lookibg for a good lathe

abz400 · Post by **abz400** » Thu May 07, 2009 10:00 pm

i ordered a grizzley hobby lathe several weeks ago and its back ordered.what another option to look at?

noles · Post by **noles** » Fri May 08, 2009 8:11 am

I have this one....Rikon Mini Lathe

http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?P ... ilyID=5508

You can go on the cheap and use a drill like this:

http://www.thomaspenrose.com/cork.htm

Instead of a V-notch drill a hole the size of your mandrel and just insert the mandrel in it.

dunfly · Post by **dunfly** » Fri May 08, 2009 4:05 pm

I use basically the same drill set up as in the second link. For a mandrel I use a 1/4" steel rod from Home Depot. It has worked very well on the two grips I have turned on it. Since I only build about 4 rods a year, I'll probably never pony up for a real lathe. I'll try to post a picture of it and the grips.

Blindmullet · Post by **Blindmullet** » Fri May 08, 2009 9:29 pm

Check Harbor Freight or use the drill kit.

Snook712 · Post by **Snook712** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:07 pm

I have turned a lot of rods manually and think this is fine for rods without a lot of thread wraps. I have a Dale Clemens rod lathe that is probably 30 years old. My dad gave it to me when he quit building rods and it is a wonderful piece of machined equipment. It makes it a lot easier to do longer wraps for saltwater rods. I think Renzetti bought out his design because the Renzetti looks exactly like my Clemens. It would be hard to justify $600 for a power wrapper but I use it to shape cork as well as wrap.

Get used to wrapping by hand first and then decide whether you even need a power wrapper. You can do a cheap drill lathe for shaping cork if that is all you need.

rolle2259 · Post by **rolle2259** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 8:33 pm

I dont have one yet but I have been looking at this one. Same model that Mud Hole sells but at a cheaper price

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/turnc ... 09-cattree