Jim C Bradley
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My original lathe was a used Delta. It was in new condition. It worked fine. I sold it (taking a loss naturally) and purchased a new lathe for the following reasons.
1) I wanted a better chuck. Guess what, most chucks,including the one I wanted, are not made in the non-standard thread on the lathe. In the size lathe you are considering 1 x 8 thread is mandatory unless you want to be seriously limited in purchasing equipment. Everybody makes 1 x 8 thread accessories so they don't cost extra in the first place and they show up in sales, Amazon, E-Bay, etc.
2) You are in the midst of a turning, you want to speed up a little, you have to stop and change pulleys. This takes time, interrupts your continuity and as a beginner, interrupts your feel with the turning tool. With variable speed you make that change in a literal two (2) seconds. I am so glad that I changed to variable speed. I would have upgraded and taken the loss even if getting variable speed was the only reason. Go Variable!!!
3) Get the slowest "low speed" that you can. Mine was 250. That was WAY too fast.
4) You can turn 12" diameter with a 1 HP motor. You can also, easily stop the lathe with your turning tool when turning. After saying that I will add: To Me 1,2, and 3 are essential; I would not be very unhappy without a larger motor. Please understand I would like a motor over 1 HP but it would not be a deal breaker; absence of any one of items 1,2 and 3 would be a deal breaker.
My dad always said that if you are going into a hobby (or business) buy equipment that is better than what you think you need even if it hurts. Because, if you buy just what you think will get you through, you will end up selling it at a loss so you can buy something better.
I have never seen a Penn State lathe. However, I did look up the Turncrafter 12" variable speed midi lathe, it reads good. I don't know if it has 1 x 8 threads, you can find out with a phone call to Penn State or PM Bill. The rest of the data looks good. Bill has a good head on his shoulders, if he likes it, I would probably like it.
Enjoy,
JimB
1) I wanted a better chuck. Guess what, most chucks,including the one I wanted, are not made in the non-standard thread on the lathe. In the size lathe you are considering 1 x 8 thread is mandatory unless you want to be seriously limited in purchasing equipment. Everybody makes 1 x 8 thread accessories so they don't cost extra in the first place and they show up in sales, Amazon, E-Bay, etc.
2) You are in the midst of a turning, you want to speed up a little, you have to stop and change pulleys. This takes time, interrupts your continuity and as a beginner, interrupts your feel with the turning tool. With variable speed you make that change in a literal two (2) seconds. I am so glad that I changed to variable speed. I would have upgraded and taken the loss even if getting variable speed was the only reason. Go Variable!!!
3) Get the slowest "low speed" that you can. Mine was 250. That was WAY too fast.
4) You can turn 12" diameter with a 1 HP motor. You can also, easily stop the lathe with your turning tool when turning. After saying that I will add: To Me 1,2, and 3 are essential; I would not be very unhappy without a larger motor. Please understand I would like a motor over 1 HP but it would not be a deal breaker; absence of any one of items 1,2 and 3 would be a deal breaker.
My dad always said that if you are going into a hobby (or business) buy equipment that is better than what you think you need even if it hurts. Because, if you buy just what you think will get you through, you will end up selling it at a loss so you can buy something better.
I have never seen a Penn State lathe. However, I did look up the Turncrafter 12" variable speed midi lathe, it reads good. I don't know if it has 1 x 8 threads, you can find out with a phone call to Penn State or PM Bill. The rest of the data looks good. Bill has a good head on his shoulders, if he likes it, I would probably like it.
Enjoy,
JimB
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