I cannot afford a high quality lathe, so I'm considering purchasing a lathe from Harbor Freight. Anyone have any experience with one??

Some like them, others hate them. For shaping cork and EVA they're apt to be fine. For serious woodwork, they're maybe a little on the light side.

Keep in mind that Jet and Delta make some very good mini lathes for well under $500. You can often find them used for half of that. Rikon and a few others have similar lathes, sometimes at even lower prices.

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Try a Google Search for Used Mini Lathes I show a lot coming up

Bill - willierods.com

Harry,
This lathe is identical to several others that have different brands on them.

It is nice to put the lathe extension on the lathe to allow you easier handling of certain jobs.

As you know, by the time you get chucks, tail stocks, tool rests, etc. you will pay about this much more for the total package:

[www.harborfreight.com]

You can not minimize the use of a good chuck for your lathe work.
You need both a 3 jaw, or nova style chuck as well as a keyless 1/2 inch chuck for general purpose small item holding.
It is also a good idea to have a ball bearing tail stock for work piece holding.

Go with a lathe that has the m t2 accessories. That way, if you do go to a different lathe down the line, you will be able to move chuck and tail stocks to the new lathe.

The other thing that you can pursue is the used lathe route. Often checking newspaper ads, craigs list, pawn shops or used tool shops - you can find excellent quality lathes for decent prices.

Be safe

This excelsior is essentially the same lathe as the Harbor freight lathe.
So, if you need accessories, you can get them from this store if you have a local store.

[www.rockler.com]

For example,
This bed extension fits either the Harbor freight or the Excelsior lathe.

[www.rockler.com]

I am a hobby builder and have an inexpensive HF lathe I use for shaping bass and spinning rod grips. It works great.

Eric Green

If you've purchased tools from harbor freight in the past and are happy with the quality and price point and don't plan to ever try some semi-serious woodturning, you probably will be happy with the lathe.

If you think you might want to try some hobby wood turning some day, I'd invest in a better lathe up front.

John,

A lathe needs to be able to run true, have enough power, and have the ability to hold a good tail stock in place.

Any lathe that meets these requirements will work well for the jobs required of rod building.

Be safe

Roger, I don't think we are in disagreement as to the rod building aspects of turning on a lathe, but there are other considerations a wood turning hobbyist should consider such as variability of speeds and the torque produced at those speeds, practical vs theoretical diameter of swing, a variety of headstock and tailstock specs, the variety of supported chuck, faceplate, and centers, usable length between centers, the ability to turn outboard, tool rest design (reach, swing, durability, capacity to name a few), overall mass, cast iron vs stamped/folded/rolled steel frame, eccentric turning dampening capabilities, room to mount accessories like duplicators, and I could go on a bit more...

While I don't consider myself a pro turner, I have been turning both at artistic and production levels on and off, but at least monthly, for nearly 35 years. Among my circle of turning friends, none use the entry level machines. At the same time, among my rodbuilding friends, some use entry level lathes and get great results.

I'm just advising the original poster to consider if he might want to someday work on larger more demanding projects not typically attempted while making rod components. Lathes tend to fall into the class of tools where you usually get what you pay for and not a lot more. If you think you may someday need those extra capabilities or capacities, it's best to buy them up front.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2014 03:19PM by John E Powell.

John,
Well written.

Be safe

I just picked up a jet 1014i mini lathe off craigslist. You can check with wood turning clubs, or stores like woodcraft , and hardware stores where they have areas to post ads for services or things for sale. It took me a few months to find one local and the quality I wanted. I paid 190.00 which is half of what a new one is. ( the new model is the 1015i). The most important thing is to make sure the centers line up!!! I know some day I will want a larger lathe and I feel this one will still hold value if I wanted to sell it. For the first one this was the right way to go for me. Hope this helps

Harry,
I have the Harbor Freight 12" x 33 3/8" lathe. If you have room for a floor lathe this one got good reviews on several turning forums. I turn cork and eva grips on mine. I have turned quite a few ink pens and spindles with it as well. It has plenty of power and is a good buy when on sale and using a 25% coupon.

Keep an eye on craigslist and check at woodcraft, like stated above. I got my jet 1220 from craigslist for fairly cheap. I was at harbor freight this morning, and looked at that lathe. It looks really good for the price. Also, HF usually has a really good return policy should it mess up.

An alternative for only doing grip work may be the grizzly hobby lathe that can be used with a drill. [www.grizzly.com]