Woodwork machinery site suggestions

Howdy folks!

My brother has asked me if I know of any second hand woodworking machinery sites / sellers similar to those I always rave about in the Model Engineering community.

I must admit that I have never really looked into them, as I prefer working in metal myself.

He is looking for a wood turning lathe at present and can find lots of Chinese imports selling new, but taking a leaf from my book, would rather have a 'proper job' well made old school one.

Any ideas where he should be looking for this sort of thing?

Cheers,

RobC

Home and Machinery Sidcup and GandM for a start.

UKWorkshop has a buy/sell section

**LINK**

And nothing wrong with the far eastern machines, going by what I have turned out on mine

Hear hear,

I would much prefer a new Chinese machine than a clapped out old second hand one. I have never had a problem with any of mine.

T

I have purchased a few machines at auctions run by Sweeney Kincaid in Glasgow, they are relatively close to me, so a local auction house is always worth looking at. Also ebay and Google are worth looking at.

Drummond did a good one

ebay is your best bet

Even a round bed should be fine for wood

Edited By Ady1 on 18/01/2013 12:50:52

Chaps, I hear you on the Chinese vs clapped out argument. The goal is to let him see the difference between what he could get either way, then let him make his choice. At present he has not found much on the second hand market, other than the recent imports, so I was trying to point him towards the older machinery.

The links mentioned already are a great starting point and I should have thought of them myself.

Jason, those are some fine examples in your gallery, what sort of advice would you give a beginner with £600 to get going with?

Thanks for all the input so far,

Rob

Whereabouts are you RobC? Four months ago I saw a couple of Union Graduate bowl turning lathes, i.e. no bed/tailstock at my local scrapyard in Hampshire. Clearly ex-school and therefore probably three-phase. No idea as to condition, price nor present availability.

Well my lathe is the Nu-Tool version of the Axminster AWVSL900 to which I would add the 150mm rest.

A woodworking100mm 4-jaw independant chuck (not a metalworking one) with internaland external dovetail jaws and you can add other jaws at a later date say £100

Basic 1/2" drill chuck on MT arbor .

6" bench grinder and a white wheel as they are cooler cutting

Decent tools, don't be tempted by the cheap sets. Names like Sorby, Taylor or Crown either in sets or individual tools, to start with £20-25 ea

3/4" Roughing

3/8 spindle

3/8 bowl

3/4" skew

Thin parting

1/4 parting

Selection of abrasive cloth/paper, sanding sealer, friction polish.

J

And above all else some form of dust protection by way of face mask AND extraction.

A lot of wood dusts both hard and soft can cause respiratory reactions and problems.

Often long after the original exposure.

Balsa, mahogany and to a lesser extent Cedar are now problems for me in close proximity.

Charnwood have a good range of equipment worth looking at.

Regards Clive

Hi, I'm the brother mentioned in the original post, and completely new to the forum, this is my first post.

Thanks for all the advice you've posted so far, I've come to clarify a point or two: I'm looking at spending around £600 on the lathe itself; I have an additional budget for tooling etc.

I was quite interested in the Jet JWL-1220VS, but had been concerned about its Chinese origin. I've read a few comments however which suggest that the newer machines from the far east are rather better than those being produced a few years ago.

And Clive, thanks for the sound advice on PPE, I have done a fair amount of woodworking (albeit not turning) and am aware of the issues with dust!

I'm based in Surrey (RobC isn't!), and have no issues travelling up to I guess 80-100 miles to try/collect second-hand gear, and 3-phase isn't going to be an issue as I will simply* add an inverter for variable speed.

*simple. Yeah, right.

So thanks, any further input would be most welcome!

Best

Phil

Totally agree about face shields etc. I found that DB keithley at Leeds had a range of refurbished stuff and were competitively priced. Ask around and look at local auctions as firms re equip. Brands to look for- Graduate, Denford, Wadkin, Bursgreen, Myford and Coronet / record power( bought em out.

If you can find them then Arundel were also good but be aware that older lathes may be difficult to source chucks etc for. Having said that Axminster have a "specials" department I believe ( not tried em but a frined is currently in discussion with them for an adaptor for his lathe) and they're helpful.

Hegner are excellent but not cheap! Oh for a VB36!

Jason is , as always, correct to recommend a white wheel for sharpening. Get along to any of the featured wood shows and you usually find Isles there- excellent stuff and you make your own handles to suit the size of your hands.

By the way- "Abranet" is simply excellent mesh tyope sanding stuff for wood and metal- you can rinse it out and it cuts like a dream!

The other tip is look on AWGB- association of GB wood turners site and find local group to join- lots of stuff "comes up" as people upgrade / retire from the hobby.

Regards ian

I should say that I don't actually use a white wheel as I have a Tormek but to start off a white wheel and basic machine mart grinder will be fine.

J

Hello Rob, if you want British, I have a Coronet Major wood turning lathe for sale,

240v, long bed model c/w router attachment, centres, 1/2" chuck at headstock & grinding wheel,

Google Coronet Lathes you may find what your brother wants.

Send me a your e-mail address if you want more info and pictures

regards from North Somerset