Pen Making Starter Set with Turncrafter Pro 1/2HP Midi Lathe

Outstanding Value!!

My family told me to go out and buy what I wanted for Father's Day, so I bought a lathe (my first one). I set it up, started turning a spindle to practice on. After 5 minutes, I was packing it back up for return. It was poorly constructed and noisy. I came in from the shop, got online and ordered the Turncrafter 1/2hp lathe and pen making starter set. The package arrived in great shape the next day. As soon as I opened the box I knew I had made a wise choice. This 18" mini lathe weighed as much as the 40" "commercial" lathe I had just packed up. This is a solid machine. At first I was looking for a way to bolt it to my workbench, but discovered rather quickly that the Turncrafter is perfectly stable on my workbench even at high speed. The lathe does not come with much of an instruction manual, but it really isn't needed. Belt changing is accomplished quite easily and only takes a minute to do. Assembly out of the box just involved moving the headstock over the motor and refastening it. I was very impressed with overall quality of this machine. The toolrest and tailstock assemblies glide freely over the base and lock in very securely with just a small twist of the handle. The feed mechanism in the tailstock works smoothly with no play at all. The only negative I have found after using this lathe for about 4 hours is that the toolrest came with numerous small nicks in the edge. These tend to catch the turning tools on occasion but I should be able to fix the problem with just a light touch off with a file. All in all, if you're looking for a solid, quality built, quiet and affordable small lathe, look no further. This machine is built to last. I also received the pen making starter set with this and feel I should say something about it as well. The components that come with the starter set are not your typical bargain basement giveaway items that seem to be in a lot of starter kits these days. These are all high quality items. The turning tools do not appear to be the top of the line set, but I would not expect that in a starter set. They are however excellent quality, hold an edge very well, and are very comfortable to use. I have only two complaints about the starter kit. I would have loved to see a small sample (about one foot each) of the sanding roll set. It came with the Shellawax, but no way to prep the turning for finish. My only other issue is that I ran out of pen kits to turn in two days! Okay, I guess I should just buy more. Thanks PSI for such quality products. I look forward to years of use out of the lathe, as well as many, many orders for supplies.

Nice machine

This is my first lathe. It is very well built. I had to figure some of the stuff out on my own because it came with no instruction manual. The kit is very nice. I wish you had the opportunity to swap carbon steel with HSS tools.

Great Bargain !! Great Lathe!!

What can I say , I love my Turncrafter Lathe. I purchased this set last year and have made hundreds of pens since. This was my first Lathe and I was a bit unsure when purchasing it because I knew nothing about them. I have to say I was very impressed with the affordability and quality. Since then I have purchased the Variable speed motor and it just made my Turncrafter that much better. If your looking for a good starter kit then this is the one for you. The Lathe is just as good as a Jet for a lot less $$$

Great starter set! Making pens in no time

I did a lot of research before choosing the Turncrafter starter set. As someone who was just getting started I wanted to get everything as quickly and cost-effectively as possible and found this to be a great deal that gave me everything I needed to start turning pens. The lathe runs smoothly and my pens come out great - unless I mess them up! The only suggetion I would have is to improve the manual that comes with this lathe. Since it is marketed to beginners it needs to have more detailed setup instructions, if you get this you will need some familiarity with lathes to get it up and going, very poor setup instructions. I still have one part that I don't know what to do with! All-in-all, the lathe is fantastic, an excellent purchase.

Turncrafter Pro Review

I received my Turncrafter Pro lathe and pen making starter kit for Christmas. I had no previous turning experience and was able to make a pen worth keeping on my first try. I have turned about fifteen pens since then and have been practicing spindle turning to get more familiar with how different lathe chisels work. On the negative side, the tail stock locking mechanism did not work properly out of the box, but a rep in customer support told me how to adjust it and it has been fine since. Additonally, the chisels that come with the starter kit appear to be low quality, but are adequate enough to get acquainted with turning. If you are considering buying a lathe and have no turning experience make sure you read up on sharpening as this is a little talked about area for beginners that goes hand in hand with turning. You will have to sharpen your tools on a very regular basis, sometimes during a single project. Make sure if you get the lathe that you also have a way to sharpen your tools.