[swinging slow]

hello all, am a keen diy enthusiast and have always managed to get buy without needing much help covering just about everything from painting plumbing decorating and so on, have a vast selection of hand tools and gadgets so have now decided after a couple of years of ill health to try and get my self more into woodworking and aim to kit out my garage with a decent bench and maybe with all your help some decent machines, i don't intend spending loads and am gonna do it a bit at a time but as i say will some help and guidance along the way
i am thinking to try and purchase a wood turning lathe as a starter and may be a scroller, so any suggestions as to what is good and what to avoid, the machine will need to be reasonably long between centres as i want to make some nice walking sticks but will start smaller maybe some pens just to gain so experience
any suggestions welcome
thanks and sorry for whining on
garry:thumbsup:

 

[Paarker]

Welcome!

 

[DerlC]

I'm not a woodturning man but there is a great woodturning section on this forum. Welcome to the forum from East Texas.:thumbsup:

 

[44260]

I am new to woodworking and this forum also. I am also getting into woodworking as a hobby but I am getting into bowl turning. I am on disability due to bad health and my wife suggested woodworking for something to do to keep busy. I have done a lot of research and have a lot of learning to do myself, but if I can help you out I would be more then willing. Welcome to the forum, there is a lot of good information here and a lot of experienced wood workers willing to help with problems you may have.

 

[cabinetman]

.

 

[w1pers]

Welcome...I too am new to woodworking. Just picked up an old lathe I am hoping will get me started. We will learn together.

 

[swinging slow]

thank everyone nice to have some friendly advice, my first question is can i get decent wood lathe for about £200 about $320 or shall i really need to spend more taking into account i don't just want a starting machine only to find its not up to the mark for all my needs, i don't mind second hand but would prefer something with some warrantee on it perhaps a refurb or the like what is the best to look out for is it motor size or variable speed maybe, as i said any advice is very welcome also how much to get a descent scroller again should i get new or used thanks all look foreword to your thoughts
Garry

 

[44260]

Like I said earlier, I am new to wood working myself, but for what it may be worth I will give you information based on my reasearch and what I have learned so far.
Let's talk about a lathe first. I am not gonna recommend brand names because everyone has their preference and some like a certain lathe and others don"t. What I will tell you is that you are probably looking closer to $600-$800 to get a lathe that you can turn walking sticks. You will need to make sure the lathe has an optional bed extension available to get the length you need for walking sticks, not all lathes have this option available. You will also need a steady rest in order to turn walking sticks. A steady rest supports the work in the middle of a long turning to keep it from flexing and adds extra support so it does not break or come out of the chuck or spindle. Steady rests can be made or purchased, search YouTube for information on how to make them and to get a better idea on how they work. You probably can get a lathe for $320 if you just want to start with pen turning, bottle stoppers,etc but you will need to by a bigger lathe later on for your walking sticks.Some wood turners like the fact that they have 2 lathes, a small one for small work and a larger one for bigger work.
I would like to talk about your walking stick idea for a minute. I have never heard of a walking stick being turned on a lathe. The walking sticks I have seen made all have been hand carved. I am by no means saying you can't turn one because it certainly can be, I have just never heard of making one this way and I had to do some thinking about it before I responded to your post.
Let's get to your scroll saw question. First off I would not even consider buying one that the table does not tilt left and right. I would also get a "bottom feed" saw if you are gonna be doing fretwork. If I was looking to buy a new scroll saw (I am consumed with bowl turning right now) I would be looking at either the Delta 40-695 or the Dewalt 788. I have no personal experience with either one of these saws but if you look at reviews on these saws the general consences should be that both are good saws, will do just about anything you can do with a scroll saw, and do not cost thousands of dollars. Both of these saws are still a little pricey at $500-$600.
I hope some of my information will help you out.

 

[swinging slow]

thanks again for your input will have a read up on both the saws shortly my main concern is the lathe as thats the first on my list to buy, my uncle put me in mind of walking sticks he made hundreds over the years although no longer hear to offer his wisdom though i did see many of his sticks and they were fantastic, thinking about it allot of them were two piece so maybe get away with a normal sized machine, (room would not allow 2 machines) i am going to become a youtube junkie for a while and see if this can help me any, the one down side to that is even the worse machines can look good when on tv. thanks again for the imput its all been taken in

 

[44260]

I have found YouTube very helpfull for a lot of things, but I have found videos on there that people do unsafe things.
Your concern about the space for 2 lathes, if your small lathe is small enough you can mount it to a piece of plywood and store it under the bench of the big lathe. When you want to use the little lathe remove the tailstock and rest on big lathe and set your little lathe on the bed and clamp it down. Just something to consider.

 

[TexasSawduster]

Welcome !!!

Welcome to the forum.

 

[rayking49]

Welcome to wwt.