

Thanks Jerry.

I'll post back to let you know how this all works out.

 

[rcflyer23]

Give me some input on this unit, please? Price and configuration?

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/tls/2513718215.html

Also, I see that there is a comparison between shopfox and HF equipment...are they equals?

Gary,

That is a good Lathe. I guess my question for you is what are you planning to turn? If you even remotely think you will turn bowls go with something bigger. As far as Shopfox/Grizzly vs HF Equipment, I can only speak to the experience I have with the HF Lathe. It has been a good lathe for me especially for the price I got it for, I wouldn't hesitate putting a decent sized blank on it and turning. I would put some weight on it since it doesn't have cast iron legs, but I have been very pleased with it. I have turned pens, some small bowls and some guitar knobs on it and have enjoyed it.

I looked at the specs real quick on that Jet and it does have an MT2 on it which is good. It only has a 1/2HP motor on it so it might bog down with a bigger chunk of wood on there. It's not an overly good deal either considering amazon has them new for $399, of course the Amazon Price doesn't include the stand or tools now that I said that. It also doesn't look to have variable speed with out a belt change. That may or may not be important to you. I personally prefer it.

Maybe some of the more experienced guys will chime in. I know there are several turners on here that use the HF Lathes as well as a wide range of other Lathes.

Hope that helps...

 

[Tommy Smith]

I'v got the Shop Fox W1706 band saw, it is heavy duty and cuts everything fine. Looks good also.

 

[Ken Kimbrell]

As Martha would say, "Coupons are a very good thing!"

Many thanks to everyone for their advice and pointers, and most especially to Jerry and Kevin for the care package stuffed full with those coupons. :icon_thum

Picked up the HF lathe yesterday afternoon along with a set of their HSS chisels plus the 4x36 sander and after returning home started putting the lathe together. Mainly, I just wanted to get it out of the box to make sure everything was there and that none of the parts were broken. So far everything seems to be OK.
Of course I couldn't resist the urge to give it a quick go! In the picture you can see a piece of Borg 2x chucked up and it's almost round on that one end and it's almost smooth... keep in mind that that was my first ever turning and the chisels were used strait from the box with the gunk(varnish?) still on the tips so go easy on me.

So, today it will be together and on the stand hopefully and after that the chisels will need a good sharpening and then there's the all important first project. At this point I don't have a clue what that should be because something serious like a bowl or salt box or anything like that is far beyond me for now, but on the other hand doing 2x blanks from the Borg don't sound all that appealing.

Thanks Kevin and Jerry, your help was invaluable.

Ken
Ps: In the second pic you'll notice that my 'Bench Dog' is inspecting this new toy... he likes to keep up with this sort of thing and a little sawdust isn't going to slow him down. Neither will a little grease or a bucket oil.

 

[Grumpybear]

Ken, your first "go" looks great from here! Turn for fun. The best to you, Gary