What make / model of lathe do you own and use ?

[Wood spinner]

Hi People
Just curious , What make and models of lathes do you the members use ?
And what are the good and not so good things about your lathe


I look forward to seeing what you have 

[Lazurus]

VB36 for me with the long bed, does everything from pens to huge bowls and hangings, cant fault it personal. Well unless you need to move the green monster.

S.

[fuzzyturns]

Drechselmeister Twister FU-200 ( for details, look at Simon Hope's website). 2 HP motor, 16" swing over bed, 44" between centres (with bed extension), 32" swing off bed. Almost identical to the Axminster 1642 lathe. In its price range, these two are basically unbeatable.
Two (really minor) downsides are:
a) When returning the headstock to its normal position (from swiveled away from the bed), you need to manually align it with the tailstock, otherwise the offset will cause all sorts of funny effects when turning between centres.
b) The banjo is identical to the bigger Stratos model, and in consequence the lowest position achievable for the tool rest is OK, but ideally could be a bit lower. This would require taking material off the top of the banjo, which i am not keep on doing.

Other than that probably the best value your money will buy in this size.

[David Buskell]

VB36 long bed for the same reasons as Lazarus - takes everything you throw at it without any fuss. Plus a Record DML 320, mainly for pens and because it is green!

[Wood spinner]

VB 36 look popular at the moment 

[Doug Barratt]

Teknatool Nova DVR XP, 11 years old & still going strong

[John]

For me
Hegner 200 (12years)
And Axminster 1628. ( 3 years)
Cant fault either
John

[roofman]

Hi Mr Woodspinner,  max here. am a new member i  have a passion for the Myford  ML8  lathes i restore them  i have three of them at the moment. i have two record lathes and two coronet majors.am not keen on the record lathes they are good lathes but not much character. the coronet lathes and the ML8 lathes are what you might call Fred Dibnah quality,  you know you have British engineering and a kind of confidence that goes with them, For me its got to be a Myford.i will try to post a pic of one i have just finished cheers max.

[seventhdevil]

i have the jet 3520B which has 20" over the bed and 50" with the extension. when the bed extension is lower down i can do 39" diameter. 2hp and about 350kg. the only downside in my opinion is how short the original bed length is. it means i can't do long commissions like posts.

if i had the space i'd buy one of these.

.

[Lazurus]

Bigger can be better!

[Eric Harvey]

Jet 3520B here,can`t fault it mechanicaly,would be nice if it had a longer bed though,it takes everything I chuck at it,from monster size wood to miniature turning,cheers,

Eric.

[seventhdevil]

eric, have you thought about putting a bed extension either end???

i have one 18" extension already and have started to think about getting another to mount at the normal bed level and possible putting extra bolts in to take the weight of the headstock giving and eventual capacity of 50" with one extension under the headstock and the bed length and if i raised the extension at the tailstock end as well it would have at least 68".

as helpful as axminster are they have not been helpful in getting a second bed like the option you get with the big jet 4224B.

[Graham]

I have the Jet 3520 as well. lovely machine, no complaints at all.
I have also just brought an axminster 14-16vs to take out and about but I haven't used it enough yet to form an opinion.

[Eric Harvey]

seventhdevil,yes would get an extension bed but its the £300 odd notes they want for one that`s the problem.

[malcy]

I have an Axminster AWVSWL1200 lathe. Excellent except for the fact that it has a slight delay when you press the start button. I get around this by just using the speed control and turn to the speed I need. This seems to be a design fault with these lathes. Apart from that, excellent. Malcolm.