Has anyone tried one of there mini wood lathes, sure would like some info if anyone has. Thanks scotty.

Grizzly sources product from a wide variety of overseas suppliers. Generally they have a pretty good reputation for providing decent tools at a decent price. Good customer service.

..............

i just got the benchtop model with the mini-lathe 3-jaw chuck. haven't used it yet, waiting on a buddy to get my custom mandrels done for me. Always been happy with other grizzly tools, doesn't look like this one will be any different

Regards,
-Justin

I believe Mike Barcklay is a Grizzly man. Try sending him a email.

SK Custom Rods
American Tackle Pro Staff

Fish now, cause you'll be dead for a long time.

I used a Grizzley Hobby lathe powered by a drill when I started making grios and was very happy with it. When I got into turning, I went with the Turncrafter Pro wood lathe.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Sorry Mike and Scotty, I was wrong. Mike, I knew there was one you were very supportive of.

I picked up a Harbor Freight 10x18 wood lathe! I added a PSI 3 jaw 2" chuck and it has been working well for cutting and shaping EVA and shaping out cork. I just did my first foregrip with some burled cork today!

What ever you get, make sure that standard accessories (MT2 chucks, etc ) will fit. Many of the cheaper ones will not accept standard 4 jaw and drill chucks.chucks that will be needed if you get into woods, acrylics, etc. Do a search here for lathe and select all dates! Their are numerous things that you should be aware of if you are planning to get a wood lathe. Tools, sharpening, chucks, etc.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Scotty,
Some mini-lathes do not have a lot of distance between centers. You didn't mention whether you had any budget constraints, but the Jet model 1220 has 20" between centers which may allow you to use the lathe for rod building purposes without adding an extension bid. The 1220 also has a 3/4hp motor.

Jeff

Scotty,

I bought a mini lathe and it works fine but if I had it to do over again I would have spent more to get a larger model. The mini lathe is fine for turning pens, reel seats and other small objects but is very limiting in terms of what you can do with it for rodbuilding. I am hard pressed to turn out anything larger than a medium length fly grip. Standard (conventional) size grips for spinning and casting rods are not possible although you can turn the pieces for split grips. I'm looking forward to High Point for a numer of reasons not the least of which is to find one of the advertised bargains on a larger lathe. I live close enough to High Point for it to be a comfortable drive and, since I don't need to be concerned with shipping costs, I might be able to give a new lathe a ride home with me. If you're looking for value in a unit that provides you with a path to learn or if you know you'll always be turning small items then a mini lathe might be a good choice. If you're able to afford more then a larger lathe will give you a lot more versatility.

Sam

the one I am looking at is a 10in by 18in should do all the grips I want to do I think, I am not into fly rods mostly boat rods, dont see where a bed extension will be needed as I dont see me doing any grips on blanks. Thanks for the advice guys. scotty.

Sam,

What mini lathe do you have? All of the ones that I'm familiar with (Turncrafter, Jet, Delta, Ricon) can doUCH larger things than pens. I routinely bore out an turn 12 inch long 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch wood and acrylic stock and could do much larger than that if I wanted (I have a bed extension)

Scotty,
the reason for the bed extension isn't for doing grips on blanks. Let's say that you wanted to bore and turn a 10' piece of wood, Figure 10' for the wood, a couple inches for the chuck, 3 orf4 inches for a drill chuck in the tailstock and room for a 12' drill bit. That's about 28" Bed extension are pretty inexpensive when purchased with the lathe

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

mike I hope you come back, how important is it to have variable speed on the lathe, what I really want to do is shape my own eva and hypalon grips, not fond of cork but probably will do a little of it, I dont know anything about fly rods and honestly dont have any desire to mess with them, so I dont forsee me doing any fly reel seats or wood trim rings at least not yet. so will variable speed do anything for what I want to do, thanks scotty.

Scotty,

variable speed is not necessary, it just makes things a lot easier. I do very few flyrods but do a lot of wood and acrylic and burl/exotic cork grips and reel seats for spinning and casting rods, If you only plan on doing EVA/Hypalon/Cork, save your money and start with the Grizzley hobby lathe [grizzley.com] I suggest their heavy duty drill also to ensure a fit [www.grizzly.com].

I used this set up for a few years and it works very well [www.rodbuilding.org]

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

thanks mike I really appericiate the info.