10" x 18" Pen Lathe - 1/2 HP 1 Ph 120V Reviews

3.6 Rating 5 Reviews

About Woodcraft:

Woodcraft Supply, LLC is one of the nation's oldest and largest suppliers of quality woodworking tools and supplies. You'll find Woodcraft stores in more than 70 major metropolitan areas across the U.S.; and Woodcraft annually distributes 1.5 million catalogs featuring more than 10,000 items to all 50 states and 117 foreign countries. The Woodcraft catalog is a standard among woodworkers as the most complete offering of first rate products for woodworking available anywhere. Woodcraft also publishes six issues of Woodcraft Magazine annually.

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Phone:

800-535-4486

Location:

1177 Rosemar Rd,
Parkersburg
West Virginia
26105

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“Awesome lathe made my money back in about a month and itâ€™s a work horse”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

KE From MATTHEWS

Verified Reviewer

“I turn a lot of pens with my lathe and I've never been disappointed or wished I had bought something else. I've never had anything go wrong and I've had it about a year.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Iâ€™ve had nothing but issues with this machine. Price tag seems nice, but Iâ€™ve had it for a year and itâ€™s been out of commission off and one for a total of 3-4 months. The biggest issue is the locking mechanism in the tailstock clamp. The bolt is thin and thin threaded, using an obviously terrible alloy. When thisbmechanism fails, the whole lathe is useless. The bolt is constantly on back order, which obviously infers more than a few people have this issue (Iâ€™ve read multiple reviews saying the same thing). Iâ€™m in the process of returning this lathe under warranty. Itâ€™s not worth the money. Just bought a Laguna 12 | 16 and Iâ€™m already 20 times happier with it. If your going to buy a lathe, spend a little extra and buy something thatâ€™s going to last and meet all your needs.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

LP From Springfield

Verified Reviewer

“Great Little Bench Lathe!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I purchased this lathe because of the price point, length of the bed and the size of my intended projects. The cast iron base does make it quite heavy and the advertisement says it reduces vibration. The first one I got vibrated like crazy, and made knocking noises, after two days of troubleshooting with the tech reps at Rikon, replacing my NOVA G3 chuck w/ insert with the reversible G3 1"x8 TPI they finally told me to ask woodcraft to exchange it, which they did. I never figured out what the problem was but I know it has something to do with how much you tighten the motor mounting plate and the tension on the pulley after letting the weight of the motor provide the natural tension for the belt. Also the hand wheel was not exactly balanced. The second lathe I got worked great.... for the first pen I made. Then I noticed when roughing out my next project that I started to hear some familiar noises and feel vibration. I stopped the motor and looked at the motor pulley and it had come loose. After tightening the set screw, and ensuring the pulley was correctly positioned on the shaft, I started having the exact same problem as I did with the first lathe. All the knocking and vibration goes away when you don't tighten the locking screw for the mounting plate ( the one that allows you to lift the motor and change the speed). Anyway, it hasn't been the same since and I may return it and get a JET Midi. Also, FYI, there isn't a manufactured steady rest out there that fits the 10" swing on this lathe, only 12" and up so if you are doing long skinny stuff you will have to build your own. In addition to that, the tailstock has a small amount of play in how square it sits on the ways so if you are drilling into the ends of your blank with an MT2 Jacobs chuck, expect the hole to be slightly bigger than your bit. The only other advice I can give is that motor has no protection from wood shavings and they tend to pile up right around the fan cover and in between the fins of the fluted aluminum outer case so be careful to keep this area clean as you work because you will get shavings in the fan housing and you a build up in the flutes can cause the motor to over heat.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago