Looking at a lathe to turn just cork and eva, not sure what to look for though. Id like to have enough length to make handles for swimbait rods, so would a 20" between centers be good? Also, what is the advantage to having a different speed settings when turning? Thanks

20" would be more than very sufficient. With the lathe you use different speeds for different tasks, such as sanding vs turning with cutting tools. I find a variable speed lathe my best option. Being able to dial in a speed instead of having to move belts to fixed speeds is invaluable!

IMO, the Jet 1220 would be a good choice. If you watch for sales, you can get one for around $400. Just bear in mind that you will spend $1,000 on average after buying the lathe, chuck, live center, etc.

many of us starting our turning adventure with the same thing in mind. we then discovered that turning is an addiction unto itself. you will find yourself wanting to move onto things other than cork and eva. if you are sure that is all you are ever going to do, then get yourself a grizzly hobby lathe. if you have any thoughts of moving onto other things, get a mini or midi lathe. there are quite a few out there that are very good. if you do a search here you will find a multitude of information. just remember that the lathe is only a portion of the expense. you will need chucks, mandrels, tools, etc. the grizzly hobby lathe will get you going fine for cork and eva. all you will need is some mandrels, a few tools and/or surform file, and sandpaper. good luck

Matt,
If you want do just turn cork you can just obtain a threaded shaft 3600 rpm motor and put a 1/2 inch threaded chuck on the end of the shaft.

Then, make a rod support to support the end of the rod turning manderal.

Lay up a hanle on a manderal, chuck it into the chuck, bolt the other end in the rod support and turn on the motor.

Use files, and or sand paper to shape the handle as needed and remove the handle ready for use.

You will have plenty of speed, power, and use for less than $100.

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If you want to get a commercaial lathe, go for any of the smaller lathes, with a nice bed extension, preferably with an MT-2 chuck and tail piece.

Many different sources on the web.
Some of the commonly used lathes are:

Jet,

Steelcity

Pennstate industries

Grizzley,

Rikon

as well as a host of others.

Most of the time when turning handles you will only be using the single highest speed.

But for special effects, you sometimes want to run slower and the use of a variable speed dc motor makes quick work of speed changing.

If you do get a nice lathe - recommended - you will be able to do many many things other than build rods with the lathe.

As John pointed out, there is a great deal of satisfaction in the art of turning itself.

Roger

Matt, all the input above is good so just to add to I have a 20" lathe I pick up at Harbor Freight for under $200.00 and it works great. Depending on how much turning you will be doing that machine may fit the bill.

Tight lines,

JH

Another option is the Pac Bay lathe. This is actually a rod lathe motor, a short rail section, and the addition of a live center and tool rest made for the rail. The sponsors to the left carry it and you can pick it up for about $200. The advantages are that it's light and portable, which is a good thing if just using it for cork and EVA, it gives you a spare rod turning motor, and it's variable speed. I've got one in addition to my Jet and the scene works out well, as I can work soft stuff on the PB and hardwood on the Jet simultaneously. IMO this would be the way to go, rather than going for a low end wood lathe. As long as you never attempt wood, you'd be OK, but the first time you branched out and tried it you'd wish you'd bought more tool. With the PB, wood's a non-option.

Jason Cosby
Cos Rods

I don't recommend using a rod lathe for anything but very, and I do mean very light usage. Those little motors just aren't designed to handle much loading. If you're getting after it in any aggressive manner with a long sanding board or something that puts significant pressure on the work piece you're probably overloading the motor.

My guess is there are a few out there who have sent their rod lathe motors to early graves using this practice. I did this a couple of times and it was clear from the way the motor was heating up it wasn't good practice. I found a lightly used Excelsior(Rockler's house brand) that I've been happy with. Just purchased a table extension for it as I've needed to do some 14" plus EVA grips and the 18" was just a bit short when you factor in the mandrel and the tooling.

Rockler has the unit w/extension on sale for $249 right now. Good, solid unit, quiet, no excess vibration. A clear step above the typical Harbor Freight piece IME. Where I live there is a Harbor Freight right next door to Rockler. Stopped in for a MT2 taper 1/2" chuck for less than $10 bucks and I have what I need to run a mandrel mounted grip(actually pair of grips now) on the lathe.

Thanks for all the advice.. the grizzly hobby lathe looks interesting. Im going to look around on craiglist for a used one and see what turns up.

I have a Grizzly G8690 mini wood lathe that does everything I need it to do for rod building.

I was at Menards a couple years ago there was a "close out" lathe, It did not have the centers but it did have a faceplate, they had a price of $60 or 70 on it. I asked what the bottom dollar was, I got it for $25. Went to WoodCrafters and bought a live tail center and a pen mandrel. Up & running for about $30 not counting the pen mandrel.
Check out stores like that. Might check out Harbor Freight too....

good luck
t

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tom in indy