Excelsior Lathe

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I have it and it is a nice work horse of a lathe. I have turned a couple of bowls on it and made a lot of pens , bottle stoppers and mini bird houses and small boxes on it. I started out in pen turning and then went on to try other items. This lathe has a 10" swing so if and when she turns a bowl, she should be able to turn a bowl no larger than 10" The largest I have done was 6 1/2" It's a nice little lathe. There is an extension bed available if she should one day want to try long spindles or table legs and such. I love mine. It is a 5 speed but you have to adjust the speed by moving the belt on those pulley things. There are 2 doors to open to get to the belt and the back door is the hardest to get into unless the lathe is on a table that has casters so you can move it to get to the back or in the a space where she can move to the back of the lathe to open the door. . . I've had mine for about a year. Good luck with what she decides on.... Fay
 
I have had mine for several years now. I turn pens, small projects and fishing reel seats and rod handles. It has been on 3 inter state moves now and the tail stock is still lined up with the center line of the chuck. Over the years I did change one belt. This is not a variable speed lathe as Fay explained, yet the range is good for me with no problems at all. I have not done any bowls on it yet, but I believe it would handle the job.
 
Have never used it, but the specs look remarkably similar to the Jet 1015 and the Turncrafter Commander 10".

The bed length is better than the Jet. Turncrafter has a slightly greater motor horsepower although the difference probably wouldn't be noticeable. Price is significantly lower than either Turncrafter or Jet.

Probably pretty good Chinese-made lathe for pens and similar small spindle turnings, and can also do small bowls or plates. Good starter lathe. But if she gets serious about turning, she will eventually want to upgrade to something larger and more powerful.

That said, variable speed might be a real convenience for a new turner.

She could probably get something with similar specs at a lower price from Harbor Freight. Some people have good look with HF, some don't.
 
I've had mine for 2 years now and I'm very happy with it. I bought mine on sale from Rockler & I see they are running that same sale right now.

Harbor Freight sells that exact same lathe with their Central Machinery name on it, so you can either get it in black from Rockler or green from Harbor Freight for the same price right now.

I haven't had a lick of trouble with mine & mostly use it for pens but I've also done other small things like stoppers, mini birdhouses, ornaments and candle holders. I haven't turned any bowls yet, but I plan to do so soon.

Changing speeds is fairly easy and only takes 15-20 seconds or so. I do almost everything at 4th gear (2200 RPM) though and rarely change speeds. If you plan to drill your blanks on the lathe though, you may need to change speeds more often than I do because drilling should be done at the lowest possible speed.

Neither Rockler nor Harbor Freight stock belts for this lathe, so I ordered one in order to have a spare on hand in case the belt ever breaks. It took several weeks for the spare belt to arrive, so you might want to keep that in mind.

In my opinion, it's hard to beat this lathe at the $200 price.
 
I don't have that lathe but have heard good things about it and it is a good price.

The real question is what will she be turning? If it is just small items such as pens and bottle stoppers and she doesn't need variable speed then that is a good choice. If she plans to turn bowls and expects to turn prieces to the 10" capacity she will find it under powered.
 
I bought a used one for my son 3 years ago. It had a good run. Some issues towards the end, but who knows how old it was. I got my son a Jet 1014. I just picked one up for $200 for myself last weekend.
 
I ordered an extra belt for mine from Rockler but at the time of the order , they did not have them in yet so it took a little over a month to get it and I have it in case the belt that is on the lathe wears out or breaks. So far it is great. I never mess with any speed changes on mine as like I said getting to the back door is hard unless it is on a table where you can get around to the back or on a stand with casters so it can be moved. I keep mine at the one speed tho. Fay P.S. I said in my post it is a 5 speed lathe, I did not say it is a variable speed.. There is a difference between the two. Some lathes have a dial that you turn to change speeds. This one you have to do it by moving the belt to different pulleys. I never mess with that.
 
Last edited:
I have had mine for 5 or 6 years now...I think....I lose track of time too easily. Never had an issue with it. Still has the original belt and is still going strong. Knocked out 11 seam rippers on it earlier today and will be using it to demo at an event in June. Bought the extension at the same time, but haven't really had a need for it, though it does give you a place to slide the tail stock out of the way if you're doing bowls or face plate work and it gave me extra space for mounting the tool carousel thingy Rockler sells. I have nothing but good things to say about the lathe. the only reason I ever bought another lathe was to be able to turn large (12"-29") pieces.

One thing I did was ditch the little knobs for the doors on the belt covers and used adhesive backed magnetic strips to the doors in place. It makes speed changes a little quicker and once you get used to it you can change speeds in just a few seconds. I barely have to look anymore.
 
Last edited:
Belts, belts, keep at least one on hand, tail stock slop not adjustable. Mine has never lined up with the head stock, you can get it close, but then when you move or adjust the tail stock you will loose the alignment, only maters if turning two blank pen kits on a mandrel, I use TBC and turn one blank at a time. Very good lathe for the money.
 
Thanks for all the great comments, after what I have read here I believe I can in good faith recomend it to her.
Thanks again

Tom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom