| Review by Karson | posted 227 days ago | 934 views | 0 times favorited | 8 comments |  |
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I bought this lathe to make a cane for my Mother-in-Law. I had a small Ryobi lathe that I used for making pens but it only had around 16” length. Not enough room for a cane.
I bought the variable speed version from Penn State Industries because I felt that it would be easier to use. It comes with a belt drive and a 3 step pulley. You can change the belt drive to change the speeds. The variable speed gives you a range within each of the pulley ranges. The motor is Motor: 1/2HP (650-3800 RPM). I also bought the extension table.
The lathe set up OK, but, the castings were a tight fit for the tail stock when you wanted to span across the two sections of the bed. I had to take the tail stock off and file and sand the edges to get it to cross the barrier of the two sections. it is still not an easy slide so I’ll probably do it again. As I was using the lathe I noticed that the tool rest also had the same problem. I could force it but It will require modification to give me an easy slide from one end to the other.
I wish the tool rest was longer, but it was designed for the mini lathe and is OK for it. But a lot of movement for a 30” piece of wood.
The belt was quiet when I ran it at start up. After I moved the belt I was unable to get it to run quietly I swapped to the additional belt that they provided and it’s quiet. They said they’d send a new one but it hasn’t shown up yet.
A pretty good lathe for $300 bucks. I could have driven to get it but the gas and sales tax was more than the shipping.
I think I’ll made a ball bearing steady rest for it also.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
8 comments so far
Grumpy
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12048 posts in 603 days
posted 227 days ago
Sounds good value for the price Karson as long as you can put up with a few minor design faults.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
lew
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3705 posts in 507 days
posted 227 days ago
Don’t you just love it when you have to buy a new tool to complete a project!
I imagine after the kitchen project, the Mrs. didn’t complain too much about the purchase.
Lew
Dusty56
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2774 posts in 439 days
posted 227 days ago
Newbie here …Karson , what is a ball bearing steady rest please ?
-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .
Richard Williams
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128 posts in 544 days
posted 227 days ago
I saw one at Sears and it is about that price range and looks to be pretty nice. Try going to this web site and let me know what you think. I would not be making any canes for myself. :) Take care buddy. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00990247000P?mv=rr
-- Rich, Nevada,
Karson
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21155 posts in 1152 days
posted 227 days ago
Richard. The Jet lathe has a 24 point indexing pin. The design looks similiar. It does not have the extension, nor does it have variable speed. That version at Penn state is around $200.00. I believe that I have the hollow headstock so you could drill through the headstock to put a hole in the end of the wood. The jet states that it has a hollow tailstock. I don’t know if I have that.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Karson
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21155 posts in 1152 days
posted 227 days ago
Dusty: It is a rest that holds long pieces of wood from flexing in the middle when using lathe tools. It’s purpose is to stabalize the wood so that it is turned truely round.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Bob #2
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2663 posts in 773 days
posted 227 days ago
Nice chioce Karson.
I have always had a good feeling about Penn State stuff.
I’m sure you will put it to the test soon.
Good luck with the steady rest . You need one for thos long slender pieces.
Bob
-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner
itsme_timd
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663 posts in 582 days
posted 227 days ago
Nice review Karson, I have this lathe as well and I noticed a few ‘quirks’ about it. I don’t have experience with others so I chalked it up to operator fault! Glad to see your opinion on this one, too.
-- Tim D. - Woodstock, GA