Delta Double Duty Lathe

[Charlie Davies]

Hi All,

I'm relatively new to woodworking and recently came across a Delta Double Duty lathe.

It's $500 but comes with everything seen in the below pics (lathe, table, accessories, and numerous tools).

The motor is 1/3 hp. An image of the motor is posted below with more details.

I went to see it this morning and the seller gave me a demo. The motor and belt seem to be in great working order. He placed a square piece of mahogany in the lathe and turned it into a circle with a roughing gouge in no time.

With that in mind, does $500 seem like a fair price?

Thank you in advance for any input.

 

[Darren Wright]

Welcome to the forum Charlie! Looks like a good heavy old machine. It will depend on what you're wanting to do with it. The extended bed should make for some nice long turnings, but may be overkill for if you're doing just pens or bowls.

Did the tail stock screw extend easily? Did the spindle turn smoothly or have any noticeable chatter while running?

For the length and weight of the older machine, it's probably a good price with it including the tools.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

@Bart Leetch - didn't you have one of these you blinged up a bit?

Well it's pretty solid old iron that is generally fairly well made, has an extension so you could turn fairly long stuff, and comes with a decent handful of accessories. This wouldn't be a lathe you'd do much for bowls on (small ones sure, but not very large both due to swing and horsepower) but would work pretty well for most spindle turning so you want to do chair and table legs, wands, candle stands, etc.. it would probably be a pretty decent piece of equipment.

Those are some old school tools - you'd want to mostly use a stone with those not a grinder cause they'll get used up pretty fast otherwise.

Having said that it seems wee bit steep to me, but I'm also a bit of a bottom feeder price wise so take that with a grain of salt. I think the lathe itself is worth somewhere around $150-200+- depending on condition (the extension probably pushes it into the $200 range), add in $100 for the tools and maybe $100-150 for the accessories (in crisper shape I'd give these more value, so depends on how good of shape they're actually in) and you're closer to say $400, but it's also not entirely out of line either and some parts might be in better shape than they look, if everything is tight and works smooth probably not a terrible deal.

 

[Charlie Davies]

Welcome to the forum Charlie! Looks like a good heavy old machine. It will depend on what you're wanting to do with it. The extended bed should make for some nice long turnings, but may be overkill for if you're doing just pens or bowls.

Did the tail stock screw extend easily? Did the spindle turn smoothly or have any noticeable chatter while running?

For the length and weight of the older machine, it's probably a good price with it including the tools.

Darren, thanks so much for the welcome and your swift reply. The tail did extend and retract easily. To my very untrained eye, the spindle turned smoothly under load and no load.

I'm hoping to turn all manner of objects - legs for chairs and tables, chisel handles, replacement handles for axes and shovels, candle holders, etc. The length of the bed really opens the possibilities for these types of projects.

Turning bowls has my interest as well and the lack of swing would limit me to bowls with a 5-6" radius I think. That limitation does bother me and knowing how my mind works, I will probably just finish turning my first bowl and within the first minute or two of admiring the finished product will start to wish I could turn a bigger bowl

To turn bigger bowls, do you have any advice on a quality machine that would allow me to do that for under $1000?

 

[Charlie Davies]

@Bart Leetch - didn't you have one of these you blinged up a bit?

Well it's pretty solid old iron that is generally fairly well made, has an extension so you could turn fairly long stuff, and comes with a decent handful of accessories. This wouldn't be a lathe you'd do much for bowls on (small ones sure, but not very large both due to swing and horsepower) but would work pretty well for most spindle turning so you want to do chair and table legs, wands, candle stands, etc.. it would probably be a pretty decent piece of equipment.

Those are some old school tools - you'd want to mostly use a stone with those not a grinder cause they'll get used up pretty fast otherwise.

Having said that it seems wee bit steep to me, but I'm also a bit of a bottom feeder price wise so take that with a grain of salt. I think the lathe itself is worth somewhere around $150-200+- depending on condition (the extension probably pushes it into the $200 range), add in $100 for the tools and maybe $100-150 for the accessories (in crisper shape I'd give these more value, so depends on how good of shape they're actually in) and you're closer to say $400, but it's also not entirely out of line either and some parts might be in better shape than they look, if everything is tight and works smooth probably not a terrible deal.

Thanks so much for the great feedback. I'm a fellow bottom feeder as well.
I think I'll regret the lack of horsepower and swing. I really want the option of turning bigger bowls and will most likely regret this purchase.
Any advice for tracking down a machine that will allow me to turn bigger bowls and stay under $1k?
Thanks again!

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Looks like a nice piece of old classic iron, but I'd have to agree with Ryan. The $500 price might be a little bit high. The tools look like they're carbon steel as opposed to high speed steel (HSS), so they would likely need more frequent resharpening. Also, the 3-jaw chuck might be OK for metal work, but I wouldn't use it for wood. A modern 4-jaw chuck would be much more suitable. The other accessories would likely clean up nicely, and they do indeed add value to the package deal. The old-school bench looks stout enough to park a truck on, though. The 1/3 HP motor will be a limiting factor for turning bowls. Also, with the stepped pulley system its lowest speed will still be pretty fast for starting a bowl, especially if the wood blank is not very round to begin with.

