Good Starter Lathe

[bamagobblergetter]

Hello All, newbie here from bama, looking to get into making some turkey calls(pot calls in particular). Looking for some advice on lathes and chucks? Not looking to break the bank either, just trying to get a new hobby going during the off season...Thanks

[TarheelTurk]

  Im just starting this hobby myself so im not gonna be alot of help. But i do want to welcome you to the site.

[Hillbilly280]

If you want a mini lathe Jet, Rikon, Delte, are good lathes just to name a few.Check e-bay, wood craft, and penn state,and look at some 4 jaw chucks.Hope this helps you a little.



Bobby

[Basser69]

Hello All, newbie here from bama, looking to get into making some turkey calls(pot calls in particular). Looking for some advice on lathes and chucks? Not looking to break the bank either, just trying to get a new hobby going during the off season...Thanks

What part of Bama are you from?

[smurf]

I use a Rikon.  Relatively cheap and I wouldn't trade it for any of the others. 

[bamagobblergetter]

Im from Tuscaloosa...thanks for the help guys

[.308]

Craigslist is also a great place to look for a lathe.  You can usually see a Jet mini for $150.  Be prepared to spend that much or more on accessories.  You will most likely need a grinder to sharpen your turning tools and a sharpening jig (i.e. Wolverine) is highly receommended.  I've looked at Ebay and Craigslist for used chucks and rarely see them at prices that are lower than a good sale from Woodcraft.  I would not purchase more than 2 or 3 turning tools (i.e gouges & skews) for now.  You can turn plenty of pots with plenty of variety using 1 or 2 tools total.

I use a Jet 1014 and a barracuda chuck and a nova midi chuck. 

I started around Thanksgiving and I love it but it has been become an expensive hobby.  I hope one day to sell a few calls to offset some of the equipment costs.  It would have been much cheaper and easier to give the fine folks on the forum more of my money and never to have ventured down this rabbit hole 

Good Luck,
Chris

[bamagobblergetter]

haha your right...appreciate all the info

[Boomstick]

i know its harbor freight and a lot of people don't necessarily like them, but they have a 14"x40" for 127.97 and a 8"x12" bench top for 119.99... i was looking at possibly getting one of these because i want to start getting into turning wood, and working my way up to call making. one of my friends in dothan has had one of their 14"x40" lathes for a while now and he says it works great...

charlie

[selinoid44]

I bought my lathe on ebay. I don't know what brand it is, probably chinese no doubt. Any way the head and tail stock is MT #1 (morese taper) it's belt drive and was a bit difficult to get everything in alignment. If I had it to do again, which I will someday, I would save the cash and get a good Jet lathe. Direct drive with variable speed, and with a reverse. I would also get the MT #2. I really enjoy my lathe and it does a good job. I have paid for it two times over selling calls that I have turned on it. I also like that it is able to do 36 inch stock if I want to do that. I bought Craftsman tools and constantly have to sharpen them. Like a lot of people say, "dont buy a full set you will only use 2-3 of them". This statement is very true. A gouge, a skew, and a parting tool will get you going on pot calls. Eventually new tools will be on my must have list. I start turning with my face plate. Then I turn the call around to finish it. I made the mistake of buying a 3 jaw grizzly chuck. It's okay for some things but way to big for pots. It was almost scary at times trying to accomplish what I wanted to do. I like my knuckles! I bought a nova jaw set, it was a little pricey but worth it. A little practice a lot of sandpaper and some fire wood, you will catch on pretty quick. Once you start you will be addicted. Turn and burn baby...

[Bonjour]

This is one area that I really believe in getting the right stuff to work with first. Cheap lathes will work, but often are cheap for a reason and you won't be satisfied with it once you get into it, and believe me, you will once you start. I would get the Jet VS mini which might cost just a little more, but has everything you need in a lathe. Tools are another thing that I spend the extra $ on. Tools are usually priced by the quality of metals they are made from. High speed steel are going to cost more, but they are also stronger and will hold an edge a lot longer than just steel tools. You can get by with about 2 or 3 tools for calls, for me it would be a parting tool, roughing gouge for strikers only not pots, and a 3/8 bowl gouge. I can turn pretty much about anything with these 3 tools. You will also need a sharpening system such as a bench grinder, 4 jawed chuck, sandpaper, glues, and gobs of other stuff once you get going and learn more. It is an expensive hobby to get into, but once you kill your first bird with a call you built from scratch, it is well worth it. It is also a very addictive hobby once you get going, and can maybe even earn some cash back later on to help pay for more tools, wood, surfaces, and everything else you will need  . Good luck

[bamagobblergetter]

Thanks for all the great info...I really appreciate it!!!

[cleanslate]

I know that I'm a little late on this one, but learn from my mistake. I had one of the h/f 14"x40" lathes and hated it! No mt in the headstock, headstock and tailstock didn't line up, tailstock quill threads were super sloppy, oddball threads on the headstock so that you need to buy an adapter from Penn State Ind, too much pressure pushing in from the tailstock would push the headstock in the opposite direction, ( yeah I could actually make the lathe bow up in the center and it was bolted down to a table! ) I also would not recomend getting the vs model from h/f either. The circuit boards for the vs on both their lathes and mig welders are known for burning up eventually. I would, however recomend the 10" x 14" lathe from h/f as well as the 12" x 33" lathe from h/f. I currently own the 10"x14" one from h/f and couldn't be happier with it. the headstock and tailstock line up perfectly, the thing runs smooth, 1"x8tpi spindle threads, mt2 at both ends. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the motor takes a little while to come up to full speed when you have it on the higher speed settings, but I can deal with that since it is so much better than what I had a year ago.

[mranum]

If you like to tinker, like I do, you could always do what I did.  There are tons of these early model shopsmiths out there for cheap.  I picked up this one that had every attachment that came new with it and then some. Looked pretty tough when I got it so I spent a few days going through it and eventually put on a variable speed dc motor and controller from a free treadmill.  Total cost= $110  Oh and alot of the attachments for the new ones still fit this one.

BTW- What you see on it is a shaft for a walking cane.

[Fox Fire]

Great thread ya'll, always wanted to try it mysealf but all I need is another hobby.

Serious food for thought here tho.