# 12'' x 33-3/8'' Wood Lathe with Reversible Head



## dbhost

AFAIK the cream white paint color, black and red striping, and switch location on the stand leg are unique to the Jet making the "exclusive" claim legit to a point. In all effectiveness though… The HF is every big as good of a tool. Maybe not with the same resale value, but unless you are buying your tools to keep them in a museum then sell them when you retire, who cares what the resale is on them?

One weak point i have heard of on these, but not experienced myself is the belt isn't that durable. There is a NAPA belt # somewhere on the web as a replacement for these…


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## longgone

I was just looking at the same HF lathe last week. I have not used a lathe in many years and am thinking this might be a cheap way to find out if I really would maintain interest in using one.
The $249 seems cheap enough. The manager of the store where you bought yours must have thrown in a little exttra discount because 20% off of $249 is $199…so your price of $179 is even better.
I think I will have to go buy one this weekend. I was talking to a friend who does some excellent lathe turnings and he suggested that I go a little extra on the turning tool chisels instead of the HF set since better chisels will make a big difference.
Now all i need to do is figure out where it will fit in the shop.


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## b2rtch

I believe that if you buy the High Speed Steel chisels at HF, you will have good chisels also.
Look at the lath and I think that you will agree with me that even if it is inexpensive, there nothing cheap about it.


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## rsharp

I bought the same HF lathe over a year ago, only because it was on sale. Put it together, turned the motor on to make sure it worked, and haven't touched it since. Maybe Charlie's recent activity will one day push me over the edge to actually try my hand at turning.


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## b2rtch

I tried my hand at turning last weekend and IT IS A LOT OF FUN.


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## puzzled

I have had the same HF lathe for a few years now and for small things (under 6" in diameter), it works great. Anything over that and the motor just seems to struggle unless you take really light cuts. For the price and for the amount of abuse my lathe has seen, I would recommend getting one. Once I get my big lathe wired up, the HF lathe is going to become my buffing station.

Trey


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## dustbunny

I own this lathe too, and the HSS chisels.
Haven't had any problems with this lathe, I have turned spindles, pens, a couple of bowls, and a round end grain cutting board. I have found it to run true to center, and has run strong through some larger turnings.
The nice part of this lathe is that the head rotates so you can do out turning, which is how I did the cutting board. Great deal, hope you enjoy it. Looking forward to some posts.

Lisa


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## dbhost

I've spun a couple of larger diameter items on mine… (8" or so) Never seemed a problem. But I did manage to stall it when digging DEEP with a dull skew. I am not going to blame the lathe for my stupidity…

Randy,

Start using the lathe and you might end up acting like a crack head looking for a fix, digging around your neighbor's trash looking for a score of some interesting stock to stuff on the lathe… Not that I have ever done that or anything though…

Seriously though, turning is super addictive. I have totally messed up spindles just concentrating on watching the streamer like shavings spooling off the spindle gouges…

b2rtch, if you don't have a sharpening system, you will need one, SOON…


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## flyingoak

I have had 2 …..
First Burned up
second the head stock moves too much when you put pressure on it.

otherwise it runs well


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## b2rtch

Did someone mentioned that this lath a 10 speeds with out changing belts.
Really nice.


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## dbhost

"second the head stock moves too much when you put pressure on it."

Tighten the nut under the headstock. You will have to remove the base to do this…


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## richgreer

Thanks for the review.

May I suggest that Grizzly also makes some very good lathes at very reasonable prices. I really don't understand the prices on some of the "big brand" lathes.


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## dbhost

Actually if I were to upgrade to a big lathe, I would give the 18×47 Grizz a good look…


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## tomd

I had that lathe for 10 years, learned to turn on it. Bought it to turn spindles and make chairs, that went on for about 4 years then my wife said you better not bring another chair into this house, after that I found bowl turning and segmented turning. I paid $250 for it 10 years ago and just sold it for $100, you can't beat that. I have seen turners go though slowly upgrading lathes, and at my age I couldn't take the time to go through several lathes so I went for a final lathe. I bought the PM3520 most likely over kill but I will not be upgrading.


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## Raymond

I have the same lathe, actually have had two, one was a Mastercraft from Canadian Tire, it was even the same HF green color, just a different name. I believe that the Jet Lathe and the Harbor Freight may use the same castings but I think that is were the similarity ends. If I am not mistaken and I might be, but I think the plant that turns these things out has different lines, Jet gets better bearing, better switches, fit and and finish is better, probably a better motor. That being said for the difference in price you can't beat the HF lathe, or may of there other tools. I will say that there chisels let a bit to be desired. But again for the price, there not that bad.


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## dbhost

Tomd,

I did say IF…. I can't imagine needing to, or wanting to upgrade. Maybe after I retire and need to keep busy, but while I am still young-ish, have family at home and not in the wifes hair all the time, this will do fine.


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## DTWoodknot

I'm tempted to get one of these next time it's on sale. I have an old craftsman that works ok, but want to up grade. As far as Lathe tools go if anyone is looking, check out pennstate they have some nice sets that are not outrageously priced and you can get them with out handles and turn your own. 
http://www.pennstateind.com/


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## Raymond

Id still say you can't go wrong with HF lathe, it's big and heavy. The speed control is kinda cool to. No belts to change.


