Popular Woodworking 2000-11 № 118, страница 44

Add some turnings

to your woodworking with this fun and easy-to-use machine.

hen you get right down to it, lathes are great fun. There's something satisfying about reducing a spinning chunk of raw wood into something useful or pretty. Lathes require little training and practice to get started, but to be really good on the lathe, training and lots of practice are required.

From a practical perspective, lathes help you make any cylindrical object, from a pen barrel to bowls to spindle legs for furniture. Fluting (decorative grooves the length or leg of a column) can also be done on a lathe, even thread cutting.

There are four types available: mini-lathes, benchtops, floor models and specialized bowl-turning lathes, which are so

specialized we won't discuss them here. Mini-Lathes

Mini-lathes fit on your workbench or come with a small stand. They're actually an evolution of benchtop lathes, but smaller. Mini-lathes are used for turning small items, such as pens, knife handles and other lightweight projects. Generally, mini-lathes offer capacities from 5" over the bed and 12" between centers, to about 10" x 18" between centers. These are not cheap lathes, with prices ranging from $150 to over $1,350, but there is a good mid-range cluster between $200 and $300 that offers superb value.

Excerpted in part from "The Insider's Guide to Buying Tools," copyright 2000 by Popular Woodworking Books. Used with permission.