This entirely depends on what it is going to be used for. The bigger the machine, the more flexibility in what it can do, but they get very expensive.
One can purchase a wood turning lathe at several locations. One can buy a lathe at a large store, like Sears, or a woodwork store or at an auction site like eBay.
A Colchester branded lathe can be purchased from any major industrial tool supplier. This lathe can also be located through online retailers such as eBay and Amazon.
One can purchase a small lathe from: Harbor Freight, Mini Lathe, eBay, Sears, Buy Bee Tools, Amazon, Lathe Master, Micro Mark, DH Gate, Little Machine Shop, to name a few.
One can purchase a Mini Lathe from Power Tool World. They sell them for å£138.70. One can also buy from Sears, Woodcraft and ebay have mini lathes for sale both new and used.
Used lathe machinery can be bought online with sites like eBay or Amazon. You can also find used lathe machinery at thrift stores or other places that might offer used things.
By hand. You can achieve incredible accuracy by hand, it just takes forever. Also lead screws made on the new lathe will be better than the hand filed one and so on...
The cheapest metal lathes cost around $180. More expensive models can cost up to $6,000. The smaller and less complex the lathe, the cheaper the price.
The Atlas lathe tool is no longer in production and can not be found in most hardware stores. People looking for one should try yard sales, flea markets, antique shops and auctions.
(bigger dia - smaller dia)/2*taper length
A lathe is not a lever.
A lathe is not a lever.
I'd have to see the two lathes to tell you, but there are four main reasons a turner replaces his lathe: the new one vibrates less, the new one is larger either in length or in the diameter of the piece it can turn, the new one has a bigger motor, or the new one runs at a slower speed than the old one. You're asking yourself "wouldn't you want a faster lathe?" No! A turner wants a lathe that has lots of power at slow speeds because it's safer to make the initial cuts on a piece at a really slow speed, and the slower speed will let you make turn larger pieces.