Woodturning Lathe

KPG

HI,
I'm looking to buy a new lathe around 3-400 Euro any advice?
Anybody know anything about a Draper WTL95?

cormie

Hi there!
I was in the same situation as you a few months back, I asked loads of people here, in shops etc etc and in the end chose a Sip 3/4hp lathe from a Martin Gleeson who's based in Kildare, his number is 0872406520. Here's a thread I started asking for the same advice if you want a read:)

The lathe I think cost about €370 and if your buying chisels etc off him too, he'll likely throw in a lot of freebies. I think I spent about €750 altogether to get the full shibang.

Qwerty?

I recently bought a Record DML36 lathe for €400. It included a stand, 6 record turning chisels, faceplate, live center & a bowl turning attachment. I bought it in Tripart in Galway.

KPG

Thanks for that guys. I had been speaking to a woodturner in Wicklow at the weekend and he told me about Martin Gleeson so I was onto him and it looks like I'll be getting a SIP 3/4 HP Cormie!!:)
I had been onto McQuillans and they said they were doing a deal for 346 euros for a Record DML 36 with 6 chisels and loads of extras totaling around 650 euros. But doing a bit of checking Records quality seems to be waining since they are being made in China now. The barrings are said to be poor quality. Sorry Qwerty I hope it's not true.

Cormie how do you find the SIP ?

Alun

KPG wrote:

I had been onto McQuillans and they said they were doing a deal for 346 euros for a Record DML 36 with 6 chisels and loads of extras totaling around 650 euros. But doing a bit of checking Records quality seems to be waining since they are being made in China now. The barrings are said to be poor quality. Sorry Qwerty I hope it's not true.

I learned to turn on an old Record lathe ... a DML24 I think, and it was pretty solidly built. Then I saw one of the new ones, and could hardly believe it was supposed to be the same lathe. The headstock casting is very small compared to the old one, and looks much lighter, i.e. thinner, as well, not to mention even more awkward to get your hand in to change the speed pulleys. I also spoke to Richard Gough who said the same, that the quality, and more importantly the service, had gone rapidly down hill recently. He's got spare parts delivered from Record, that have taken so long to come in, that he's forgotten he ever ordered them, and I'm still waiting on a small and thankfully not too important spare part for my Record bandsaw for over 6 months so far!

The Sip lathe is a version of a generic Chaiwanese design that you'll see under several different names on the market. They're made in literally dozens of different factories all over the Far East, and ultimately the quality of the lathe as a whole is really determined by the quality standards set by the customer when laying down the specification and the price. So just because two lathes look essentially the same on first sight, apart from the colour, they can actually be of very different quality. A classic example of this is the white Axminster range and the yellow Perform range, both in the same catalogue, but often with one costing twice the other.

Another important aspect to turning is that the lathe itself is just the beginning. You can easily spend twice that amount again on all the other stuff, some essential, some just "nice to have", so beware ... it's addictive

cormie

Hi again,
I've only turned one piece since I got it:o It took ages to get set up because I had to lay a concrete floor and do up the garden shed for it, then I was under loads of pressure with college. I turned my first tester piece the other day and it seems great, no problems at all:) That was just the other day and now I'm finished college I'll have a lot more time during the summer to do more! I got the same feedback about the Record deal, the chisels with that deal are supposed to be terrible, and the lathe isn't the best either. I'm quite certain the deal from Gleeson is probably one of, if not, the best available to beginner turners in Ireland. I always shop around, for everything and after my shopping around for Lathes, Gleeson came out on top. The McQuillans deal totals 650, I think I was looking at the same one, but for the extra 200 or whatever I paid, the quality will be far superior. Just look at the legs of each lathe even. Cast Iron on the Sip compared to cheapo steal on the Record. Once you go to Gleesons place, you'll realise that this guy is seriously into his turning. I mean McQuillans is probably one of the biggest specialist tool suppliers in the country, they had about 4 different lathes when I went downstairs in their shop, which was a lot compared to other shops, but when you go to Gleesons, there are lathes everywhere, all different kinds, tools etc. He teaches turning classes too and knows exactly what he's talking about. You'll also be able to get a few freebies off him, haggle as much as you can too, I know I did and saved a good bit and got a bit thrown in:D He has a load of chop saws he gets off B+Q returns from weekend jobs (people buy a chop saw for a weekend job and return it on Monday saying they don't like it:mad:). He gets them somehow and sells them for €30, I went up with my friend, we both bought lathes and tools and he threw one in, then we decided to put €15 each towards another so we'd have one each. For €30 you can't go wrong and when we were paying for that, he even gave us money off that too:D He still owes me a spare bearing for my lathe actually, forgot about it with all the other stuff he was throwing in. Remind him about it:D

Just had a look at the receipt, I think it came to about €850 I think. That's for 3/4 hp lathe (380), I think 7 high speed steel chisels for bowls and spindle turning (174), versa chuck (220), face mask (thrown in free), dust mask (25), grinder (65), pink grinding wheel (20). That's over 850, but I'm pretty sure I got it all for 850, on top of that then I got a pad for cleaning the grinding wheel, a centre finder, the chopsaw and a few other bits and pieces. My friend who was going for the 1/2 HP lathe, which didn't come with Cast Iron legs as standard, got Cast Iron legs thrown in too, which cost about €70 usually I think.

I ramble a lot, summary: good value. Good luck:)

KPG

Yea I can't wait to go down and see what he has. I did ask him about a bandsaw but he was looking for 299 for it. For the amount of use it will get it's a bit too much for me. This is a replacement lathe for me so I have have a good few bits and pieces already(SuperNova Chuck, face plates and pen mandrels) but I'm always willing to add to my collection. As Alun said it's very addictive. I never thought I would be looking at ebay and buying pen blanks from all over the world.:o Sad I know !!!!

Alun from what Martin Gleeson said it was a job lot or SIP lathes he had at the moment so that's why I ws asking Cormie about his and hopefully it's from the same lot.:)