Harbor freight lathe

[ksheridan]

Hello,

I just bought a lightly used 1/2 hp central machinery lathe. It's my first starter lathe and seems to work well. It also came with chucks, tool, whole 9 yards and all for $200 bucks so I say it was a good deal. It's one of their newer mini lathes, with the manual speed change. Anyone here have experience with this similar lathe? Any quirks to look out for? Maintenance stuff?

Additionally, when I was turning on it last night and in the process of finish sanding, I noticed the motor was pretty dang hot. Maybe 120 degree or so. Not enough to burn me but not comfortable. Anyone here experience something similar? All the bearings seem okay and I don't smell anything burning. The fan is clear. Any insight would be nice.

 

[Karl_TN]

Sadly it's been my experience that Central Machinery equipment is known for being pretty low quality stuff that's built down to a low price. If everything turns smoothly with power turned off then it sounds like a poorly designed and/or built motor.

You will have a more enjoyable experience if you could try to locate a better variable speed lathe at a woodturner's estate sale or FB Marketplace. Buy once cry once as the saying goes.

 

[ksheridan]

Sadly it's been my experience that Central Machinery equipment is known for being pretty low quality stuff that's built down to a low price. If everything turns smoothly with power turned off then it sounds like a poorly designed and/or built motor.

You will have a more enjoyable experience if you could try to locate a better variable speed lathe at a woodturner's estate sale or FB Marketplace. Buy once cry once as the saying goes.

I suppose yeah although I have a ton of central machinery stuff that will not die. What drew me to the mini lathe is that it's a carbon copy of a lot of jet and grizzly lathes, although I'm sure the electronics are different. I figured it would have its quirks though so I'm more curious if this motor has something wrong or if this is normal for these motors. I've read elsewhere that 1/2 hp lathes often suffer from overheating, jet lathes in particular. I will agree that if you buy harbor freight stuff you do need to be prepared for stuff to break. But I like saving a dime especially if I know I'm not going to be paying out the nose just for the privilege of owning a name brand. If this more does quit however, PSI sells a 3/4 variable speed motor kit that fits this lathe so I have a backup plan.

 

[DLJeffs]

I had a Central Machinery 9"x20" metal lathe from Harbor Freight, bought around 1998 for I think $360 (it was on sale). I used it to turn fly rod reel seat inserts and cork grips on fly rods and small wood or plastic bits that I need round. It ran okay but it was belt driven and when the belts finally broke it was a hassle finding new ones. I finally got some new belts and then the brass bushings in some of the pulleys started to wear out. Then I had a shear pin on the threaded follower break. I found out Harbor Freight and Central Machinery no longer supported that lathe with spare parts. I was able to get some Grizzly parts that fit well enough to get me back in business but then more stuff started to go wrong that I couldn't fix. So my moral from that long story is to try to guess what parts might wear out and make sure you get some spares - belts, bushings, bearings, shear pins, etc.

Edit: the motor would get warm/hot, but never so hot I couldn't rest my hand on it. The motor was never a problem on that lathe.

 

[Spinartist]

Post a photo please.

 

[Firewood Potter]

Sometimes you have to wonder why Harbor Freight put the 'e' in their name.

 

[phinds]

Additionally, when I was turning on it last night and in the process of finish sanding, I noticed the motor was pretty dang hot. Maybe 120 degree or so. Not enough to burn me but not comfortable. Anyone here experience something similar? All the bearings seem okay and I don't smell anything burning. The fan is clear. Any insight would be nice.

I bought a low-end HF lathe years ago and the motor burned out in a few months. Rest of the operation was fine, and I just replaced it w/ a GE motor I had lying around (had to jury-rig the belt but no big deal). Went on to turn about 200 bowls with it. Eventually replaced it with a slightly higher end HF lathe and on that one ALSO the motor burned out. Same fix and more bowls. HF apparently uses cheap motors.

my bowls

It's the turner, not the equipment.

 

[Mike1950]

I suppose yeah although I have a ton of central machinery stuff that will not die. What drew me to the mini lathe is that it's a carbon copy of a lot of jet and grizzly lathes, although I'm sure the electronics are different. I figured it would have its quirks though so I'm more curious if this motor has something wrong or if this is normal for these motors. I've read elsewhere that 1/2 hp lathes often suffer from overheating, jet lathes in particular. I will agree that if you buy harbor freight stuff you do need to be prepared for stuff to break. But I like saving a dime especially if I know I'm not going to be paying out the nose just for the privilege of owning a name brand. If this more does quit however, PSI sells a 3/4 variable speed motor kit that fits this lathe so I have a backup plan.

My understanding is central, grizz, jet and PM are made in same factory. Brand = higher grade parts. I think pay more cry once applies here. Have grizz, jet and PM - no regrets and when i go to sell, the extra you paid gets refunded. 7 years on PM planer, no repairs, 10&15 years on jet Sanders, no repairs. 25 years on jet TS, no repairs. Have 2004 grzz bandsaw bought used 2015 incidental repairs. Guide bearings and tires.
2019 grizz bs 2010. Bought 2018 and new extreme 19" gris 2020. Repaired centifical switch.
Fil bought central machinery bs. Could not adjust. Motor burnt up in 2 years.
Point- Yugos were cheap also.

 

[BoonareeBurl]

Sometimes you have to wonder why Harbor Freight put the 'e' in their name.

I've had overall really good experiences with HF's manual tools and storage boxes and stuff, but this comment is HILARIOUS and one of the best ever. Made me literally LOL.

