Swivel-Head Lathes

[DayDr]

I have been in the market for a wood lathe to try my hand at turning objects. A friend just told me about a Swivel-Headed lathe by Grizzly. It would allow turning large object such as bowls etc for a reasonable price....I don't like the mini's. Has anybody had any experience with these ?

[dananne]

Hi again - did you build a display box??
And as to the swivel head, I have never used one but if the head is tight after swiveling, it should be no problem. I have an old Delta that has threads on both ends of the headstock so I can do outboard turning with it. I use a faceplate that has both left and right hand threads and it makes it easy. The one thing that I don't have that I need to make is a tool rest that is real steady and solid. I just kinda rig up something now and it isn't good.
Dan

[DayDr]

Yes....made several display cases for jewelry. Some smaller (6x6") for bracelets and some larger 18x24 for general display. While I was tinkering with these I decided to scroll-cut some victorian chairs and tables, barbie doll size.....these really got the attention at a local flea market and resulted in some sales. Now I am going to make these a permanent part of the display. Also created some PurpleHeart and Mahogany earring trees.......cannot keep up with demand..at least at work. If interested in seeing some...look at Jewelry on WWW.ARTYANDCRAFTY.COM let me know what you think.
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Thanks again for your comments on the swivel-head....I am thinking of trying my hand at turning a bowl or two and didn't want to buy a mini that I might grow out of. With all the fallen trees from the tornados last spring....I know I can find some interesting pieces to practise on.
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Thanks Again.......WWW.ArtyAndCrafty.Com :D

[dananne]

That earring tree is nice. Girls can hang a lot from that. All that wood just laying around from the storm needs to be saved as much as possible. When you get that lathe, try making mallets, rolling pins, bowls, and honey dippers, and gosh, you won't have time to make jewelry any more. Better not hear of you buying any wood - all that free stuff needs to be used up. And some folks like it when the wood comes from their back yard or just down the street.

[DayDr]

Yea....don't want to waste a resource. My Father-in-law and I are looking for plans to build a portable wood mill. We are using chain saws and jigs to square tree trunks into 10x10 logs....lot of work and hard on the saws.
Thanks for the tips on things to make...I could use a good meat tenderizer.
I anybody knows of any plans to build a portable or stationary mill, give me a holler !!!

[Charlie]

Daydr, I have a Jet 1236 woodlathe that has a swiveling head. I rarely swivel the head out, for most of my bowls are from 4" to 11" in diameter and I just turn them over the bed. I do swivel it out if I'm turning anything larger though. One thing to remember though, when you return the head back over the bed, be sure to line up the Headstock with the tail piece. Woodcraft sells a double ended morse taper that makes it easy. Just put it in the loosened Headstock, move the tailpiece into it and then tighten the headstock down.

I really like my Jet 1236 but yern for a much larger lathe........

[mwvore]

Originally posted by DayDr
. A friend just told me about a Swivel-Headed lathe by Grizzly. Has anybody had any experience with these ?

A lathe with a swiveling head is nice for large
bowls and for hollowing. I've got a Delta but I've only used it swiveled a couple times. The biggest "problem" is that you need toi re-align the head and tail when you're through. A friend told me just to insert live and drive centers and make sure the points touch - tain't good enough! If you're going beyond the reach of the banjo/toolrest you will also need an external toolrest stand.

[Charlie]

Just be sure you are careful with that danged outboard banjo extension that comes with the swivel headed lathes. They are soft cast metal. I got a catch when using mine and it snapped right in two. I don't think they are safe and I made an independent stand to hold my toolrest when turning outboard.

Charlie

[greg9110]

Hi out there. I am new to this forum stuff. I purchased a new sears swivel head 16" lathe. It has a locating pin that you remove when you want to swivel the head and it recenters the head back to center.

The cost of the lathe was one of the main reasons I chose it. I have turned many items on it sucessfully. The swivel head has allowed me to hollow bowels and boxes without bending over the lathe to see what is going on inside the piece being hollowed.

It looks like I can get some answers to questions here from knowledgable people. Thanks, greg

[twoodsmith]

I'd like to see the display cases, but your link is invalid. I cannot access artyandcrafty.com. Whan i type it in my browser. I get the same problem. It sends me to my server world. I have to log in and list a domain name.

[wood rat]

I have a Jet 1442 lathe and tried the outboard turning once, and like charlie said be real carefull with the banjo extention. i was doing pretty good till i got a catch and i really wasent a bad catch and i broke the extention right off. Jet did send me a replacement but i dont have the courage to try it again (LOL) not now anyway.

wood rat

[Gunny]

I've got the Grizzley 14-42 that I think started this thread and the same thing happened to me... the banjo cracked with the first catch. They replaced it instantly and since then I've been extra careful to watch the distance between the workpiece and the rest. I've also fabricated a special rest out of heavy duty angle iron and roundstock for those outboard turnings. It also helps dampen the vibrations. I'm upgrading any day now to a Nova DVR XP and the shop made outboard turning rest should fit that as well.