I am going to buy a small wood lathe just to use for turning my grips and some hosels and buttcaps. Maybe a reel insert or two. I am looking at the mini and midi models from Jet, Delta, Ryobi, Woodfast, etc. Could those of you who have any experience with any of these please fill me in on any pros or cons? There may be other models of lathes I am not aware of. I will gladly spend up to about $350 but would like to keep it at that or less. But will also not settle for a really cheap lathe that is going to give me problems. Thank you in advance.

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I'm not a regular on this board, but I have something to mention that may save potential wood lathe buyers some frustration -- if not money -- in the long run.

I've used lathes for a long time, long before I built rods to any extent. Over the past few years I've adapted all three of my current lathes into dedicated rod building tools. As someone with lathe experience who has dealt with a number of inexperienced lathe users, I think the best advice is to buy a mini metal lathe. The ability to lock your tooling into a tool holder goes a long ways toward defeating the problem of inexperience that will plague you as a new wood lathe owner.

Using a wood lathe to turn and bore an accurate reel seat is not nearly as simple as it might seem or as simple as you might be lead to believe, not if you don't have a trained and practiced hand for it. With a metal lathe, the primary skill you must develop is familiarity with tooling and set-up, which I think is far easier than acquiring the "feel" necessary for doing the same precision work on a wood lathe. Once you can set it up, you can use a metal lathe to turn a perfect, true-to-the-nearest-100th reel seat insert the first time you turn one. It would likely cost you countless hours of practice to be able to do that on a wood lathe, unless you have a rare God-given talent for it. I honestly believe even some relatively experienced wood hobbiest would have a hard time repeatedly turning out perfectly true reel seats on wood lathes, not when you consider the tolerances needed for perfect hardware-to-insert fits. A lathe is certainly among the top few hardest machines to master in a wood shop.

Cork is another matter: you can make passably good grips with little practice on nearly any lathe, once you've tried it a few times, if the lathe is fairly true.

You mention quality -- you can set up a basic Taig lathe near your price range. People who own them seem to love them. Tom Kirkman told me on the phone once that he recommends them.
You can also get a 7x10 Asian metal lathe in your price range, though among some machinists they are not considered "quality" (I've used mine nearly non-stop since I bought it last year around this time -- have turned dozens and dozens of reel seats on it -- and love it). More and more professional, full-time machinists are accepting these as workable metal lathes, and the problems the rest encounter (chatter, some difficulties with speeds being slow enough for thread cutting, etc) are not relevant when you are turning wood on them (see <groups.yahoo.com/group/7x10 minilathe>
You can get a major education on the small metal lathes by a machinist at <www.mini-lathe.com> This is a fantasitic resource for any lathe owner.

I thought I'd mention all this only because it seems some rod builders are jumping head first into buying wood lathes, forgetting that they are specialized tools that require some training, some natural ability, and foremost much, much practice.

Is right as a machinest for 15 years I found myself unable to turn a reel seat to the right dia. on a friends wood lathe. with out lots of wood to practice on. took the wood to work and turned the reel seat in ten min. on metal lathe.......Jerkbait

There are some things you can't do on a metal lathe versus a wood lathe. I can make all sorts of shapes on my wood lathe that would take a lot of time, if you could do it at all, on a metal lathe. I'm not trying to start an argument but just trying to point out some things you may not be aware of.

There is a tool that fits a bedan tool or parting tool that allows you to cut to any diameter you want on a wood lathe. It won't let you go too far and makes sure the barrel is level and accurate all the way accross. I can turn a seat barrel in less than 3 mintues. Bet you can't get your metal lathe set up in that much time!!! You can also buy a copy cutter for a wood lathe that lets you duplicate exactly any item you put on it to follow. If you want to make lots of inserts this is the ticket.

Finally there is the fun, craftsmanship part of turning wood by hand. For me it's a big part of custom rod building. The hand craftsmanship rather than just a machine made piece. Sometimes I cut my inserts into different shapes or put some beads and coves into them. It's different and adds to the custom appeal of the rod.

I have a Jet mini-lathe and really, really like it. Just about $300 and really well made. In the last issue of Rodmaker they did the first part of their article on turning seat inserts and detailed these small lathes and where you can find them and what to look for. Good article. I can't wait for the next part on the actual turning of the insert. Hope to pick up some tips!!!

Thanks guys. I really want to aim for a true wood lathe although I would guess a metal lathe with a tool rest would allow use with wood turning tools. I was in fact thinking about making some seat inserts along with other items like winding checks, hosels, caps, etc., etc. So the freedom of a wood lathe to turn any shape on the fly really appeals to me.

I hear good things on that Jet mini-lathe. I have looked at the Delta as well. Very similar and probably same casting. Have heard nothing bad about either one so maybe that is the way I will go. Thanks. Additional opinions welcome.

Hi William:

Points all taken, and I certainly admire and can relate to your dedication to craftsmanship. My comments were geared to the inexperienced folks who expect to buy a wood lathe, plug it in, and start turning accurate rod components -- which isn't likely to happen.

However, I can't agree that there are things -- not rod building-related things, anyway -- that you can't do on a metal lathe but can do on a wood lathe; and certainly metal lathes are not slower. And by the time you buy a copy cutter and accessories for a wood lathe, the mini-metal lathe is cheaper, too (even a relatively inexpensive copy cutter from Grizzly Industrial is $250 for a normal size lathe -- maybe someone makes "mini" ones for less).

