Looking for advice. i have a grizzly wood working lathe. that i have not used in forever. since i am going to get the revolution 4th axis I am not sure I will ever need it again. any thoughts?
For me these are to very different tools, I have both and would not get rid of the lathe, I use the lathe to sand/polish chess pieces when done in the Rotary along with many other things not practical in the Rotary.
Pat
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In addition, I imagine that the lathe can produce larger projects than the rotary. The rotary cannot make a bowl or vase.
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I wouldn’t get rid of it, turn what you can turn and mill what you can mill.
they are different IMO. kinda depends on what you want out of it honestly.
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If you need the room or the money then sell it. Personally those are the only two reasons to get rid of a tool IMO. I also have a rotary coming. My plan is to make a rocking chair so I can make the curved top rail. I’ve been practicing on how to make a monogram letter on the top rail. After making a sample (I made it with a tighter curve) I realized that it would sit on a shelf on it’s own and looked kind of nice.
Anyway, to get back to my wood late, I wanted to flatten the bottom while sanding it to a nice finish at the same time. I made a disc sanding attachment for my lathe and used the cast iron table from a broken Craftsman table saw basically turning my lathe into a 20" variable speed disc sander. If you would like I can take a picture. It only took a few seconds with 180 grit to finish the top and bottom. I wouldn’t sell my lathe.
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Also, you can use the lather to make square stock round before putting it in the rotary. Saves a step.
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For me that adds a step but I have the Rapidchange ATC, what a game changer it is, wonderful addition, I use the rounding tool path in Vectric initially to make it round.
Pat
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