I've Been A Very Bad Boy..... HUGE UPDATE!!!!

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
...... I went to the "Tokyo Woodworking Machinery World Fair", my main reason was to see the SawStop in person, to decide if I would buy it. Short story to that, yes, I think I'll be putting the money down for this saw, WOW is what I'd say, sure is built like a tank and very nice indeed :thumb:

I went with Alex Reid, from here, and another Canadian buddy, who is a carpenter in Canada, Jake. We had a good long walk around, and looked at a LOT of cool tools, most of them on an industrial scale, but there was more there on a smaller scale than I thought there would be.

One booth had some nice looking lathes, the company is called Geetech, they are in Taiwan. They are part of a larger company called Chui Ting. As you can see on this page >> HERE << these guys build everything for just about everyone :D You can add Bosch and B&D to that list, according to the guy at the trade show today. They build SawStop, and they said that the SawStop is built to a very high standard, higher than anything else that comes out of their factory, not to disparage anything else, they are all built to the owner's standards.

While we were standing there, looking at the lathes they sell, I noticed that two of the three lathes had stickers on them that said "Sold to Mr. Sato" and such, I asked about the last lathe, the smallest one, and they guy said it was still for sale, I asked how much and he said $220 USD :eek: I thought about it for a few minutes, well, maybe a minute, and I said "OK, I'll buy that" :D :thumb:

Geetech_CT-1016.jpg
It is the one at the very front.

Variable Speed 300-3600 RPM (three stepped pulleys as well)
Swing over bed: 10"
Distance Between Centers: 16"
Spindle Thread: 1”- 8 TPI
Tailstock through hole: 3/8" diameter
Morse Taper: MT#2 Headstock & Tailstock
Self Ejecting Tailstock Travel: 2 1/8"
6" tool rest, 3" faceplate
Motor: 1/2 HP
Weight 87 lbs

The only thing I'll need to get for this is an adapter for the 1" spindle to the 1 1/4" spindle, so I can use all of my chucks on this lathe too.

The trade show ends on Saturday, I'll go pic it up then.

Did I "need" this lathe, well no, but a brand spanking new lathe for $220, hard, very hard to pass up :eek: :D :wave:

Cheers!
 
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Good score on the Lathe there Stu.

Speaking of SawStop, the owner was on a show called TimeWarp (on Discovery) last night. He actually stuck his own finger in the moving blade to make it stop. Then of course they showed in in super-slow motion so we could see how everything worked, it was pretty cool.
 
I did have a long chat with one guy from SawStop, they want $9500 for it here :eek: but they are looking to the industrial customers, the number of DIYers what would buy this saw would be very small indeed. The guy told me that the industrial customers like the saw, but they say "Why is it so cheap, is it not good quality?" :rolleyes: I guess what the market will bear :dunno:

In chatting with this fellow, he basically told me that I should just import my own from the US or Canada by myself. ;)

Interestingly on the whole, the Japanese makers of stuff, they do not want to deal, at the trade show, they do not seem to even off any discounts at all.

The Geetech guys were very much NOT interested taking anything back to Taiwan, so he was willing to deal :thumb:

We did find one other very interesting product, it was a diamond sharpening system, very neat.........

1.jpg 2.jpg
This is the from the Kaindl company in Germany, the SM 180.

While I think it is one very cool tool, I was not ready to plunk down about $600 for it, but they did have a smaller version...........

diamantsichtschleifscheibe.jpg
This one mounts in a drill or such, I figure I can use it in my drill press.

Here is a short video on it >> HERE <<

This disk, of which both sides are diamond coated, and the arbor cost about $50.

Neat stuff , after I test drive it, I'll report back! :wave:

Cheers!
 
Very interesting. Welcome to the world of the "Mini/Midi" Lathe Stu!

Just wondering, if you already have the bigger lathe, what mad you want to get the small one?

Are there times when doing smaller things that the big lathe makes it difficult?

I can see it might be nice to have it setup with multiple buffing wheels and the like.

Just Curious.
 
Very interesting report, Stu. Interesting to see what comes from where. Kinda parallels the Laguna lathe thread also.
Your great buy on that midi lathe is to be congratulated.
It strongly resembles this Grizzly: http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-x-16-Heavy-Duty-Bench-Top-Wood-Lathe/G0657

Boy does it ever look like the same lathe Frank :D

Very interesting. Welcome to the world of the "Mini/Midi" Lathe Stu!

