Daniel
Member
I have been wanting to buy a new lathe for quite a while now (About 5 years) I saw the Review on the Harbor Freight 34706 lathe the other day. I had been looking at lathes that where more int he $2000 range but reent events sort of upped the urgency to do something. Plus the more I upgrade the equipment in my shop the more the lack of quality in my wood lathe stands out. in a nut shell the HF Lathe is basically the Jet 1236. I got it all set up and able to mount a pendant backing plate on it today. so I flipped it on jsut to round and square the waste block to the new lathe. even that bit of turning was such a difference I wanted to post this comment.
In short you have no idea what you don't know until you try something different. I have been using my old lathe for 7 years or so and really have never used any other lathe than my metal lathe. It was immediatly apperent to me how much smoother this lathe opperates. turning does not even feel the same on it.
Actually buying the lathe was a situatioin that came up pretty fast and unexpected. Thanks to this group, I believe I was prepaired to get an outstanding deal. As my Daughter puts it. the lathe is "Extra Awesome"
In short you have no idea what you don't know until you try something different. I have been using my old lathe for 7 years or so and really have never used any other lathe than my metal lathe. It was immediatly apperent to me how much smoother this lathe opperates. turning does not even feel the same on it.
Actually buying the lathe was a situatioin that came up pretty fast and unexpected. Thanks to this group, I believe I was prepaired to get an outstanding deal. As my Daughter puts it. the lathe is "Extra Awesome"
