Was thinking about picking up a lathe, starting off with reel seat insterts and maybe working my way down to wooden handles one day.

Going to Japan in January, they have an awesome wood shop there on base. I won't be able to purchase a lathe for awhile, was wondering if I made them up per the article, and took them to the woodshop, would the normal lathes in a woodshop work for this kind of thing? I know my friends used to make table legs, pens, and stuff there.

What to look for in a lathe? Mini-lathe work or not? Please keep wording simple, I'm mechanically and tool/wood-workingly challenged. Know nothing about either.

Thanks,
Phil

Did you read the article in the latest issue of RodMaker on turning polymer inserts? There's quite a bit in there on what you can do with them on a wood lathe - the tools required, speeds, tricks, tips, etc.

In a nutshell, yes you can turn them on a wood lathe but it will require some background information and some practice. Joe Emig does his on a small machine lathe and to be honest, if all you're going to turn is the polymer inserts, that might be the better way to go. If you intend to do more than just inserts, however, and need a little more distance and swing than provided by a small machine lathe, you can do well with something like the Jet or Delta midi lathes. They offer a lot of value and size for the money involved.

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I did read the article. Some of it I didn't read too far into as I've never used a lathe... Didn't pick up on there being different types of lathes. Thought there was regular sized and mini.

Wonder if they have a machine lathe on base.... they must have one in a metal shop. Need to make friends. Small Japanese house, not sure how much room I'm going to have for a lathe until I get back to the states.

Is there anything different between a machine lathe and wood lathe other than size?
Phil

Size is not the difference. Machine lathes generally feature a tool post on a cross-slide for making accurate cuts in machine parts. Wood lathes feature a simple tool rest upon which the turner rests and supports a tool, freehand, for making the cuts.

Because of the cross-slide and tool post, and any related gear head speed changing or automatic feed features, machine lathes can be rather expensive. But there are some oriental machine lathes in smaller sizes that aren't too much money. You can also adapt a machine lathe to handle a tool rest and use it like any regular wood lathe, although there are a lot of nooks and crannies there to trap dirt and shavings.

Both require some knowledge to use proficiently. Wood lathes require more skill in terms of using the cutting tools, machine lathes require more knowledge in terms of using the proper bits, how to grind/shape the bits, speeds to use, etc.

I have turned inserts from all types of materials on both lathe types. I can probably do them faster on the regular wood lathes. If you wanted to measure them down to the thousandth of the inch, however, I'm sure the ones I do on the machine lathes are more accurate and certainly more verbatim.

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Thank you for the in-depth info, I now understand the differences. When I get settled in, I'll have to find someone who can show me how to use the lathes.

Last question for now. If you wanted a seperate place for turning/shaping grips from foam or cork than your rod wrappers, the wood lathe would be the thing to have, unless you adapted the machile lathe for a tool rest?

Phil

You can adapt a machine lathe to do that sort of work easy enough. Size for size, most machine lathes will be heavier. If you want something to take outside or to use just for cork and EVA, I'd go with Delta or Jet midi wood lathe.

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