Have you used a metal lathe much? If so, you'll understand what I describe below; if not, you can't imagine how simple doing woodwork is on a metal lathe, and how quick.

To do anything you would do on a wood lathe with a metal lathe, all you need to do is lock a makeshift tool rest in the regular compound's tool post, which takes a matter of seconds to do. I use a 1"X 5" piece of scrap steel similar to lawnmower blade material shimmed with a small scrap of aluminum. With regular wood-turning gouge, skew, and parting tool, you can do anything you'd do on a wood lathe, the exact same way as you would on a wood lathe -- beads, coves, and all. I make hosels this way, since it's true that cutting to a taper takes some know-how and tailstock adjustment if you are trying to do it with your tooling locked in on a metal lathe.

As far as time goes, you can mount a blank of wood in a metal lathe scroll chuck, shim and mount a regular gouge in the tool post, and start cutting in no more time than it takes to center and hammer-in a spur center on a wood lathe.

My point is this: that a metal lathe is more versatile without the addition of expensive attachments like the copy cutters. There are many things a metal lathe can do that a wood lathe can't, but no things a wood lathe can do that a metal lathe can't in the realm of rod building (I'm not talking about large bowl turning or the likes).

I owned and used two wood lathes prior to finally buying a metal lathe in my rod building shop. I still have those first lathes -- collecting dust and taking up space (I use one for turning cork just to keep the metal lathe cleaner). If I had to give up any of them and still keep my rod building business, I would instantly give up the two wood lathes (both of them large and powerful -- one American-made and far from cheap) before I'd think of parting with my metal lathe.

It's one of those opinion issues -- that's all.

I agree that the RodMaker lathe article was good; maybe they can help folks getting wood lathes fully understand the processes involved. I hope the authors stress that wood turning on a lathe -- like most wood work -- is a SKILL, complete with all the connotations the word carries.

sbrockwe@yahoo.com
Here's my e-mail. I didn't intend to leave it out or take extra space to include it this way.

Barry,

Here is an outstanding new metal lathe for $370.00 - Copy this link into you location window, then press enter.

[www.harborfreight.com]

Harbor Freight has stores throughout the USA. They also ship Items free above a minimum price, like this lathe.

You can also find good metal lathes on @#$%& at: www.@#$%&.com
Search for lathe. For example: Here are (2) Unimat lathes, which are extremely good miniature metal lathes:

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You can extend the length of the Unimat's carriage (bed) by replacing the two metal carriage rods.

@#$%&

I guess I am a bit of a lathe junkie - I own 7 right now. Both wood and metal/machine types. I use them all for various purposes, each having its own strengths and weaknesses.

This past week I turned some inserts that would have been almost impossible to create on a metal lathe. But there are also times when I want to make something for a rod, or for one of my machines, that requires the use of a metal lathe.

Scott has a good point that a metal lathe fitted with a tool rest gives you the best of both worlds. It is also important to remember that both lathes types are very, very similar but for the tool rest and tool holder between the two. If a guy had to choose and could only have one, then a metal lathe with good speed capabilities and an additional wood lathe type tool rest could be the best all-around set-up.

I understand the feeling of turning a piece freehand and that is what our series of articles are aimed at. The next installment is very well written and photographed and should help you get started. Turning a reel seat insert freehand on a wood lathe is really very simple - shouldn't take more than a couple minutes tops. Of course, it does required some skill, but very basic skill that can be obtained quickly if you are willing to do a bit of practice. Metal lathes also require some skill - mainly in proper set-up and cutting bit angle and rake. It took me longer to learn how to grind my own cutting bits than it did to learn how to turn on a wood lathe!

Boring an insert on a lathe is so easy that it is almost automatic. I will have to do an article on the ins and outs of this. With the proper bit and speed, center boring an insert is a 1 minute operation with perfect results every time.

The Jet and Delta are both good mini-lathes. I prefer the Vic-Mark mini if you can still find it. WoodFast also makes a nice mini lathe. For a metal lathe, you will find that ads in any of the metal working magazines can put you onto really top shelf older equipment like King-Seeley and Atlas for very little money. These are SERIOUS machines but were not originally intended for CNC work so many companies are unloading them at very little money. The Taig and Sherline lathes are also good tools, but not in the same class as these slightly larger units.

Start keeping your eyes open in the woodworking magazines for reviews on the various lathes. That might help you decide.

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First I want to thank everyone for their input. You have all given me much to think about, although I think I have made up my mind.

I am not going to fool myself into thinking that I can buy a top level wood or metal lathe for under about $2000 either way. You just can't do it. But you can get very nice and servicable units for just a few hundred dollars. The Taig and Sherline metal lathes I looked at are $300 to $400. The mini wood lathes I looked at were also in that same range. After much thought and catalog browsing, I have decided to go with the new Delta Midi-Lathe. It had some advantages over the Jet and I can extend the bed if I want to get into turning things other than seat inserts, caps and hosels. I fully understand the advantages of the metal lathe but would like to have the feeling that I turned these pieces with my own hands. Just something else to add to the pleasure of rod building.

Thanks again for everyone's help. This site is a wonderful resource.