I think my purchases may be a bit... impulsive.

I've come to this conclusion (often stated by my wife) after a moment of realisation. After not seeing it in the guide for ages I'd watched a couple of episodes of "New Yankee Workshop" on discovery shed and 3 hours later I was the proud winner of a wood lathe on ebay

I've always wanted a play with one and not had the chance so I'm hoping it will be a bit of fun. Ended up getting an unwanted present one, should be £130ish new and my bid was £41 so I don't think I've done too badly for a starter kit to mess around on.

I pick it up on Friday and hope to set it up in my new shed , anyone else on here got one and got any tips and/or places to get suitable bits of wood etc?

i was told to always use hardwoods for turning, i don't know why i was told this as i have never used a wood turning lathe..

Ive got a 5 speed Clark one that's crap, good motor but everything else is poorly designed.
I used to do a fair bit of turning, don't get time anymore.

Best advice I can give is keep your chisels sharp, they are useless blunt.

Also to save time, knock the corners off prior to mounting your workpiece.

Axminster supply exotic wood turning bowl blanks for cheap money, done a few of these for friends and family.

[yorkie_chris]

A friend of mine does quite a bit, will have a chat with him next week and see if you can bend his ear a bit

[Wideboy]

Originally Posted by aaron020873

i was told to always use hardwoods for turning, i don't know why i was told this as i have never used a wood turning lathe..

You can turn any type of wood, just there's no point in putting hard work into softwood as its **** and not worth Anything. Pine is good for practising on, I use it.

I got a clark one aswell but mines not bad, bought it second hand for 50 quid with chisels and chucks. It's got just over a metre bed so you can do legs, spindles ect

Just done a wenge cap for a flag pole with all the pullys ect for some fancy place in London, don't get much chance to use it sadly

I always spend money on things I don't need but I am cyrrently looking at purchasing my first bike...