Please help me choose a wood lathe

[CRKoralage]

Hello everyone, I am newbie to penturning and currently use our university metal lathe for practicing. Soon I will lose access to them and therfore, I am planning to buy a mini wood lathe for pen turning. Also I have to mention that I am mostly interested in making kitless pens.

Since I am from Sri Lanka, most of USA wood lathes are not available for me. Even if some are available, shipping and taxes cost is even higher than the lathe. My budget is around 300 - 400 dollars.

After searching on many online websites, I found these two options for me

1. Alibaba (The link to the item)

I chose this on the sole purpose of saving money. The price is so cheaper and really affordable for me. Also I can get it into Sri Lanka around 110 dollars shipping cost. The company has mentioned that they also manufacture following OEM brands. So is this a good deal or should I worry about the quality of the product?

2. Holzmann (This is on ebay and can be imported from Italy)

This is a German product (Also they may be manufactured in China too, like most of the products, I don't know). And if I am going to import this I may have to pay around 600 dollars including shipping + taxes. And the benefit is that they have each and every spare parts.

So, what would be my best option? I thought I should buy a cheaper one and then upgrade later to a better one later. But I am afraid of the quality and I assume pen making needs more precision of the machine.

Thank you very much.

 

[Edgar]

You don't need a highly precise lathe to turn pens, so most inexpensive mini lathes should work just fine. I started with an Excelsior mini lathe from Rockler. Harbor Freight, Grizzly, and others sell the exact same lathe with different color paint.

Just be sure that it has an M2 taper and you should be good to go. If possible, get one with a variable speed drive, especially if you plan to drill your blanks on the lathe.

 

[hallelujahal]

Hello - here's my opinion for what it's worth. I'm based in the UK so I would probably go for Nova or Axminster brand as I'm sure of the support available.
However, can I just say one thing? Don't worry about spending a lot of money on a lathe. If you can afford it then sure, go for it but it is more important that you spend your money on a really good tool sharpening system! An expensive lathe with badly sharpened / blunt tools will be worse than a cheap lathe with scary sharp tools! So, get your priorities sorted first and make sure you're putting your money where it's most beneficial. I have learnt this lesson the hard way

 

[CRKoralage]

You don't need a highly precise lathe to turn pens, so most inexpensive mini lathes should work just fine. I started with an Excelsior mini lathe from Rockler. Harbor Freight, Grizzly, and others sell the exact same lathe with different color paint.

Just be sure that it has an M2 taper and you should be good to go. If possible, get one with a variable speed drive, especially if you plan to drill your blanks on the lathe.

Thank you very much Yes, I hope to drill the blanks and advice is taken. I am worried about cutting threads and drilling holes and if they go off centered, then outcome would not be nice.

 

[CRKoralage]

Hello - here's my opinion for what it's worth. I'm based in the UK so I would probably go for Nova or Axminster brand as I'm sure of the support available.
However, can I just say one thing? Don't worry about spending a lot of money on a lathe. If you can afford it then sure, go for it but it is more important that you spend your money on a really good tool sharpening system! An expensive lathe with badly sharpened / blunt tools will be worse than a cheap lathe with scary sharp tools! So, get your priorities sorted first and make sure you're putting your money where it's most beneficial. I have learnt this lesson the hard way

Ohhh thank you. I havn't considered a tool sharpening system, Thank you very much

 

[Curly]

Welcome to the forum.

Because you mentioned that you are interested in making kit pens I would suggest you look into a small metal lathe. You are using them now and many kitless makers use them. Most of the ones sold here are made by one company in China, Sieg. India makes a lot of manual metal lathes and they also make or at least rebrand the Sieg lathes. I think you should consider one and see if there are any sellers/manufacturers in Sri Lanka, shipping would be less for you. I don't know if importing from India would be any cheaper than from China. Some examples I found. Not sure how the exchanges work out so I don't know if they are even close to your budget. Wood lathes made in India might be an option to you too if you prefer one over a metal lathe.

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Searches of past threads will give you an idea of what to look for in sizes (swing and bed length) and details like plastic verses metal gearing.

 

[jttheclockman]

I second what Pete said even though he meant to say Kitless pens is your interest from your post. I am not the person to suggest metal lathes but it would be more accurate for many of the functions needed to make kitless style pens, not that they can not be done on a good quality wood lathe. Good luck in your quest.

 

[Curly]

I second what Pete said even though he meant to say Kitless pens is your interest from your post. I am not the person to suggest metal lathes but it would be more accurate for many of the functions needed to make kitless style pens, not that they can not be done on a good quality wood lathe. Good luck in your quest.

Spellcheck messed up my post. I'll call them custom and see if that works.