New lathe!

Well, I made the trip up to Columbia Wed and picked up the last Delta midi they had in stock.

BTW for those of you who have not visited Mann tools in Cola, you should either take a bunch of extra cash, or lots of will power with you! Lots and lots and lots of pretty toys. They have a ton of turning tools, as well as lumber and turning blanks. I had to keep my eyes on the floor most of the time I was there. Bill helped me be sure that the Delta would suit me, and was very helpful and knowledgeable. No relation to Mann tools, just impressed with what I saw and experienced.

Anyway got the lathe home and unpacked. I had a little hiccup I won't go into. Got it up and running. For those of you not familiar with the new Delta midi, it is a 12 1/2" swing and a 16 1/2" spindle length. Has a 1 HP motor in the variable speed model that I got. It is very quiet. A very small amount of vibration at certain speeds, but I don't have it bolted down yet. I still need to decide whether or not I will cut down my current stand, or build a new one similar to the one Just completed for the club lathes.

The lathe is much heavier than my Jet mini. Belt change is fairly easy, although the thicker belt makes it a tad more time consuming than my mini. The variable speed makes belt speed changes much more infrequent. The controls seem very well laid out. I would like to have a speed readout, but not sure how really useful that would be as it has easy to read 1 - 9 numbers on the speed control. I notice that the motor stays much much cooler than the induction AC motor on my Jet. The Delta has a Brushed DC motor. I have heard that they use an inverter technology for speed control, but Delta says nothing about that in it's literature.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm very happy with the new lathe. It isn't the full size lathe I want, but it is a significant upgrade from the mini. Time will tell how long it will keep me satisfied.

Congrats again!

As far as the speed readout, you kinda get use to not looking at it even if you have it. When I'm on mine, I really don't check it unless I'm shooting for a definite speed. That said, it should make getting this months challenge done a whole lot easier

Hope you like it. I know what you mean about having will power in the store...tough to do.

I'm sure you will be happy with the new lathe. I have never seen one yet but they have great specs. Several people on the woodturning forums have bought one and I haven't heard any complaints yet. There is even one guy on woodnet who has a jet 1220 vs and after turnining on the new delta had to buy one. Says he will keep the jet for a back up.

Congrats on the new lathe. I didn't realize when I joined this site that everyone was rich, talking about having back up lathes. Maybe some day I will have enough money to have a backup lathe. What is this about a monthly challenge?

Hey Doug wtg on the new one. As For this months challenge, it is any thing with more then one bead

Jerry Peterson wrote:

Congrats on the new lathe. I didn't realize when I joined this site that everyone was rich, talking about having back up lathes. Maybe some day I will have enough money to have a backup lathe. What is this about a monthly challenge?

no i dont have a back up lathe i just kill them

Perhaps your avatar should have the caption: Be vewwy qwuiet, I'm hunting lathes."