On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 17:28:01 -0000, "Sam Berlyn"
wrote:

Please could you reply and tell me the minimum equipment needed & roughly
how much it would cost to set up. Thanks

Crossposted to rec.crafts.woodturning as well, which is probably a
better newsgroup to ask in.


What are you trying to do ? Do some turning, or _learn_ to turn ?

You can make useful turnings on almost anything. I've made chairs on a
pole lathe made in a woodland from a bendy sapling, and a chisel
forged from leafspring. It's not a good way to learn though - so if
you can do, try and find a course somewhere. You get a reliable lathe
that already works and will do anything you ask of it. Then you can
see about affording a lathe of your own, that's enough for what you
want yourself. A bowl turner wants one thing, a pen turner another,
and a furniture maker needs something long enough to take that table
leg or chair post.

There are several useful brand-new lathes in the $250 region, with
good features like variable speed, swivelling heads, cast iron beds,
their own stands and decent bed length. As always, there are even
better deals around S/H. $25 might even get you something usable.
Half-a-dozen chisels wil get you started. You'll also need a few
accessories, like lathe centres, a faceplate, sanding and finishing
materials, and a grinder for sharpening. I don't regard a dust mask
as essential for much turning (although some timber and any spalted
timber does need it), but I do think a full-face faceshield is.

Other important tools are a big crosscut saw (maybe a chainsaw), axes,
mallets, wedges and a froe. If you're learning, you need a large stack
of green timber to practice on. You can't afford to buy this, so you
have to scrounge it from tree felling work. If you live outside
Arizona there's a lot of this going on, so so long as you can turn a
log into something small enough to chuck in the lathe, you've a free
source of wood. You might even have a woodstove to use up the
remnants.

Don't learn to turn on expensive wood. Turning needs to "flow"
naturally, so if you make a mess of something it's often best to throw
it away and start again. If that timber cost you money, you won't do
that.

--
Smert' spamionam