Holzstar DB 450 Woodturning Lathe

BackInTown

Hi All,

My father-in-law is thinking about a lathe. I have no experience, but as I know the guys on here do, I said I'd ask opinions (also as I am next door, I might get an occasional play with a new toy!). I had a quick search on here but couldn't find information specific to the model he is looking at. Is there an existing beginner lathe thread, somewhere in the archives that I missed (like the recent post on planers/thicknessers)?

https://www.stuermer-machines.com/wood-working/woodworking-machinery-lathes/db-450-5920450/

Any thoughts? or suggested alternatives? Can this one do small bowls and spindle work? i see an extension is available.

This would be hobby use, and beginner type stuff, but he would like to buy reasonable quality in the key components.

Is this an alternative? - I've seen record mentioned in other posts: RP DML250 Cast Iron 10" Mini Lathe

Or if anyone is selling something please let me know!

magicbastarder

any lathe should be able to do small bowls and spindle work - the one above can do bowls to a max of 10 inches, but bear in mind that your finished item will usually be smaller than this (unless the blank is already perfectly round going on the lathe).
Sparks on here got a lathe recently from the carpentry store in Naas, but i think they're fully closed up at the moment. that or mcquillans are probably the nearest to Dublin to view lathes usually, but i think people prefer the carpentry store (it's where i bought mine).

chillyspoon

Another option is WH Raitt in Donegal, they stock the Record Power machine you mentioned, it'd be worth a call to Stan there if you're interested in that one, he's really helpful and knowledgeable:

https://www.whraitt.ie/p/rp_dml250_cast_iron_10_mini_lathe

mayo.mick

BackInTown wrote: »

Hi All,

My father-in-law is thinking about a lathe. I have no experience, but as I know the guys on here do, I said I'd ask opinions (also as I am next door, I might get an occasional play with a new toy!). I had a quick search on here but couldn't find information specific to the model he is looking at. Is there an existing beginner lathe thread, somewhere in the archives that I missed (like the recent post on planers/thicknessers)?

https://www.stuermer-machines.com/wood-working/woodworking-machinery-lathes/db-450-5920450/

Any thoughts? or suggested alternatives? Can this one do small bowls and spindle work? i see an extension is available.

This would be hobby use, and beginner type stuff, but he would like to buy reasonable quality in the key components.

Is this an alternative? - I've seen record mentioned in other posts: RP DML250 Cast Iron 10" Mini Lathe

Or if anyone is selling something please let me know!

I'd recommend getting in contact with your local woodturning chapter, find out local members they'd steer you in the right direction.

Stanirish

dml250 grossly underpowered - good for making pens and really small stuff - minimum and by far the most popular seller is the DML305 - budget around 700 euro for lathe, good set of chisels, small bench grinder and chuck.

Sparks

The one I got from the carpentry store was the Axminster AC305 which I think is about the equivalent of the DML305, maybe a little bit less green
It was going for 400 there; I got a 3" xact chuck in a sale last christmas for about 60 quid (they're 90 at the moment), and rutlands.co.uk do a beginners set of chisels that are pretty decent for about 110 delivered. So 600 quid would get you enough to get started.

And then you start buying extra stuff and soon enough the lathe costs less than the other stuff you've bought to bolt to it

So far I'm up to two new rests, a new set of jaws for the chuck, a sharpening jig for the grinder, and a jacobson chuck on a MT2 taper for the tailstock and I have a feeling this won't end soon
Happily the 305s have an MT2 (morse taper #2) for both headstock and tailstock and a standard 1" 8tpi thread on the spindle so anything you buy for them will fit larger lathes if you move up (until you get up to industrial machines or buy a 20-year-old second-hand coronet or similar lathe where they'll use different tapers or spindle threads).

Hell of a lot of fun though...

chillyspoon

Sparks wrote: »

I got a 3" xact chuck in a sale last christmas for about 60 quid (they're 90 at the moment)

I got the same chuck - they're great value.

magicbastarder

Stanirish wrote: »

dml250 grossly underpowered - good for making pens and really small stuff - minimum and by far the most popular seller is the DML305 - budget around 700 euro for lathe, good set of chisels, small bench grinder and chuck.

looks like the 305 is 50% more powerful for a price difference (as stated on the record power site) of £50, and i'd agree that that alone would be worth the extra money.