Just wondering, if you already have the bigger lathe, what mad you want to get the small one?

Are there times when doing smaller things that the big lathe makes it difficult?

I can see it might be nice to have it setup with multiple buffing wheels and the like.

Just Curious.

Well, for starts, I know I could easily sell it for twice what I paid for it, but I don't think I'll do that. I've had a few workshops with my local turning club in my Dungeon, it sucks only having one lathe to work on, so this would help with that.

Also, I have an idea to do a few craft shows, I thing that having a small lathe like this to take along and do some turning with, on site, would be a good way to bring people to your booth. :dunno:

I've also toyed with the idea of making up a cart that would house the lathe and tools, etc, that I could take around, I could go to schools even and give demos, I know our local elementary school would love for me to do that.

Heck, for $220, man, I could not pass that up :D :wave:
 
Congrats, you bad boy, you. ;)

I've considered making a base for my little min lathe that would allow it to sit on (and perhaps attach to) the bed of my PM. I know that won't workable if you're trying to use both lathes at once, but I thought I'd toss out the idea anyway.
 
Stu,

You got a nice little lathe for an even nicer little price. Hope you get the DC also. You forgot to mention though that not only do Geetech make a bunch of stuff for everyone but the sales guy said they own Oliver. So they are making stuff under their own name Geetech, Oliver and all the other makers. It is always interesting to meet the folks behind the scenes. Thanks for the heads up and the invite to the show Stu but I forgot to give you the 10.00 bucks for the ticket price. I'll buy you lunch next time. ;)
 
Yeah Alex it was a fun day, I went just to see the SawStop in person, but we got to see a lot more interesting things :thumb:

The ticket was free from the SawStop guys, so no worries :wave:
 
I did have a long chat with one guy from SawStop, they want $9500 for it here :eek:

In chatting with this fellow, he basically told me that I should just import my own from the US or Canada by myself. ;)

Stu,

I cant picture freight and import taxes to be $5000. It would seem like you could save some money.

Sawstop.jpg


Randy
 
Not to worry, I'm getting the saw from Canada, as the Canadian dollar is so very low against the yen right now :thumb:

I figure all in, delivered to my shop, should be around $5000 :wave:
 
Hey Charlie, nothing gets past you :thumb:

If I get the dust collector for free, I'll have no use for it, so I'll most likely just sell it, I'm sure I can get enough to cover the price of the lathe.

Cheers! :wave:
 
Stu,

Way to go. That's a cool little lathe.

As for the SawStop, I love mine and I've done quite a few demos on them (cabinet saw and recently the contractor version). And no, I don't use my finger when I'm demoing the functionality of the saw's safety features! The cabinet saw was easier to clear than the contractor saw after the blade brake was deployed. The cabinet saw has the port on the side of the saw where you can have more room to work and better see what you are doing. The contractor saw doesn't have the side port so all work is from above through the throat plate area. Just a sidebar for those in the market.

I bought the 3 HP cabinet saw with the 52" rails. I've never even come close to stalling it and the accuracy is great. I know you will really enjoy whatever version you buy.

Regards,
 
...If I get the dust collector for free, I'll have no use for it, so I'll most likely just sell it, I'm sure I can get enough to cover the price of the lathe...
OK, so between you and Alex, that's now two mentions of a dust collector, but no info. I gotta ask:

What dust collector?
 
Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention it :eek:

Instead of picking the lathe up, I was trying to arrange to have it shipped to me, by local courier, this was not working out, the fellow from Geetech asked me how big my truck was, I told him it was a small van, but it did have space inside for the lathe no problem, he said "How about the dust collector?" I smiled and said, "How much?" He smiled back and said "If it fits in your truck, and if no one offers to buy it by Saturday, you can have it, saves me from shipping it back to Taiwan, besides, the maker of the DC gave it to me as a sample" :D

So if, "IF" the DC is still there on Saturday, I get that too :thumb:

It was a small version of the usual DC, maybe 1Hp the whole thing with bags inflated stood only about 5' tall, I've never seen one that size before.

I do not need it, but, like I said, I'm sure I could sell it for more than the $220US the lathe cost me.

Cheers!
 
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