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No assembly required, no fine tuning- I just turned it on and started wood-turning.I bought the lathe to make chess pieces and I've made several already, even a knight (which I'll have to whittle a little for the horse's head). I'll try to make a bowl with that next time. I just made a beautiful little cup out of a sycamore branch using the small faceplate. For much of it, I used the live center in conjunction with the faceplate- you do have to be careful (my chisel got stuck and knocked the piece right out of its screws once or twice). This lathe is the first tool I've seriously used for any kind of woodworking.
That said, I highly recommend the Wilton mini-lathe for beginners. The speeds are perfect- as fast as I need to do details and whatnot, and slow enough to sand the pieces when finished. It also comes with a large faceplate (5 1/2"). Just to reiterate- I am a novice, I know nothing of other lathes and I am a beginner at wood-turning; I highly recommend this lathe to any beginner who might read this review. So this is the first lathe I have ever used and I am very happy with it.
I've seen some lathes that don't have the variable speed knob- having one seems a huge plus for me.Don't let anybody tell you you can't do faceplate work on it. It took me two days but I finally have a carefully cut cup about 4 inches in diameter, 4 inches high.
Minor assembly was easy and straightforward, and center to center alignment was dead-on right out of the box. I have also done some small amount of face turning, and was well-pleased with the results. The variable speed control gives an adequate range of speeds for roughing, sanding and finishing.I have used this lathe to turn many pens (the purpose for which I bought it) and it has exceeded my expectations. I was quite surprised by this lathe. The "soft start" motor caused a little consternation when it didn't spin right away when I turned it on, but this is a really nice feature. My only complaints are these: A little more power would not go unappreciated for face-turning; and the tailstock spindle grub screw tends to loosen up over time allowing the spindle just a little too much play.For the price, an excellent lathe for pen and spindle turning; underpowered for larger face turning. Shaft play and runout are nearly non-existent, and the live center provided is more than acceptable.
VERY SOLID IRON,8 INCH SWING THOUGH,WILL TURN BIG OR SMALL,SMALL OR BIG CHUCKS,ENOUGH SPEED,POWER FOR LITTLE HP.GREAT FINISHING LATHE.
- in general, it's OK. The screw-on is constant length and you make up gaps by putting on more bearings. Of course there is a height adjustment, but the lowest available was about the height of the turning axis. - tool rest was too high.
(either of these is a non-Wilton accessory)If I had just one lathe, this wouldn't be it, but I have guys over (we make pens and sell them to benefit the relief arm of our church) and we needed the extra lathe capacity. Don't understand why it was so high. - if you want to turn pens, get the Morse taper mandrel (#1), not the screw-on type. This doesn't seem like a feature called 'soft-start', which my Makita router does; the Makita starts immediately and winds up to speed in a few seconds. - variable speed is nice, wish I had it on my Jet Mini lathe. I bought and have used this lathe.
Had to hack saw 3/8" to 1/2" from tool rest base, but that was easily doable in five minutes - there was plenty of metal under it. It needs to be able to go a little lower. The former allows the mandrel to slide into it, changing length based on the pen. I'm wondering if it is a defect, but it runs OK otherwise. It is a pen lathe, you won't be doing large work on it. - there is a delayed start - after you switch it on there is a delay of 1-2 seconds and then it starts.
For pens-only, it's OK.LC This is just a delay.
After checking my outlet worked and I had power I checked the fuse. I read other reviews and would agree with most that this lathe is solid and a good beginners lathe. Lathe runs good now and is what I had expecteded. Right out of the box my lathe would not work. I then found the ground wires behind the switch box to be loose and after I fixed that the motor started. Just to let everbody know that wilton has been bought by JET. No other problems noted.
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