Opinion On This Lathe Please

[Richard in Smithville]

I have always had an itch to try my hand at turning but something else has always come up to interfere with the cash flow. I have found this lathe on sale. It's a beginners lathe I know, but will I reach it's limitations in too short a time? Your opinion would be valuable.
TIA

BTW-Right now I only want to turn smaller objects like pens and stuff-not pool cues

[Uncle Cracker]

Exactly the same as the one Harbor Freight sells... Stamped steel bedways is not a good way to go (pun intended...).

[Whaler]

My opinion only but save your money and use it towards a Jet, Delta, Rikon or PSI mini lathe. It won't take long before that one will become a boat anchor.

[dbhost]

LarryL has the Harbor Freight version of that lathe, and seems happy with it. (I asked him about it a while back). The big drawback is the one that can't be easily modded away, and that is the stamped steel bedway. Flexes too much to be truly useful. This is probably a much better lathe than the ones based on the tube like the Ridgid and the older Craftsman, but that doesn't take much to beat...

Not sure if you have Rockler up there in the great white north, but they have a pretty nice little mini lathe for $200.00 that looks hard to beat...

[Jim Frye]

It might work...

I have always had an itch to try my hand at turning but something else has always come up to interfere with the cash flow. I have found this lathe on sale. It's a beginners lathe I know, but will I reach it's limitations in too short a time? Your opinion would be valuable.
TIA

BTW-Right now I only want to turn smaller objects like pens and stuff-not pool cues

You will probably limit out on this machine rather quickly. It might be workable if you put it on a really stiff base with a good amount of mass in it. If you must go this route, build a box shaped base with sides that are at least as wide as the headstock. Then fill that base with sand packed as tight as you can. Mount this box on a stand with wide spaced legs and add more weight on a shelf near the bottom of the legs. The square tubular way pipes will not be very sturdy unless they are made solid. They will flex while you are trying to turn and it will make your cuts hard to control. An old trick is to fill tubular ways pipes with concrete to make them stiff enough. The tool rest support looks so spindly that it will break with very little pressure. I'll bet your first tool catch will break it. The 7" swing is way too big for this machine. If you mount a 14" diameter workpiece on this, it will not handle it. The 1/2 hp. motor is marginal also. Seems like a lot of work to make this machine usable.

[leehljp]

I agree with the above statements. One thing to look for is the "Spindle". I recommend looking in the specifications for #2MT (Morse Taper) as this has the most options available if you want to expand your turning options. #2MT will also give you a broader base of buyers if you decide to sell it. Those in the "know" will be in the group as potential purchasers in addition to those who "don't know". Also, the 2MT tools can be probably used if you decide to upgrade to a larger lathe in the future.

#2MT seems to be the standard for looking at a bottom end good lathe, IMO. If it is not written on the specs, it probably does not have it.

[Richard in Smithville]

Thanks for the replies. It's kind of what I figured. I think I'll just keep an eye on C.L. and Kijjiji.

I don't want to be discouraged because of a poor tool.