But there is something about the freedom of a high quality wood lathe.
I have a neighbor who turns bowls and vases from old rotten tree parts
on an ancient Oliver. He would not trade it for the finest metal lathe
on the market but his aproach is completely different from ours.
Straight lines and mathematics just interfere with his bringing out the
"spirit" of the wood. I guess artist and engineers have different Zin. :-)

Jim Woodward wrote:
I have never really understood why anyone buys a wood lathe -- and I say
this only a little in jest.

Wood lathes are expensive, the good ones are heavy, but you still have to
hold the tool. A metal lathe of similar size, that's old and little tired
for precision metalworking, will sell for less money than a similar sized
wood lathe, but do precision woodwork and also pretty good metalwork.

I've had a 13" South Bend for years. It was born in the same year I was,
1943, and is definitely not a production machine, but it does work that's
just fine for most boat purposes. The bed is only 48", which means that it
will do only around 20" between centers, but I have an aluminum extension
that will hold a tailstock way out there for woodwork. And, of course, both
the steady rest and the hole through the headstock let you do longer work
that's thin.

With steady rest, taper attachment, three jaw chuck, four jaw chuck,
faceplates, legs, and 1/2 hp single phase motor mounted on a separate floor
mount (motor probably came with the lathe -- it's huge), it would probably
go today for around $850.

I've just bought a 9" South Bend at auction, with a six jaw chuck, collet
closer and collets, and miscellaneous tooling for $650. It's also got a 48"
bed, but because both the headstock and the tailstock are shorter, it will
do 30" between centers. I bought it because it's a better size for Fintry
and sits on a bench. It's somewhat younger, maybe 1965 or so.

Now the only significant disadvantage I see with these guys is that they're
heavy -- that's good when using them, but bad when moving. However, even
the 13" comes apart into pieces no one of which weighs more than around 140
pounds. The heaviest piece of the 9" (the bed) is around 90 pounds. They
won't spin up quite as fast as a wood lathe, but that's not really a
problem.

Parts for South Bend and the other standard brands are easily available --
indeed the dealers say that parting out (on eBay) is always more lucrative
than selling the whole thing -- but it's sort of beside the point, as
they're so rock solid that parts are rarely needed.

So why buy a wood lathe?


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com