The Lathe on the Shopsmith ?

[Flute Maker]

I have seen several nice "deals" on Shopsmiths . Is the lathe on them ok ? or does it leave a lot to desired ?

 

[Gotcha6]

Most people I've seen assessing Shopsmith lathes say their only major drawback is the headstock does not allow interchangeable accessories outside the Shopsmith line. You couldn't go to WC or mail order a threaded chuck or drive spur with an MT. If you're OK with that, I'd say, "Go for it". :thumbs_up

 

[FredP]

the best shopsmith tool is the lathe but as dennis said it is limited for accessories. for flutes I would think it would be ideal because it is also a horizontal boring machine. I turned some table legs on one 30+ years ago but really don't remember how well it worked....:gar-La;
A mini or midi with a bed extension and 12" swing would serve your needs quite well IMHO. That would also leave room for some accessories.:icon_thum I believe the delta 46-460 has a full pony under the hood and is VS to boot.

 

[Joe Scharle]

They offer a chuck from Oneway now.

Look here for more on the lathe function:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/productindex.htm#latheaccess

 

[Flute Maker]

Fred,
How would the Delta do on bowls also? I want to try some of those too !
Thanks

 

[FredP]

Fred,
How would the Delta do on bowls also? I want to try some of those too !
Thanks

Sawduster would be better to answer that. It has a 12" swing and from what I was told has plenty of power. The big plus of getting a lathe with standard 1x8 or
1 1/4x8 spindle is it is easy to get accessories. Chucks faceplates ect are readily available for these spindle sizes. I think the tailstock is set up to bore lamps with a lamp auger too if you're interested in doing those.

 

[CarvedTones]

Fred,

I have a different mini, but the lamp auger I have works with pretty much any MT#2 tail stock, which is (literally )the other end of standardization to keep in mind. MT #2 is probably most common in minis and there are a lot of accessories for it.