# A Beginner's Dream



## JRPortman

i've seen this lathe at HF and have considered buying it a few times, but have always been concerned about the quality (or lack thereof) that Harbor Freight is known for. But what a price! And after reading your review it seems like maybe I should give it a shot after all. Thanks for the review and nice work. Don't let your wife turn you into a newt with that wand.


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## tomd

Purchased that lathe 10 years ago, learned to turn on it. If you want to look at my projects all the turning items were done on that lathe. Sold it last year. I felt it was a great learning lathe, you will have to replace the belt very soon because the original will not last long just get a good automotive belt and once a year open the drive cover and lub the shafts that the pulleys move on. Did that and never a problem.


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## Eric_S

I've had this lathe for almost a year and love it. Excellent beginners lathe yet large enough to do many different types of turnings. The spur center and tail piece is pretty crappy though. I purchased a live interchangeable center for the tail, and still plan on upgrading the spur. I also had to sand down the paint on the toolrest and since its a 12" toolrest it is a little too big for some of my smaller turnings so I also purchased a Sorby toolrest interchangeable mount. That required some grinding though to get it down to the odd size tool rest opening. But now I can swap out the toolrest for various styles.

If you find that the table vibrates too much, you may want to weigh down the leg ballist or make a hefty table like I did(workshop photos). Overall though its an excellent lathe.

Also, stay away from the Woodcraft adapter for the nova 2 chuck if you go that route, buy the adapter directly from Teknatool (type D).


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## b2rtch

I have the same lathe for about two year. 
I got it new for a ridiculously low price. (around @160.00. Jet sales the exact same lathe for over$800.00)
I do not use it very often but when I use it ti works just fine for me.


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## Raymond

I have the same one with a chuck as well. Works great for me


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## dustbunny

I also have this lathe and purchased these accessories from HF -

Screw Chuck
Drill Chuck
6 inch Faceplate

They all work fine. Enjoy your new toy !

Lisa


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## Grondor

Does anyone know what thread/size screw mount is needed to put a wheel of sorts on the back of the head stock? I actually also have a screw chuck for the tail stock, and I've used it without any problems. My next purchases will be a jaw chuck and something which will allow me to turn the head stock manually.


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## Ken90712

Congrats to you on your tool, and nice start on turning. I'm not a turner and one day will be getting a lathe to start learning.


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## wildbill001

Nice review and really nice turnings. I too have been considering this as my next lathe since I got rid of one of those "round-tube" lathes which I bought years ago. Good to hear folks have had them and used them for some time.

The only thing stopping me from getting one soon is space. I really don't want to cut the bed down so I gotta make room in the garage.

Bill


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## Bryan_M

Looks like you got the HSS lathe tools. There is nothing wrong with those at all. I feel like a schmuck for buying them and then going and buying a Sorby set that is nearly identical for more than twice the price. I can't tell any difference in the quality of steel. I use them all equally and have only broken one of the Sorbys. I started making pens with the smallest lathe HF sells and upgraded to a nicer one made by somebody else… that eventually burned out the speed control. I swiped the speed control from the old HF lathe and put into the "nicer" one and its been running strong for a couple years now. People like to rip on Harbor Freight because some things are very poor quality (hand planes for instance) but they really do have some decent things there too.


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## StumpyNubs

I have that lathe and gotta say, it's one of the great buys at HF! It's every bit as good as a LOT more expensive lathes. One feature that is nice is that the head turns sideways to accomidate larger turnings. But don't expect to turn a big 16" bowl- the motor just doesn't have the power for that.


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## USCJeff

I used one of these for a while and did some good work on it. I have better than average turning tools and sharpening equipment which helped a lot. However, I have used a couple other lathes and didn't realize what the HF lathe was lacking until then. Comparing the vibration of this one to a mid level lathe is a pretty big gap. I could get the same results on the HF lathe, just required much more work and a few more mistakes. I used a Barracuda chuck and mounted the lathe to a stronger stand and that went a long ways. The belt (at least the one I got) wasn't molded correctly. I had to use a knife to get a few bumps off it. The locking mechanisms for the tail stock aren't the greatest. Good started lathe and you can't beat the price.


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## mountainaxe

Great review. I've been working straight cabinet/furniture work for years and always wanted to try turning. Price has always been a major obstacle. After doing some research this month, I found a lot of positive reviews of this HF lathe. I was initially a skeptic because HF is known for cheap tools. After learning that this lathe is an identical clone of the Jet JWL 1236 (except for paint color and switch location), which retails for over $1K, my interest peaked. HF has this lathe on sale for $199 and I couldn't resist…picked one up this afternoon. Price is simply unbeatable. The current issue of American Woodworker has a good looking stand plan & I think I'll build it. Really looking forward to making some chips fly.


