Finding a Wood Lathe For Sale

Here are five steps to follow when shopping for a wood lathe. This will keep you focused on what's important and assure you get a good deal and a quality tool.

Finding a Wood Lathe For Sale

Finding a Wood Lathe For Sale

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Finding a Wood Lathe For Sale

Finding a Wood Lathe For Sale

1. Decide on the size of lathe you want
There are a wide range of available sizes for wood lathes, from mini lathes that are under two feet long and half a foot deep, to full size models that are five feet long and weigh hundreds of pounds. The size of lathe you want will depend on the sorts of pieces you want to turn. If you're interested in pen turning or lure making a mini lathe will suit your needs well, but if you plan on making furniture or other large projects it probably won't be up to the task.

2. Make a list of the most important features
Depending on what you're doing there are some features that you might find more or less useful. Make a list and rate each feature based on how important it is to you. For example if you are interested in bowl turning a nice feature to have would be a pivoting headstock for outboard turning, likewise variable speed control can be very handy in many cases. Decide what features are must haves, which ones are nice but unnecessary and which ones are completely useless to you. This will help you decide where to best invest your money.

3. Do some brand research
Do your own research on the various brands and models available. There is a lot of variability in terms of price, quality and features from different companies. Start by looking for the right size of lathe that has all your must have features. There might be several to choose from that meet your requireMents, or you might find that you have to compromise on some features. If there are lots of models that fit the bill you'll have to drill down even further.

4. Read the reviews
Lots of people have taken the time to provide their thoughts and experiences with all sorts of wood lathes. Reading reviews can help you get a good idea which wood lathes are a good value and which ones are duds. Just because a lathe has all the right features and comes cheaply doesn't mean it's worth buying. There can be a big difference in terms of finish and machining between cheaper models and more expensive ones. A quality lathe will last you for years and is a good investMent.

5. Compare stores
Take a look around and try to find the best price. If you're looking online be sure to factor in shipping. Some retailers provide it free while others might tack on hundreds of Dollars in shipping fees for heavier items. It's also worth looking for a used lathe, if you find one in good working order you can save a lot of money.

Finding a Wood Lathe For Sale

The Ancient Lathe

The frazzled-hAired, wizard-like person living in the large body of a redwood tree stays awake day and night working furiously to finish their latest creation, a bowl and goblet turned out of wood. The Food eaten from their bowls is the most delicious and the water poured into their wooden goblets turns itself into the finest wine. This, my friend, is the Woodturner. The tools they use, woodworking lathes, are one of the oldest known power tools.

The lathe is truly an ancient tool; the wordlathe even sounds primeval. This tool dates back at least to the Egyptians and, was known and used in Assyria, Greece, the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Lathes were used by artisans and craftsman, who were the dominant producers of goods before the Industrial Revolution.

The oldest known record of woodturning dates back to 1300BC and the Egyptians. They developed the two person lathe, one person turning and the other cutting out shapes in the wood. As the years passed, improveMents were made upon the lathe such as adding a turning bow by the Romans, and pedals replacing the hand-operated turning in the Middle Ages. It was the Industrial Revolution that motorized the lathe, taking the Job of turning wood away from the craftsman and giving it to the machines. This massive cultural change, over the span of a few decades, brought the wizardly craftsman into the factories for assembly line Jobs. Like the end of Feudalism, the Industrial Revolution changed human social and economic history.

Time passes and lifestyles change. The art of Woodturning has managed to survive through the ages and continues to be a form in which craftsman express themselves. Online woodworking forums such as http://www.SawMillCreek.org and http://www.Lumberjocks.com bridge the communities of woodworkers across the globe. These people communicate, share ideas, jokes and news, organize symposiums and guard their site access from commercial interests. Communicating online with these folks online is like bellying up to your neighborhood bar and having a virtual beer. Wayne C. in the forum at SawMillCreek introduced me to an old Woodworking Machinery website: http://www.owwm.com where I found an enormous amount of interesting information, photos and .pdf downloads about Woodworking Machinery from the past. He also found this book written in 1881 on Google.

I can truly appreciate how these ancient lathe machines and the spirit of the Woodworker have merged with modern technology. You can purchase a lathe in a plethora of sizes for a variety of uses both online and in stores. A JET Lathe starts at the mini size and moves up to a 3hp-3Geared Head Engine Lathe. For large Jobs you can find a Powermatic heavy-duty caste iron lathe. What you purchase depends basically upon what your Woodturning craft is.

It is strange sometimes for me to be sitting here at this desk, typing on a Computer, in an office in Lakewood, Colorado and be time transported into the past of Old Machines and Woodworking Wonders. It makes me think of all the stuff that used to be made by hand, in small shops. My grandfather built a boat by hand in his attic and I remember as a kid, playing with all his hand tools in the baseMent of his house in Buffalo, New York while the fire cheerfully burned the wood scraps in stove. Today, we often chat online across an office room. Computers are a wonderful, modern tool and while I love my job as a writer, I have to say that nothing beats the satisfaction of making something with your hands.

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