BackInTown

Thanks for all the replies, and I thought I'd update you all. The father-in-law was using this as a bit of a diversion from COVID cocooning and decided to just grab the bull by the horns. He has gone with this lathe from a nearby supplier. https://mtsdirect.ie/product/holzmann-d460fxl_230v-wood-lathe/

After he gets it up and running and when he is no longer cocooning I'll be able to have a go and will let y'all know how we go.

Thanks again guys. I also got the contact details for the local chapter as advised. They meet pretty close to home so looking forward to that in the future.

Sparks

That looks like a nice lathe to me!

Vizzy

Look what arrived today:)

Have never done any woodturning before, but I make a few sticks, so I have a bit of understanding of wood (I hope). But having said that, I'll probably be a long time trying before I complete a decent project.

BackInTown

Vizzy wrote: »

Look what arrived today:)

Have never done any woodturning before, but I make a few sticks, so I have a bit of understanding of wood (I hope). But having said that, I'll probably be a long time trying before I complete a decent project.

Very nice! And good luck with it. My Father in laws has arrived too. I’ve only had a few spins so far but have had no complaints (though little basis for that, other than I’m still alive and the lathe is still in its place). Let us know how the extension is please? I’m planning to try make something small but usable like an egg cup this weekend.

Vizzy

It was your post,above, that convinced me to buy it.

Had a chat with a carpentry teacher who had a secondhand Record for sale, but he advised me to go with the new one because of electronic speed control.

While I was at it I purchased the extension as it was going cheap.

Now to start to spend some real money on chucks and jaws, sharpening machine etc.

Covid eh !!!!

I'll keep you posted.

Sparks

That's very nice. And the electronic speed control is very worth it.
The sharpening machine is going to be the next big shock though
(Although I'm getting by with a lidl bench grinder, a 25 euro white wheel from the carpentry store and a knock-off of the wolverine jig design off ebay - but at some point you'll be paying a few hundred for something fancy or more than a few hundred in replacement tools as you grind them away )
'Tis a whole lot of fun though...

magicbastarder

i have one of the scheppach knockoffs of the tiger system - an older version of this - and it works, but the wheel is not a consistent hardness so it wears unevenly and there's a bit of a 'hop' while sharpening, but it's still usable for sharpening the likes of bowl gouges. i wouldn't think i'd be wanting to sharpen chisel blades on it though.

Sparks

I think (and I don't know, I'm still choosing myself) the choices for a "proper" sharpening setup that you can use in a small shed seem to come down one of three:

1. A Tormek or one of the numerous clones now available (and which are a tad cheaper thankfully) like MB's scheppach or record power's one or any of a dozen others.
2. A Sorby Pro-Edge or one of its clones (axminister's ulimate edge is the only one I've seen so far myself but there have to be others out there by now).
3. A slow-speed bench grinder.

And of course, whichever you get, you'll need a jig to hold the tool you're sharpening. I mean, technically you can do it freehand but it's a lot of skill to do that for anything other than a spindle roughing gouge or a parting tool, and if you slip on most of those, things could get very A&E in a hurry.

Myself, I don't have a lot of space so the grinder has to live on the wall most of the time, so the Tormek's out because of the water and the pro-edge is nice but I already have a normal-speed bench grinder so that's more familiar to me so at some point later this year, I'll probably just buy Dictum's package of slow-speed grinder, CBN wheels and sharpening jig. At which point I will have spent more buying the sharpening setup than I did buying the lathe
For now though, the normal-speed grinder and a white wheel and being very light with passes on the wheel is getting me by so I can save up a bit for it and call it a birthday present later on

magicbastarder

worth noting that depending on what angle i'm sharpening to, and how long the gouge is, you might need two foot of clear space either side of the grinder too, especially when doing the wings on the grind.

Sparks

Not to mention that doing the middle bit of the grind will remind you if you're carrying any extra padding around the midriff... :rolleyes:

Alun

Yes, it's only after a while that you realise that what you thought was the really expensive part of getting in to woodturning, the lathe, pales into insignificance compared to all the other "stuff" you acquire over the years

mayo.mick

Alun wrote: »

Yes, it's only after a while that you realise that what you thought was the really expensive part of getting in to woodturning, the lathe, pales into insignificance compared to all the other "stuff" you acquire over the years

Its funny, EVERY woodturner I know suffers from GAS
(Gear acquisition syndrome :pac:)

magicbastarder

i find i don't have problems with GAS so much as i have problems with WAS.