🪵 Pledge Drive: New Woodturning Lathe [Last Call]

Hey everyone + @L1Woodturners + @L2Woodturners ,

We’re kicking off a pledge drive to bring a new wood lathe into the space and we’d love your support.

Why?

The current lathe (Tyme Avon) is showing its age: it’s out of alignment, vibrates heavily and isn’t ideal for precise or safe turning anymore.

Meanwhile, interest in woodturning has taken off. We’re now running regular inductions and more members are getting into turning each month.

What’s the plan?

We’ve had a few rounds of discussion with @directors, @woodtechs and @cnctechs and there’s feasibility to add a second lathe in the woodturning area.
This would double lathe availability and allow us to make real improvements to that corner of the space.

What are we buying?

We’re aiming for a solid, industrial-grade lathe , like:

  • Woodfast WL3040A
  • Axminster AT508WL
  • Laguna Revo 18|36
    (Powermatic 3520C and Robust American Beauty may be out of budget but we dream big!)

What we’re looking for:

  • Cast iron build with legs
  • +2HP motor (1.5 kW)
  • Variable speed
  • +450mm swing over bed

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Here’s a great option currently listed on eBay for around £1,300 bidding ends Monday 16/9.

If we move quickly, this could be a brilliant deal. View Listing

How much are we raising?

Our target is anywhere between £1,000 and £3,000, depending on what’s available and how much we raise. We’ll pick the best lathe we can afford once we know where we stand.

You don’t need to give big, even 100 people chipping in £10 would be a huge step forward.

How to pledge

Just edit this wiki and add your name and amount below.

If you’re not sure how, feel free to message me: I’ll add it for you.

This is a bold target but we’ve hit similar numbers before (defibrillator) so I believe we can absolutely do it again :flexed_biceps:


To get the ball rolling, 29 members have already donated or committed to donate:

ÂŁ5 from

@Harry_Lazlo (paid) @Robbie_Zhao (paid) @MGC (paid) @JanT (paid) @Wildside (paid) @jjsm233 (paid) @Emerald (paid) @DavidD (paid) @FrankBruno (paid) @jspncr (paid) @Rosa (paid) @Jacques_Kelsey (paid) @plietar (paid) @qsp (paid) @Amit_Kohli (paid) @reda (paid) @EdwardE (paid) @WoodIsGood (paid) @david.shenoda (paid) @dt03cjb (paid) @vanora (paid) @Jonners (paid) @Heddles (paid) @GC27 (paid) @JoelMilner @charles

ÂŁ10 from
@anneleakey (paid) @jonnyc @Graham @Romain @Bundle @lamacchiacosta (paid)

ÂŁ15 from
@Timbo (paid) @Riggerz (paid)
ÂŁ20 from
@stefanoromano @fincheee @PReardon @robchristopher @Kyle @BozTM @Geraetefreund @petermakesprints

ÂŁ50 from
@Courtenay_Inchbald @dt03cjb @James_Nahajski

ÂŁ100 from
@dario @plietar

ÂŁ200 from
@giles @Timbo

Pledge Total so far: ÂŁ1105

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Excellent initiative Dario! Can I throw another possibility into the mix? If we are looking at a used lathe rather than a new one, these sometimes don’t get as far as eBay, but are sold privately to the woodturning community. Unfortunately, most woodturners are older guys and many are unable to continue with the hobby due to physical limitations of age, or die leaving their workshop to be disposed of. If members agree, I could “put the word out” through my club (East Surrey Woodturners) or even the national organisation, the AWGB (see https://www.awgb.co.uk/donations/) which has a scheme for redirecting equipment to worthy causes like SLMS. A member of our club is on the national committee, so I can ask him about it. What do we think

I think your minimum specification is good, and would use that. We don’t want to acquire a lathe that would require a lot of work and expense to bring it up to standard.

Have your discussions with the directors included the possibility of matching funds? I feel this is appropriate as, to my knowledge, very little has ever been spent on woodturning equipment beyond the Tormek and it is an increasingly popular activity in the Space which has aided in recruiting members.

Again, thanks for promoting this Dario - upgrade of the lathe is long overdue.

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Thanks so much for your note.

Yes, absolutely an industrial-grade second-hand lathe would be ideal. Please do spread the word on any channels you’re aware of.

As for the pledge drive matching funds, it’s still in conversation. I assume the Directors would like to see some momentum building before committing…

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So far we’ve had 39 contributions (£530) I’m honestly blown away . I think this is already the most successful pledge drive SLMS has ever had.

If the directors agree to match, we’ll already be in range to buy something really decent.

