400W Wood Lathe, 1000mm Between Centres, 4 Speeds, 350mm Swing

A wood lathe turns a square of timber into a round one: table and chair legs, balusters for a staircase, bowls and platters, handles for chisels and hammers, curtain poles, finials, and the repeat turnings a furniture workshop needs to match. It is the machine a joinery shop adds when customers start asking for something other than straight lines.

A metre between centres is a useful length. It takes a full table leg, a baluster or a curtain pole without joining, and the 350mm swing over the bed sets the largest diameter you can turn, which covers most bowl work and any leg. Speed is set by moving the belt across a four step pulley, giving 810, 1 180, 1 700 and 2 480 revolutions a minute. That is the important control on a lathe: large diameter work must be turned slowly, because rim speed rises with diameter, and small work is turned fast for a clean finish. The tool rest and the tail stock both lock with spindle locks, so they stay where you put them under the push of a gouge, and a 142mm face plate comes with it for bowl and platter work where the timber cannot be held between centres. Centre height is 175mm and it weighs 28.3kg.