G

 

[Karl_TN]

Harbor Freight gets a bag rap because some of their cheap tools are made poorly, but I've had good service from their Hercules and Bauer line of battery powered tools especially considering the price when they're on sale. Here's hoping someday HF will offer some Hercules variable speed lathes that are comparable in quality to other lathes in their class.

At least rsheridan has a backup plan for replacing his motor if or when it goes out. Hopefully we'll hear back about how his lathe works out long term.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

I suppose yeah although I have a ton of central machinery stuff that will not die. What drew me to the mini lathe is that it's a carbon copy of a lot of jet and grizzly lathes, although I'm sure the electronics are different. I figured it would have its quirks though so I'm more curious if this motor has something wrong or if this is normal for these motors. I've read elsewhere that 1/2 hp lathes often suffer from overheating, jet lathes in particular. I will agree that if you buy harbor freight stuff you do need to be prepared for stuff to break. But I like saving a dime especially if I know I'm not going to be paying out the nose just for the privilege of owning a name brand. If this more does quit however, PSI sells a 3/4 variable speed motor kit that fits this lathe so I have a backup plan.

I think you will find that motor gets heated on all those lathes. That size motor won't hurt you when turning. It's a great learning tool. I would say your sanding friction was helping out there as well.
We got a shopfox lathe and it hasn't gotten heated in about a year... Cause we haven't used the little one.

 

[bamafatboy]

Back when my wife and I were turning troop pens with a group of retired military vets on the arsenal in Huntsville Alabama, there were several men that had the small 10 inch lathe from harbor freight to turn pens on. They were around 100.00 then and they had a variable speed on them. I asked one of the vets why he liked the little lathe, and his response was because it was light enough to carry around and reasonably priced. Granted it was not big enough to turn large items, however big enough to turn pens and small items. He had a larger lathe at home. There were several pens turned on those little lathes.

 

[ksheridan]

Hell all sorry for not checking back in a while.

So two or so weeks in, not too bad. So I've used my father in laws Rikon lathe a lot, obviously not even comparable as far as quality. However, it works. I had to take time looking it over and learning its quirks, as I think one does with any budget item. Only issues I've had so far though is the motor gets pretty hot ( again I have a backup kit I'll happily buy when it burns up) and I had the tool rest snap off while turning some jatoba and hit a catch. Guess you can't say that 1/2 horse doesn't have torque. I replaced it with a Rocker solid steel tool rest which fit perfectly in the stock tool rest mount. The bauer jaw chuck that came with works great too. Not a clean as a nova chuck I've used but it gets the job done just fine. Tail stock has a little side to side slop but I've learned how to get it to line up in any position. Not bad considering I didn't have to spend an extra $300 for a grizzly or a jet. Harbor freight chisels are junk though. Im still using them but I keep my grinder and wet stone next to the lathe for a reason. Lots of trips back and forth

 

[duncsuss]

Be careful with those HF tools - from memory, there isn't one that would be safe to use making a bowl or end-grain vessel. Okay for spindles, but not for hollowing and not for pieces where it flips from side grain to end grain twice per rotation.

 

[ksheridan]

Be careful with those HF tools - from memory, there isn't one that would be safe to use making a bowl or end-grain vessel. Okay for spindles, but not for hollowing and not for pieces where it flips from side grain to end grain twice per rotation.

I've done both at this point. Only time I had a piece go flying was because I was using very hard catchy wood and I didn't make a good tenon for my jaw chuck.

 

[duncsuss]

I've done both at this point. Only time I had a piece go flying was because I was using very hard catchy wood and I didn't make a good tenon for my jaw chuck.

Yep, the tenon is critical. It must have a clean shoulder for the jaws of the chuck to fit flush against, an it must not bottom out inside the chuck.

The danger with using spindle tools on a bowl is that if your tenon holds when you get a catch, it's the shaft of the tool that snaps off and goes flying towards your head.

 

[ksheridan]

Yep, the tenon is critical. It must have a clean shoulder for the jaws of the chuck to fit flush against, an it must not bottom out inside the chuck.

The danger with using spindle tools on a bowl is that if your tenon holds when you get a catch, it's the shaft of the tool that snaps off and goes flying towards your head.

Yeah definitely learned my lesson on that one. That blank went flying wow very interesting on the tools snapping. Hopefully these cheap HF chisels will bend before they snap. They are carbons steel, I can confirm that, and they seems more on the soft side than the brittle side. That's good to know too because I would like to make my own chisels and scrapers from old files I've saved. I totally see that steel snapping if I made them brittle.

 

[duncsuss]

Old files are good for scrapers - but only after you've annealed them, otherwise they will be far too brittle. I learned the easy way to do it (in a normal kitchen oven) from Ernie Conover, it's written up in his book "The Frugal Woodturner" which I have on a shelf someplace.

For an economic bowl gouge - I strongly recommend Benjamin's Best 1/2" or 5/8" bowl gouge from Penn State Industries. High Speed Steel, it has a well shaped flute for strength, and keeps an edge for much longer than carbon steel.

 

[duncsuss]

@ksheridan - I found a thread from way-back where I posted pix of the tools I'd made into scrapers, plus Ernie's simple recipe for taking the brittleness out of a file.

LINK

 

[David Hill]

The HF lathe was my first "big" lathe after starting on a shopsmith, Yes the motor gets pretty warm, You can turn some bigger stuff but that will teach you patience , Because you cannot take big cuts, Been a while since I parted ways with mine but do recall that the belt tends to wear easily so I went to kevlar belts-- there are sellers on the 'net, The next challenge is changing the belt when needed,
I'm around and will field questions.