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## Yurik

Nice review. I have the same lathe and it is very versatile. I only had to attache it to the wall with very sturdy frame for bowl turning. With my first not well balanced piece of wood (6×12") it was jumping all over the place like a kangaroo.


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## hoppeman

Hello, I am a beginner woodworker, do not have a lathe,but, do have all the rest of the hand tools and power tools. Wood like to know if the bench top model HB has is worth the money, I do have a basement big enough for either. Wood like to start to learn how to turn for future projects, like plates and goblets and the like.

Thx, Steve


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## Grondor

Steve,

I would say it's absolutely worth the money if it's something you can see yourself doing regularly. I've become a bit of a turning fanatic because of this beast and turn at least one thing every day-my family bought me 3 new lathe tools for christmas, plus a bunch of pen blanks and kits! For christmas I made a few pens as presents, and at a total cost of around $13 I turned items which would have cost closer to $200 if you were to buy them in a store.

Good luck either way, Steve! Remember, the right tool may be half the job done, but the other half has to be the person working it. A $4000 machine won't do well for someone who's not dedicated to learning it, but a $300 machine can if you make it happen yourself.


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## mpwilson

I just took the box out of my truck. Haven't even opened it yet. What would you guys recommend for a chuck and basic starting gear? I was looking at those Barracuda chucks on amazon, but don't have the background to know if they're as good as they seem.


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## Grondor

I've only heard good things about the barracuda chucks, but I can't personally afford one. I went with a $40 chuck from Penn State Industries (http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CUG3418CCX.html), and it's worked well for me so far.

As for accessories and tools, a basic chisel set from HF has lasted me 2 years and still going strong. It has two skew chisels (1/2" and 1"), two roughing gouges (3/4" and 1"), a round nosed scraper, a diamond shaped scraper (which I really never use, and am planning to re-grind to a flat-nosed scraper), a spindle gouge and a 1/8" parting tool. The whole set cost me around $45. In addition I have purchased a bowl gouge, a hollowing scraper with a curved shaft, a round carbide tip chisel from Rockler (which was nothing like I expected, and while I hated it at first, it's come in handy for some hollowing). I also made myself a narrow parting tool using a dull saws-all blade (look on YouTube for videos on how to make them, they're super-handy) plus a very narrow-tipped parting tool used for extreme miniature turnings. For making captive rings I picked up a couple of 4-piece pick and hook tool sets from HF and ground the tips to act as scrapers, and I've used them to make large and small rings with great success-there's NO need to blow $60+ on a ring tool.

What I would recommend is get the most basic starter kit you can find, and get one solid bowl gouge. maybe a 1/2".

Also, if you don't have a grinder, you'll want to eventually get one-if it doesn't come with it, get a semi-fine grit (100-120) stone and find some videos on how to sharpen. The bowl and spindle gouges are the hardest to sharpen, and if you can afford a jig for it I recommend it. I made my own out of wood, a steel rod, a nut and a screw. I found the plans for it online somewhere, searching for "diy bowl gouge sharpening jig" or something like that.

Other than that you'll probably want to get a #2 morse taper jacob's chuck for holding drill bits in the tail stock. Got this from HF as well, and haven't had any problems with it.

The only other thing I will recommend is getting another live center-the one that came with the lathe works fine for me still, but a cone-shaped one is nice to have-I do NOT recommend the one from Penn State. It was cheap, and I in that case I got what I paid for.

Finally, unrelated to equipment, the turners that have benefited me the absolute most are Carl Jacobson and Captain Eddie Castelin on YouTube. I wish they'd had the tips on how to use a skew chisel when I first started.

If there's anything here that's not clear, please feel free to ask-that's what we're here for! Oh, and one more thing: have fun! Make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, then go make some more, but have some fun and be safe!


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## mpwilson

Wow, thanks a lot! I do have a bit of a leg up as I'm also a beginning machinist, but started that madness a couple years ago. I've got MT2 chucks and live centers all over the place that will hold me 'til I get a set dedicated for the wood lathe.

I did pick up the lathe tool set from HF when I was there and I've got a reasonable grinder.

I have no doubt that my first several lathe projects are going to be a host of new shapes for the scrap bucket and about 25 gallons of sawdust. Fine with me.


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