I suggest we keep the pledge drive running until we track down the best wood lathe on the market.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: If you haven’t donated yet, now’s a great time. Every pledge makes a real difference to the quality of machine we can get.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: If you’re part of a woodturning club or have tips on good industrial-grade lathes, please share. We’re entering the searching phase. (For context, we just missed out on this one last week: Laguna 18|36 Woodturning Lathe 230V | eBay UK).

@fincheee you’re our best bet here :folded_hands:

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A good lathe will come along. I am putting out feelers.

According to the members of my club, a huge factor is after-sales service for the lathe. This can be especially problematical for non-European manufacturers. Axminster seem to have a legendary reputation for fixing any problems customers have. Something to think about.

One feature I really like is a rotating headstock, permitting larger workpieces not obstructed by the lathe bed.

Getting a new lathe would obviously be beneficial.
The existing lathe can’t do some very basic things well, because the tail stock has no adjustment and it is out of alignment with the axis of the headtock.
If we are spending a considerable amount on a new lathe I would want some credible assurances that it is fit for purpose. Buying a lathe which can’t drill straight, concentric holes would be disappointing.
Modern quick release locking mechanisms and electronic variable speed are essential. Heavy flat beds as illustrated in the Laguna are also vastly superior to bars.

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I have just taken the total to 730 pounds.
If the space matches our 730 we would have a good chance of securing the Laguna.

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@directors have agreed a match, so if that is the right one, we should be there…

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The lathe we were watching just sold for £1,700, so unfortunately we couldn’t secure it.

There’s now a Laguna lathe available at the Axminster outlet but, even if we can deduct VAT, we’ll need to raise more funds..

If you haven’t donated yet, now is the perfect moment to do so. And if you know anyone in sales or marketing at Axminster, please let me know: I’m trying to open a conversation about sponsorship or discounts.

1 Like

Hi @dario, Years ago, the old lathe tech and I started a conversation with Axminster exactly for that reason.

It was probably 8 years ago or so, I can’t really remember the ins and outs of the conversation, but I remember that we were facing quite a strong opposition from them, and it all ended up nowhere.

When I have a few spare minutes, I will try to search my emails. I don’t remember if the conversation happened on my email account, but if it did, I will forward it to you.

That said, this kind of relationship depends a lot on who you speak to, so it’s definitely worth trying again.

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Hi all,

We did it, we secured the Laguna 24/36 lathe! The beast should be with us next week.

I’ll keep the pledge drive open for a few more days, as we also need to get a chuck (1¼″×8 TPI), so any extra contributions will really help.

A big thank you for the incredible generosity shown by the members who made donations. The amount we collected is huge and I know some of you really stretched to make it possible. What struck me most is that it didn’t just come from the top-paid software engineers or the most dedicated woodturners, it came from across the community. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this and I’m truly moved.

This is the spirit of SLMS: we support each other and we love heavy and accurate machinery :flexed_biceps:

In the next few days I’ll follow up with the practical bits (setting up the area, help needed and money transfer).

Until then, a massive thank you to everyone! :folded_hands: Can’t wait to see you all turning on it soon!

10 Likes

This is a huge leap forward for turning! Im not that familiar with lathes but this review should excite you if you’ve used the one we currently have at MS.

Well done to all who donated their time, money, or energy.

Keep Smiling
D

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Now we need a good chuck :smiling_face:

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Hit me up when the time comes, I would be more than happy to help set the new lathe up.

I can do the electrics for it. I assume that it will be on the same Tool control channel?

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Grande Stefano! This will really help.

On tool control, I see the benefits of having two channels but in practice that would take time. We can start with the Laguna as the main lathe, replacing the Tyme (taking actual tool control and position). The Tyme can then serve as backup when the Laguna is in use, facing the wall where the CNC extraction and clamps are.

I can share more details in the member meeting and in a new post.

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Have been a bit MIA recently and completely missed this whole drive, can I pledge ÂŁ20 please?

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Nice, thank you :folded_hands:. Adding you name and SLMS account details for transfer.

Just added my mame too, as I have been away and also missed this thread, until now.

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Really happy that the space has upgraded the lathe!

Once the hard work of installing it is finished, will users need a refresher induction to cover any different features, or will our knowledge of the previous model be enough?

We’re almost there: the new chuck should be arriving today. We’re also wrapping up the risk assessment and tool page.

The idea for now is not to run a new refresher induction, but just ask everyone to read the updated pages. We’ll keep an eye on how this goes and adjust if it looks like the machine or members might be at risk.

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