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## 33706

Hopefully, somebody with a great deal of experience will come in and offer a comparison between this HF unit and other various lathes that they have operated, big and small, old and new. 
A good review will have this sort of evaluation in it. Just a suggestion. I'd hate to see a first-time lathe owner get discouraged, or turned off completely, due to an under-performing lathe purchase.


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## boboswin

I had one of those for a few years and got hours of enjoyment from ot.
It has it limitations:
1.You can only turn up to bout 10" bowls. 
2 The lowest speed you can use is around 600 RPM which can be too fast for roughing a new piece of wood.
3. The drive spindle is not always centric and can have annoying runout.
4. It's reletively light and you must sandbag it.
5. Outboard tuning requires an addition tool rest - none are provided so you will have to get one made.

I have a Delta 16" varible speed now with a 46" bed and it is variable speed.
I paid about 10 times the price for it so be prepared to spend serious cash if you decide to turn wood.
I have in the neighbourhodd of 3500.00 tied up in perpheral lathe related equipment which seemed to be needed as my journey progressed.

It's not for the weak of heart.


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## dbhost

Eh, dumb reply, never mind…


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## StuUSA

I've had the HF lathe for about a year and love it! I've heard the belt is a weak point, but no problem so far. I do have a spare hanging on the wall just in case. By the way, the NAPA number is 3L240W.


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## tomd

Bert, if you really begin to enjoy turning you can be sucked into the vortex of woodturning. Then you will begin looking at bigger and betters lathes, so never say never, I did.


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## tooldad

I am commenting on what I have heard, so correct me if I am wrong as there are several LJ's that own this lathe. I heard that HF lathes have a different head stock diameter and thread count. The standard of 1", 8TPI is not the case on the HF lathes. Might be difficult to get accessories or limited accessories? There is an adapter I do know for sure, I think even HF has it on their site so you can use 1" 8tpi chucks that thread on.


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## b2rtch

According to the manual the thread are: 1" 8tpi.


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## Eric_S

I just got an e-mail from HF and this exact lathe is on sale for $199 until 3/24 for anyone interested.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/common/displayCoupon.do?week=1210&campaign=RetailB_v3&page=coupon14.html&single=true&cust=00140175814&keycode=0000


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## Eagle1

I got mine a few months ago. No problem at all. There are a few reviews on here, that talk about the vibration that you can get. They ended up weighting it down with sandbags. I mounted on one of my benches no vibration now..


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## davidmicraig

There is another model of lathe that HF carries that does not have headstock with a standard thread count. I have one of them but found an adapter for it on the penn state site. This model, as already stated, has an 8 TPI, one inch diameter chuck that can use after market chucks. It also uses a Morse #2 taper that allows you to use 3rd party tailstocks as well.

David


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## 4woodturning

There has been some problems with the head and tail stock lining back up. be sure to use a reline tool. (needed on any rotating head for true realignment) . V-Speed has been known to get stuck if you leave it up and let the lathe sit for a long period of time. be sure to turn it back all the away down when you are finished using your lathe. a sand box on the bottom will help with vibration, same with Jet or Delta in the similar models. agree with statement above on lower speed 600 rpm is a little high for 10" out of round unbalanced bowl.

I have up graded lathes for many years, once your sucked in the woodturning vortex there is no way out. so run save your self its to late for me.

"There is only Oneway to turn wood and that is….....Safely"


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## billthekatt

it was the most hated peice of equipment in my shop..its now sitting in a corner rusting..very seldom ever used it because it was the most vibrating thing i have ever seen..got a new craftsman pro unit a few months ago and now i love turning wood again..


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## Mike67

Ive turned several chair legs on this guy as well as a bunch of bowls and a few lamps. The belt started to slip at one point but blowing some compressed air on the belt and pulley system got it working fine again. Its a gem. make sure you get it on sale. I don't think I paid more than about $150 for it.


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## JJohnston

These have gone up lately, but are on sale right now for $250. With the 20% off coupon, I picked one up this weekend for $200.


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## b2rtch

I paid $179.00 for mine!
I had a very good deal.


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## ic3ss

Many if not most of these Chinese/Taiwan manufacturers use the same casting molds, (or at least very similar) as name brand manufacturers. But using the same castings molds don't guarentee the same results in a casting part that's the same strength and able to resist cracking, machining accuracy and finish quality. Aside from the castings, I have strong opinions on the quality of motors and switches used on HF tools. In a word: they are crap, and I think all HF power tools should come with a owneer's death certificate rivited to the side of the motor next to the ID plate. And how about the quality of bearings, etc. not to mention stupid problems like Tooldad and David Craig said above about the headstock that didn't have a standard thread count and had to use an adapter.

Tools like Jet and the like cost more because they put better quality parts into the tools they make. These parts, while not changing the outside appearance, make a huge difference in how well the tool works. Problems like bent parts, shafts that don't turn concentric, early electrical failures, poor quality gear machining, sloppy movement, and weak parts that break easlily are all common problems with HF tools. If you buy one and have no issues, then good on you, enjoy your new tool. But I know this is not the norm. If you want accuracy, reliablity, safety, and overall quality, buy the Jet, Delta or whatever.

Just because they're all made in china doesn't mean they're all the same quality.


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## 33706

b2rtch sez: * I bought this lathe which was on sale for $249.00 but as usual the manager who knows me also accepted a 20% discount, my final price was $179.00.*

Hey, he musta been using a Harbor Freight calculator, too! Yee-haw.


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