Help with a lathe decision

I am not familar with the Wilton. I would suggest saving up for the Jet or Rikon mini lathe. Grizzly has some small lathe that would be worth investigating as well. Here is a link for the Wilton review. Sorry I not more help.

-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.

Never heard of it either. I would save up for the Jet of which I own. One thing to consider is the thread size of the Wilton. What is it? the Jet is 8×1” and standard for the industry. You can get pen mandrels and face plates anywhere that fit the Jet. What about the Wilton??? Check out the Penn State site. They have small lathes and many, many pen kits and starter kits. I do business with them and they stand behind their products.
Penn State

-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke".

I bought a lathe from Rockeler. It is an Excelsior with an 8X1” thread. I am just getting started but for 200 it thought it was a great deal.

Adrian,
I would hold out for a Jet or the Rikon, which has an extra 2 inches of swing over the ways and indexing. By now surely someone, somewhere wants to upgrade from a first or second generation Jet Mini and will be willing to sell to get a newer model. Keep checking eBay or Craigslist. If you were good enough to pinkhandcufffgirl on Mother’s Day and you save up, I’ll bet you can get a new one.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I was given a Wilton band saw and wow what a piece of——. I would not buy it if I were you.
If you decide to purchase it Very Good Luck to you.
Jim

-- A duck that brags on his own pond, soon swims alone.

I have seen the turncrafter one I belive for 150 bucks and looks really nice. Has a bigger swing and longer length than alot of other mini lathes. It’s the one I want. :)

-- Tyler, Illinois