Any wood turner's in the house? Seeking lathe advice.

One of this winter's project's is getting my woodworking space setup in the small spare downstairs [strike]bedroom[/strike] shop. This includes the purchase of a lathe. I do not currently have one. It's been years since I had access, but I miss it.

I'm Looking to purchase something that I'm not going to outgrow quickly, but can't justify a full blown industrial unit. Basically, I'd like to keep the lathe purchase itself under, or ~$1k. Needs to be a 12"x24"ish minimum. Most of the nicer midi units are too short for what I'm looking to do.

What I'm having trouble with is deciding if I'm better off with a nicer unit to begin with, or buying the HF 12x36 @ $250 and upgrading the motor/pulleys/rests right off the bat. I've got a 1-1/2hp motor on the shelf I could use if i could make it fit, but that's also time lost spent making it all work. I do like that it's a rotating head, and am ok with the extra effort that will require to maintain center alignments.

Thoughts? Got a unit to recommend?

Crap. Any mod who feels like fixing my grammar from "turner's" to "turners" in the title would be appreciated! 

I do woodturning, but don't think I can help with any recommendations. I work on a Craftsman lathe that is over 75 years old- I'm completely out of touch with new equipment. 

$250 for the HF sounds  really cheap. woodturning is not a precision effort like machine lathe work, so I'd be inclined to consider it. 

Here's one a little bigger (14") that includes a copy attachment for $475:

Grizzly G0842

Grizzly tools have always done pretty well for me.

I love woodturning. I use my great grandfathers 40s craftsman. 

Keep your eyes on Craigslist.  Lots of lathes in my area.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Maybe you and I use the same lathe??  

I thought there was someone weird in my shop! 

Watching with interest. 

Nothing that promising on craigslist currently. I don't have to pull the trigger immediately, but I want to be prepared for not finding something there.

That grizzly G0842 doesn't look bad, but they have a model that looks a little better for not a lot more $, the G0462 (available elsewhere for about that same price).

The problem I'm having with pulling the trigger on that, or especially the HF one, is that the reeves drive setup doesn't drop down as low as I know I'll want to go for turning speed.  I definitely will be doing larger diameter stuff.

Right now, this Nova 1624 II is looking like the best option, if unfortunately the most expensive. Supposed to be good quality, lower speed capable, and the outrigger setup for even larger width pieces looks interesting if I decide to drop another $250-$300 on the toolpiece. Bed length is a little short for what I wanted, but extensions are available. It's long enough that it would do for now.

Any other input is still definitely welcome. Still torn, and trying to decide how I feel about crying a lot once, vs. crying a bit every time.

bump for a fresh set of views/input. 

There's this thing on the local CL that would be great, but I doubt I could talk him down to less than double my original budget. Oh, and get 220 to my shop spot, but the utility closet with the main power breakers is just on the other side of one of the interior walls, so maybe not THAT hard.

facebook marketplace wasn't that promising either.

Is there a wordworking store anywhere near you?  There is one in my town and they have a few different lathes that you can rent time on and try out, even take classes on.  I made a bowl there about 9 years ago and discovered that I'd want to spend a pretty big chunk of change on a lathe if I ever bought one.  

Going cheap on one seems to be the fastest way to get frustrated and dislike the hobby.  Bigger money makes the work easier and more enjoyable.

I used a older shopsmith for years for woodworking and really liked it. They come up cheap on craigslist all the time with tooling. 

Save some cash for chip and dust collection and a good apron and face shield. I have taken a few cocobolo bowls to the face over the years and the shield will help.  

My budget outside the lathe purchase does include tooling/protection/dust provisions, but never hurts to remind people.

Jeremy, I don't disagree with your point on cheaping out (The HF option got dismissed pretty quickly).  Trying to figure out where to draw that line can be a challenge.

In reply to bluej :

i bought a Sears Craftsman on sale  during Father’s Day and a floor model to boot  got it down to $300 from $829 list.  It’s not the nice heavy duty cast iron one though.  A cheap variable speed made in China version.  

Doesn't matter,  works very well and I’ve done some really great stuff with it.  

Your Chisels /  tools are much more important than the large.  Buy the German type. ( nowdays a lot of the cheap Chinese ones are made with”German” steel.)  I think it’s a way to fold steel that makes the cutting edge last longer

next up in importance is the way to sharpen your cutters.   I started with Tormex  and am glad I did  but now the Chinese copy of a Tormex is semi decent so I’m not sure I’d repeat that given the premium Tormex charges for their name.  Oh and don’t let your Tormex ever fall over they bend their shaft the same as the cheap made in China versions.  

In reply to SVreX :

I have a lot of my shop equipment from Grizzly and second your opinion of their stuff

Frenchy, I think you meant Tormek? -> Tormek homepage

I would go with the Nova I linked over the grizzly I mentioned above for the lower speeds capaable on the Nova for ~$200 more.  Grizzly has a few models that I could stretch for in the $1300-$1500 range, and look like they might not be the reeves drive (slower speed capable). I'll take another look.

This is GRM, just build something yourself:

In reply to bluej : yes you are correct Tormek

I bought mine with every attachment since I do so much wood work. I’m going to see if the Chinese one will take those and if so that’s what I intend to replace mine with. 

Just to update, I ended up ordering the Nova 1624 II this morning.  $1k with curbside freight from amazon.

Should be here by the end of January and I'll update again then.