For years I've used an old Sear/Dunlap lathe. the thing has served me well but I've found that I never really use the entire 36" bed. So I'm looking at something smaller. I'm down to pretty much doing grips, reel seats, pens etc. I know there are a ton of options out there so for those of you that have one what should I look for and what features do you like? Let's try to keep it under $400.
Thanks

Jet 1220 ... just under $400 when on sale.

I would second what Jim said, I got a Jet second hand with full set of tools and many pieces of wood for 200.00 so that is what I recommend... If you keep a sharp eye out there are deals to be had. I have heard my favorable comments on the Rikon as well.

Tom

I use a PSI Turncrafter Pro VS, that I lucked out on craigslist and got for 100.00 was only used twice, but I've got 3 times that in tooling and accessories for it. It does an excellent job.

Ron Weber

i got a grizzley table top lathe. nice unit, usually can get them for a good price. my gramps and uncle were carpenters and they had a lot of grizzley tools over the years so it was a no brainer for the price. I got a 3 jaw chuck and going to add the drill-chuck to the tail stock soon. the 3 jaw & live center are great with the dimpled mandrels made for a live center. I can do grips up to 16" (18" between centers). [www.grizzly.com]

Regards,
-Justin

There's nothing wrong with the link - links don't change or go bad.

Occasionally a server somewhere on the other end where the site is located may be overloaded due to heavy traffic, a changed URL or other maladies. In that case you need to contact the owner of the site URL and inquire with them. There is nothing to be done on this end.

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There's nothing wrong with the link - links don't change or go bad.

Occasionally a server somewhere on the other end where the site is located may be overloaded due to heavy traffic, a changed URL or other maladies. In that case you need to contact the owner of the site URL and inquire with them. There is nothing to be done on this end.

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

There's nothing wrong with the link - links don't change or go bad.

Occasionally a server somewhere on the other end where the site is located may be overloaded due to heavy traffic, a changed URL or other maladies. In that case you need to contact the owner of the site URL and inquire with them. There is nothing to be done on this end.

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

I just bought a Jet 1014 and love it. I am new to the art of "turning" and this was a perfect beginner model for me. So far I have made 3 cork handles and 4 ink pens. I got it from Amazon for $300 and got free shipping. Only regret is I wish I had spent $50 more and got the variable speed model since it would be easier to change the speed. The model I have requires moving the v belt on the pulleys which is easy to do but a pain when you have to stop what you're doing to change speeds. Only other thing I would advise as a "newbie" is to buy good chisels (for reel seats). I bought cheap ones from Harbor Freight ($30) and the dull very easily. Best, John.

Well I'm still shopping and looking. i was eyeballing a cheaper model that had the same size threads as my old lathe so I could use all my chucks etc. then I found out that I can get a thread converted from Penn State tools. now it's back to shopping.

I will second the PSI lathe. Picked one up last year with a bed extention and FREE shipping from Amazon. Works great and very user friendly.

I also recommend the PSI. I added VS motor and highly recommend VS option right from the start. Thread converters work but sometimes introduce other problems that are not obvious. What is the thread and taper of the old sears?

The old sears has a 3/4x16 with a #1 morse taper the new lathe is a 1x8 32 taper.
I decided on the Rikon 12x16 variable speed. My local Woodcraft store still had them for their "Black Friday" price. just couldn't beat the deal.
The PSI had a slightly bigger motor but it's on back order.