Hi: I have been using a Shopsmith primarily as a sanding station for the
past 25+ years. It is used occasionally for other purposes but primarily as
a superb sanding tool. I have very limited experience with lathe work and I
intend to begin some practice projects using the Shopsmith's lathe
capability. I have been told that the lathe function of the Shopsmith is
questionable. It seems to me that it should perform satisfactorily.
Does anyone have first hand experience or knowledge of the Shopsmith's lathe
capability. All comments will be appreciated.
John
John - welcome to woodturning. It can be more fun than a barrel of
monkeys, and just as frustrating.
You SS will do just fine. No, it isn't the Powermatic "mustard
monster", but it is a good lathe for smaller projects. Don't overload
it, and it should serve you quite well.
In my old woodturning club we had a couple of members that had SS
lathes that the used to turn all manner of things like vases,
candlesticks, pens, lidded boxes, etc. They turned out some *great*
work, and they loved their machines.
I personally think it is a great choice of machines (since you already
have it!) to learn about woodturning and how much time and effort you
want to invest in the craft.
Robert
Thanks for your inputs. I will give it a try.
wrote in message news:[email protected]...
I have several lathes, I use my shopsmith for all types of turning, no
problems. I will often use the SS for the initial turning (roughing),
outside in the driveway (faster clean up) and do the finish turning on one
of my other lathes. The only problem I have with the SS is that it is low,
and I have to take several breaks to rest my back, but it is still a good
piece of equipment.
Joe
"John" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi: I have been using a Shopsmith primarily as a sanding station for the
> past 25+ years. It is used occasionally for other purposes but primarily
> as a superb sanding tool. I have very limited experience with lathe work
> and I intend to begin some practice projects using the Shopsmith's lathe
> capability. I have been told that the lathe function of the Shopsmith is
> questionable. It seems to me that it should perform satisfactorily.
>
> Does anyone have first hand experience or knowledge of the Shopsmith's
> lathe capability. All comments will be appreciated.
>
> John
>
On Tue, 9 Aug 2011 23:55:49 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:20:29 -0400, John wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have first hand experience or knowledge of the Shopsmith's
>> lathe capability. All comments will be appreciated.
>
>It's been a long time, but I did some lathe work on one. I had to drape
>several sandbags across the lower legs to keep it from walking. And even
>then it wasn't a good idea to put a large out of balance bowl blank on
>it. Other than that, IIRC, it worked OK
I've done a fair lot of spindle turning and a little faceplate work on
a Model 510 (upgraded from Mark 5). I had no problems or issues, but
I don't have much experience with other lathes so hard to compare. I
did buy the ball bearing live center for the tailstock. And the
continuously variable speed is nice.
I can see where a heavy out of balance blank would be trouble (but I
guess it always is). The SS is heavy, but not *that* heavy.
HTH,
Paul F.
I have several lathes, I use my shopsmith for all types of turning, no
problems. I will often use the SS for the initial turning (roughing),
outside in the driveway (faster clean up) and do the finish turning on one
of my other lathes. The only problem I have with the SS is that it is low,
and I have to take several breaks to rest my back, but it is still a good
piece of equipment.
Joe
"John" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi: I have been using a Shopsmith primarily as a sanding station for the
> past 25+ years. It is used occasionally for other purposes but primarily
> as a superb sanding tool. I have very limited experience with lathe work
> and I intend to begin some practice projects using the Shopsmith's lathe
> capability. I have been told that the lathe function of the Shopsmith is
> questionable. It seems to me that it should perform satisfactorily.
>
> Does anyone have first hand experience or knowledge of the Shopsmith's
> lathe capability. All comments will be appreciated.
>
> John
>
On Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:20:29 -0400, John wrote:
> Does anyone have first hand experience or knowledge of the Shopsmith's
> lathe capability. All comments will be appreciated.
It's been a long time, but I did some lathe work on one. I had to drape
several sandbags across the lower legs to keep it from walking. And even
then it wasn't a good idea to put a large out of balance bowl blank on
it. Other than that, IIRC, it worked OK
--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw