# Walker Turner Lathe



## greenleecustomcalls

Found this lathe for sale, he wants 350. Suppose to work, here is the write up.

"Heavy Duty Walker Turner wood lathe from the 1950s (1940s?). My grandfather taught me to turn on this 30 years ago. Sadly it hasn't been used in 20 years. It still works great although I'd replace the belt. Variable speed 110V motor. Comes with extra spindle. 42" rails for turning long stock. Tools included." 

https://sanantonio.craigslist.org/for/6151802810.html

Seems like it would make a great addition to my lathe collection lol. Like I really need another lathe right now. Plus I am still trying to get moved. I am debating on trying to get it. but just not sure. What are all your thoughts. Remember I have a Jet 1236 "bearing went last night, tail stock needs fixed" an old craftsman aluminum lathe (not currently set up) an AMC 1236 (Older Jet Clone) and a new Laguna Midi Lathe. 

Anyone have any experience with Walker Turner. I really wanted a heavier lather for turning larger wood. ((Probably reason my Jet is beat up as bad as it is)

All thoughts welcome

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## greenleecustomcalls

Thanks for moving to an appropriate location.

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## woodman6415

Clean looking ... I would think price is about right ... wonder what the swing is ?.. that would determine the bowl size ...

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## Schroedc

Looks comparable to the old Rockwell lathes they had in the schools in the 60's. I had one of the Rockwell ones with that Reeves drive, no issues, they run decent. Price seems pretty fair especially including tools. Walker-Turner always seems to have a decent rep. The only issue might be parts of you break something though....

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## greenleecustomcalls

I know it don't have big swing, but I have see outboard attachments for the delta's that bought Walker Turner in 19050 I think. I have just always wanted a heavy lathe to turn heave off balance items. But I have really never looking into a walker turner or know anything on the price. It does look clean, I will have to go see it hear it inspect it. Might try to do that tomorrow some time, after I replace the bearings on my Jet 1236.

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## greenleecustomcalls

Colin I was thinking the same thing about replacement parts, but have seen a lot of these type of cabin lathes rebuilt, so that is an issue. Not sure what tools he has with it either. and whether or not what I have will fit, Im sure adapters can be purchased.


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## rocky1

woodman6415 said:


> Clean looking ... I would think price is about right ... wonder what the swing is ?.. that would determine the bowl size ...



12 inches over the bed... http://www.lathes.co.uk/walkerturner/ - Stumbled upon this link trying to sort it out. 

Looks to be in pretty decent shape, not a bad lathe for the money, and you get all them antique turning tools with it!

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## duncsuss

Yes, 12" over bed -- but there's a gap between the headstock and bed, so you've got a shallow area with 15.5" swing for platters, etc.

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## woodman6415

greenleecustomcalls said:


> I know it don't have big swing, but I have see outboard attachments for the delta's that bought Walker Turner in 19050 I think. I have just always wanted a heavy lathe to turn heave off balance items. But I have really never looking into a walker turner or know anything on the price. It does look clean, I will have to go see it hear it inspect it. Might try to do that tomorrow some time, after I replace the bearings on my Jet 1236.


I'm pretty sure you can't use this lathe for outbound turnings ... headstock had to turn outbound ... or move to other end of bed ... my jet and grizzly can both turn and move ...


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## woodtickgreg

It's a good quality old school lathe, won't last long at that price. Some nice goodies with it too. It would be a good one for someone to learn on or as a second lathe. I think that one has a reeves drive too. solid machine for the money. Even if it is a little on the small size.

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## greenleecustomcalls

Yes I can of like the old school tools, they seem to take my abuse a lot more, It would be my back up lathe well lathe only used for out of balance blanks that require some heft to keep lathe on the floor, lol It does have a reeves drive, I guess I could always change the motors out later on. but think I will check in to it. thanks everyone for the comments.

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## duncsuss

greenleecustomcalls said:


> ... well lathe only used for out of balance blanks that require some heft to keep lathe on the floor, lol It does have a reeves drive ...



Except -- the slowest speed indicated in that photo is 660 rpm, which is still faster than I would like to start a large out-of-balance bowl blank. Even if the lathe is massive, the blank would want to take off -- you might have to use 6 inch carriage bolts to keep it on the faceplate

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## Mike1950

I have rockwell that looks just the same. Only problem with mine is all it does is collects dust. They are heavy""

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## rocky1

If the drawing is accurate on the page I linked above, it would appear there may be room to dial that below 660 RPMs. How much below is kinda iffy, as the belt may bottom out in the pulley before you gain much more.

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## greenleecustomcalls

The web article says "A fully-enclosed motor was held within the headstock-end plinth - either a 0.5 h.p., which was recommended for general work, or a 1.5 h.p. for heavy-duty turning and metal spinning. Alternatively, a two-speed 1750/3500 rpm 3-phase motor could be specified, in which case the speed range spanned an impressive 260 rpm to 4500 rpm. " So will have to check it out see how slow it will go lol.

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## greenleecustomcalls

Duncan I have been known to throw things off the lathe, the trick is to remember to step to the side and not back to avoid catching it in the face or chest.

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## rocky1

If you look at the drawing Jim, it appears it has a 4 speed pulley above the Reeves Drive, so the RPM range may be considerably broader than what's specified on the indicator dial to begin with. If that statement on the 3 phase motor is correct, given the fact that that motor has a minimum speed of 1750 RPMs, and gets down to 260 RPM on final drive speed, then the single phase .5 hp motor should likewise get that slow, unless they used a single speed pulley on that model, which really wouldn't make a lot of sense. The extra speeds would be considerably more beneficial on the .5 hp motor, as it wouldn't have nearly the torque of the 1.5 hp to power through off balance pieces or heavy cuts. Although from an engineering perspective, they may have looked at the extra RPMs providing the inertia in place of motor torque. Open the cover and see what's in there. Then order a tach and play!!

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## greenleecustomcalls

thank you Rocky, just waiting on a response on a time to look at it.


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## woodtickgreg

For what he's asking for it you can't really go wrong, it's a nice solid cast iron machine. It's cheap enough to allow you to do upgrades on it if you need to.
Just go get it and don't look back, lol.
It is old American iron.

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## Sprung

I'd be tempted to!

As far as parts availability if something ever breaks, yeah, it's not like you can call up the manufacturer and find parts, but parts can be found if you need them. The OWWM.org forum specializes in old, American iron in the realms of both wood and metal working. It's amazing to see some of the tools that come through there - even rare ones - and then to see someone who's looking for parts for a very rare machine and, surprise!, someone happens to have the parts needed. For something like this lathe, if parts were ever needed, a post to the Bring Out Your Dead (for sale/trade/wtb) section of the forum with the parts your looking for can usually provide good results. Otherwise ebay might also be a surprising source of parts.

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## greenleecustomcalls

Matt did a quick search for parts, just in case and yeah ebay has a good list of pieces and parts, Only issue now is the motor, the gentlemen did not know how bit it was and the plate says .5 amps. I am still going to go see it and run it to see what it sounds like etc. I guess I can always find a bigger motor, In fact I just moved an old craftsman alum bed lathe (I won at an auction a few years back in Kansas) it came with {If I Remember correctly} a 1 1/2 horse induction motor. Just plugged in it NC when I was there to see if the motor turned and it did. Might be a good donor motor. But who knows really have to just get in and see what can be done.

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## Mike1950

Sure do not see how it could be .5 amp motor. That is puny. Lathe came from bigger is better days. I have an old century 1/2 horse. It is huge and horses were bigger then...


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## duncsuss

Only half an amp? At 220V, that's 110W -- and 746W is 1 hp ... no, that can't be right, it's less than 1/6 hp -- and half that if it's running 110V.

Even 5A would be on the small side for a lathe motor (for reference, the HarborFreight 12" x 33" lathe with Reeves drive has a 110V - 6A motor, and I'd stall that out taking a medium-light cut.)

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## greenleecustomcalls

Im not sure, will have to wait till I see it to know.


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## greenleecustomcalls

Ok got that wrong, here is the data plate, its 3/4 horse I believe. not sure what the .5 amps is. I am by no means an electrician. one of those things I have to phone a friend .

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## Mike1950

I would guess it says 10.5

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## JR Parks

Let us know what happens!

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## greenleecustomcalls

I will jim, just waiting on response from seller, He said he could meet up this weekend, but haven't heard back from him yet. Just waiting, im a very impatient person some times, just hate waiting

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## greenleecustomcalls

Well went and inspected the lathe yesterday and brought it home last night. Everything seems ok, It does need some love, Came with Extra Tail Stock, and all the turning tools, the banjo and rest, nevertheless most of the tools are pretty much used up but well see what we got. There were a few Craftsman tools and a whole set of buffalo company. The extra tail stock had a busted wheel, but will find one somewhere, I will work on cleaning it up some today, (Dont care for the color combination, and will change that at a later date.) I also will try and get the face plate removed so I can use my chucks. Now I will have to replace the spindle at a later date, The outboard threads are gone, but already have found a replacement online. Its just a decent sized really heavy lathe. I kinda like the old iron.

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