Metal Lathe vs. Wood Lathe

I have both one metal and two wood lathes.

There’s no reason you can’t use the metal one for wood. I do. It’s perfect for getting things exactly the same.

questions:

1. yes
2. not at the exact same time :-) otherwise yes.
3. yes, a tool rest. Depending on what is there already.
4. no.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I don’t have hardly any turning experience. But when a very small metal lathe came into our tool shop I decided to “test” it out. I turned these:

The thing about using a metal lathe is that it is like using an Etch-a-Sketch to turn wood (you don’t hold the turning tool by hand). There is an X dial and a Y dial that move the tip and it takes quite a bit of unnatural coordination. It makes some things easy (like making a perfect barrel) and some things harder (like natural seeping curves). But it can be done!

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

I also had wondered if it was possible to use a metal lathe for WW. Now I know, good question, good answer!

-- ...it's rennovation time!!!

Derek,

Essentially, a metal lathe is a “programmable” lathe but the wood lathe is not. What I mean by that is that you have mechanical help in describing a trajectory for the cutting head, without the need to hold the tool in your hand.

Advantages of metal lathes:
1. You do not need a very steady hand or a very strong grip to machine any material, no matter how hard
2. You can machine perfect (simple) curves. For example, a perfect cone or cylinder

Disadvantages of metal lathes:
1. Expensive
2. Much lower capacity (swing over bed) than wood lathes
3. Complicated machines. Too many things to worry about

The wood lathe is a lot more appropriate for artistic work, in which you do not want to work with a prescribed shape but to follow your instinct. For example, it is fairly hard to do a perfect cylinder or a sphere (you basically need jigs to do that), but the turning is a lot more straightforward. I almost never think about the shape when I turn wood, I just do along with the “feeling”.

I can see two ways to use a metal lathe to turn wood:
1. Do what Blake did and play with the X-Y controls to get a shape. While it will work to some extent, the shape will be choppy (unless you have extraordinary skills).

2. Retrofit the metal lathe with a tool rest used for a wood lathe so you can use it like a normal wood lathe (not sure if you can find such a toolrest).

Unless you are very space constrained, I would strongly suggest you buy a wood lathe and a metal lathe. It is very likely that the metal lathe will cost you 5-10 times more than the wood lathe of the same capacity. If you are unsure you want to do a lot of metal work, go with the wood lathe for now.

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida