What type of system do you guys have/use and like best for turning cork?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2005 07:52PM by Moderator.

For cork, the Grizzly Hobby lathe works fine. It has a bed, 1/2 HP drill and a stand for the drill and a stand for centering a mandrel on.

Putter
Williston, ND

I have a Grizzly Hobby Lathe and Andy's (Lamar Reel Seats) mandrels. Works great. A perfect match!!
Hope this helps,
Noel

Grizzly and Andys mandrels! Make sure you let Andy know that the mandrels are for a Grizzly for the right length and get the matching drill from Grizzley as some people have had problems getting their drills to fit! [www.rodbuilding.org]

If you even think that you will be doing wood in the future, you might want to consider a Turncrafter Pro or Jet Mini

Mike



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2005 07:45PM by Mike Barkley.

I have the grizzly setup and I thought I would let you know that I burnt out the bushings in the drill after about a month.

the JET Mini lathe with adjustible speed is great with Andy's mandrels modified to 12 in. long. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.

Delta lathe with Andy Dear's mandrels.

Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

I thought a lot about buying the hobby lathe but decided to buy a Jet Mini with a 5 speed tranny instead. For me, the hobby lathe would have been a waste of money because after about three cork grips, I wanted to turn reel seat inserts. I don't believe the hobby lathe has the backbone to handle things like stabalized burls. I'm now using my lathe to make things totally unrelated to rodbuilding. The number of things you can do on a good mini lathe(Jet, Delta, PSI) is staggering, whereas the hobby lathe is extremely limiting.

I use a Delta mini lathe with steel mandrels

Duane:

I have a Delta Midi lathe and use steel mandrels with a collet chuck. This works great for me. I purchase my own drill rod, cut them to the lengths I need and then drill out to fit the 60 degree shoulder on the live center. Andy Dear has mandrels for sale with most of the work done. I'm too Scotch to pay for something I can do for myself. You pick.

Doug Weber
Weber Rod Works

Duane:

I have a Delta Midi lathe and use steel mandrels with a collet chuck. This works great for me. I purchase my own drill rod, cut them to the lengths I need and then drill out to fit the 60 degree shoulder on the live center. Andy Dear has mandrels for sale with most of the work done. I'm too Scotch to pay for something I can do for myself. You pick.

Doug Weber
Weber Rod Works

I have a Turncrafter mini lathe and am using a drill chuck with threadded 1/4" rod for a mandrel for cork....use a washer and a couple 1/4 20 nuts on each end. I have a 1 1/2" long threaded extension (about .25 cents at tractor supply store)on the tail stock end ...I leave it sticking out about 3/4" so my live center fits in the hole centering the whole deal on the back end. Works great.....

Jet Mini variable speed lathe with Andy's mandrels. Very happy with all of it.

Stan

Just getting set up with a Jet 1014 and Andy's mandrel. Ordered the 3 jaw Scroll Chuck and
3/8" Drill Chuck from Penn State Industries. Up until now I have been turning cork on a Clemens Rod Lathe. This new set up will be vastly superior and carry me into turning wood inserts. Oh, also ordered a face shield today. By next weekend I should be up and running. Time to rig up one of Tom K's homegrown dust collectors!
Dave

Dave,

I assume you mean the box fan/furnace filter? [www.rodbuilding.org]

Mike