Lathe Opinions

Jeffery_Suter · Post by **Jeffery_Suter** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:48 pm

Hey there pipe folks!

I'm wondering what options I might have on getting a Metal Lathe that can handle all of the wood drilling and overall stummel work and still handle the stem work as well as a micro lathe...

My thinking is that I'd rather spend the cash on a machine that can do both than 2 machines dedicated to one use...

On one side, it would be nice to not have to change chucks constantly and have a machine "ready on the fly", however, it would also be nice to simply have one top quaility machine that could handle both tasks... and take up less space...

Any thoughts?

kbosi · Post by **kbosi** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 4:42 pm

This is the one I'll be getting.
http://www.lathemaster.com/LATHEMASTER9x20Lathe.htm

Jeffery_Suter · Post by **Jeffery_Suter** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 4:46 pm

Now That's What I'm Talking About! 8O

Man Kirk, that's a beauty...

Thank's for the insight!

Best-
Jeff
jsuter@smokeshopreview.com

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 4:49 pm

Yep, looks pretty damn good to me.

kbosi · Post by **kbosi** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 5:40 pm

I have been doing a lot of research on this lathe in the new groups and I feel that this would be the best choice. only problem is that they have been out of stock for about a month. I have email them and they will notify me when they are back in stock.

Jeffery_Suter · Post by **Jeffery_Suter** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 12:18 pm

Kirk,

I e-mailed the also, but I also was looking at this model: http://www.lathemaster.com/LATHEMASTER8x14Lathe.htm

Do you see any reason why this model wouldn't do as well as the larger one?

Post by **Tyler** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 2:41 pm

Jeff,

Personally, I would get the bigger one because of churchwardens. Granted, churchwardens are small fraction of the pipes one makes, but when you need more length, it is hard to get by without it. Of course, 14" is plenty for a warden if turning a tenon on a preformed stem is all you'd do, but if you want to hand cut one, you need to drill the rod. So if you want an 11" stem, you need that length plus at least 6" for the bit. You couldn't do it on this lathe.

Tyler

Jeffery_Suter · Post by **Jeffery_Suter** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 4:34 pm

Exellent points Tyler!

Indeed, churchwardens are an important point for me, because I will be making wooded stems for LOTR style pipes I'll be selling at Ren Faires next year...

Thanks for the thoughts...

Jeffery_Suter · Post by **Jeffery_Suter** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:11 pm

I would agree that a self-centering chuck would be pretty important to me, and has been questioned about for every lathe I have considered so far...

Thanks for the words everyone...