To answer your $1000 question, there are several midi-sized lathes available within that price range than can turn up to 10" or 12" diameter pieces (look at Delta and Grizzly), but none of them have the length you'd need for longer spindle projects unless you were to buy extension beds for them. If you do buy a new one, I strongly recommend getting something with an electronic variable speed control. There are other lathes with "variable speed" (like the Grizzly G0462), but they have a mechanical variable speed (Reeves drive) which is useful, but typically has more maintenance issues than one with an electronic speed controller.

Also keep in mind that the cost of the lathe itself is just the beginning. The turning tools and other accessories add up quickly. I paid about $3500 for my Powermatic 3520B, but I've probably spent at least that same amount in turning tools, sharpening systems, chucks, sanders, and other accessories. But it has been worth it.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

For Midi lathe's I'd also add the teknatool NOVA Comet series to my short list. A bit different technology for the motor and direct drive so harder to replace is the main complaint, but they seem pretty well liked overall.

If you can get closer to the $2000 range a lot more options open up, but it's a very slippery slope (don't ask how I know ).

I'll second Vaughn's comment on the accessories. Figuring out what you do and don't actually need be a challenge, and there are a ton of cool "toys" you can get which can be a really slippery slope

 

[Charlie Davies]

Thanks so much to everyone who has posted so far.
What are your thoughts on the following 3 items as a good starter solution:
Delta Industrial 46-460 12-1/2-Inch Variable-Speed Midi Lathe
Delta Industrial 46-464 Midi-Lathe Modular Stand Extension
Delta Industrial 46-463 Modular Midi-Lathe Bed Extension

 

[larry merlau]

charlie, i dont own a lathe and probally never will but vaughn and couple others here are masters on one so listen hard to there advice,, the old one is to high priced.

 

[Charlie Davies]

Yup, I've already tossed the idea of the old Delta Double Duty into my mental trashcan.
I've moved on to looking into the midi-sized lathes mentioned by Vaughn and others.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Thanks so much to everyone who has posted so far.
What are your thoughts on the following 3 items as a good starter solution:
Delta Industrial 46-460 12-1/2-Inch Variable-Speed Midi Lathe
Delta Industrial 46-464 Midi-Lathe Modular Stand Extension
Delta Industrial 46-463 Modular Midi-Lathe Bed Extension

I think that'd make a pretty good setup. I've turned a little bit on the Delta 46-460 and I think it's a good bang for the buck. With the extension bed and stand, you'd be in table leg territory, too.

 

[Kerry Burton]

Charlie, the links you provided include a bed extension for the lathe itself, and an extension for the stand ... but not the stand itself. If the added expense would put the price over your budget, consider a different kind of stand. My smaller, older Delta LA200 midi lathe - with bed extension - sits on a castoff kitchen counter base unit with a sheet of plywood on top. The height works for me, it has lots of storage and it didn't cost me a dime! (Talk about a bottom feeder...)

 

[Charlie Davies]

Charlie, the links you provided include a bed extension for the lathe itself, and an extension for the stand ... but not the stand itself. If the added expense would put the price over your budget, consider a different kind of stand. My smaller, older Delta LA200 midi lathe - with bed extension - sits on a castoff kitchen counter base unit with a sheet of plywood on top. The height works for me, it has lots of storage and it didn't cost me a dime! (Talk about a bottom feeder...)

Kerry, thanks for pointing that out. I assumed that product covered the stand and the stand extension. I was a little too hasty in my googling. If only there was an old wood working adage to caution me to slow down and strive for accuracy

I guess I need to add this to a potential setup or go for the bottom feeder route? I really like your bottom feeder idea by the way. Is the base cabinet heavy enough to keep the lathe from chattering? I guess I could always add weights to the cabinet until any vibration disappeared?

Thanks again!

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

...I guess I need to add this to a potential setup or go for the bottom feeder route? I really like your bottom feeder idea by the way. Is the base cabinet heavy enough to keep the lathe from chattering? I guess I could always add weights to the cabinet until any vibration disappeared?

A lot of folks are using homemade lathe benches, and yes, adding weight can help with stability and vibration damping. In general though, if your workpiece is pretty well balanced it should run pretty smoothly. The Delta 46-460 lathe I turned on at a buddy's house was sitting (unattached) on a Black & Decker Workmate and as long as we didn't get too aggressive with our cuts, it was fine. We started with a pretty round piece, though.

That said, you can get chatter on any lathe, but that's most often the result of tools not being sharp enough or being presented to the wood incorrectly or too aggressively. Experience helps handle those issues.