The Basics
A lathe is a piece of machinery onto which a work-piece is mounted and rotates allowing the user to mold the work-piece according to his desires using additional tools. It is used in woodworking to mold and shape furniture and wooden items such as bowls and even baseball bats. The advent of 21st century has seen an abrupt rise in the popularity of wooden items made through woodturning, and hence resulted in popularizing wood lathes. For most of those interested in woodturning, the beginning point is often the purchase of a wood lathe. A desirable and popular option for beginners and experts alike is the Stubby Lathe. Stubby wood lathes are renowned to be easy to use, durable and quite efficient at performing wood turning operations. It is said that a Stubby Lathe for sale, although not easy to find, is definitely worth the effort.
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Stubby Lathe is a wood lathe made by Omega Tool and Engineering Pty. Ltd – a company based in Australia. It is imported into the USA by Stubby Lathe USA, Inc., and a Stubby Lathe for sale can easily be acquired through Stubby Lathe USA. It is made up of cast iron and is known to even accommodate itself in small enclosure due to its relatively smaller footprint than other company lathes of the same capacities. Stubby Lathe has two popular models which are widely used by woodworkers: the Stubby 750 Lathe and the Stubby Lathe S1000.
Stubby Lathe 750
The Stubby 750 lathe is a very popular model, more specifically for bowls and hollow structures. It weighs a little over 600lbs and can be easily disassembled and assembled with a helping hand. When assembled, it does not need to be checked for alignment, as it is fitted with machined keyways to ensure proper alignment. Like other Stubby Wood Lathe models, the S750 is made of cast iron which gives it quite a long life and completely eradicates any vibration that might come from the machine. It should be noted that although many vendors are opting for cast iron, the Stubby 750 Lathe is one of the few models which does not produce any vibration. S750 has its own remote control through which you can control the direction, speed and switching on/off of this model. The remote control can easily be attached anywhere with the help of a magnetic small aluminum box provided.
However, the features that make S750 prominent are the 2HP motor and versatile patented rotating and sliding bed. The sliding bed specifically is quite helpful in a lot of situations, as it allows for larger blanks between centers, for work-pieces up to 30” in diameter and for 30” long spindles long. Moreover, it also allows a 26” swing with work-pieces of 34” depth. You can fit the versatile bed into 5 fixed positions which allows for more flexibility in modifying and alteration. The rotating form allows them to be effective lathes for small yet hollow forms. It also allows for greater banjo placement. Due to the rotating bed, the Stubby 750 Lathe fits in a smaller footprint while providing the power and efficiency of much larger lathes. Even more luring is the fact that the 2HP motor works smoothly on even difficult wood such as purpleheart and cherry.
Most reviews of Stubby Wood Lathe for Sale also point out the dual ranges at which the lathe can be operated. With just a simple movement of the belt by opening the headstock, you can change ranges to and from 0-1200rpm and 0-3300 rpm. To change speeds, you do not have to go through lengthy processes just to switch to a different range. This allows easier speed adjustment and more accurate cutting using tools.
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Stubby Lathe 1000
The Stubby Lathe S1000 carries over most of the features from S750 and as such is equally as good as it is. It has a 400lbs stand only, which ensures durability to even heavy pieces. Moreover, it allows for a greater swing of 44”; however, the spaces in between the center are the same as S750. The Stubby Lathe S1000 also comes fitted with a vacuum port on the headstock and is one of the few wood lathes to have this feature. This allows you to skimp the use of expensive and redundant rotary adaptors. However, recently this feature has also been included in S750. It should also be noted that this model is rarely available in the market due to a weakening US Dollar, it has become much more expensive to get a Stubby Lathe for sale, so many people often forego the extra swing for S750. Nevertheless, it can be ordered with a 3HP motor – a part that is rarely seen in any wood lathe. This extra horsepower and the greater swing maybe required for heavy woodwork projects that require much more than 30” swings. It also becomes essential if one wants to extensively use woodturning for projects outside the scope of banjo, hollow wood and bowls.
Stubby Lathe Prices
With fluctuations in the US Dollar, the exact Stubby Lathe price is often difficult to quote if not impossible. Due to differences in the exchange rate, Stubby Lathe S1000 is not imported as often as it used to be. However, the S750 price is mentioned to range from $6,500 to $7,000 on the US distributor’s website. Used Stubbys can often be found on the internet with S750 ranging from around $4,000 to $5,500 depending on the model year, condition, etc. For the used S1000 ranges well over $7,000 and can go up till $9,000. Although S1000 is not imported much more, if imported it would cost well over $10,000. Although, it is hard to come by a Stubby Lathe for sale as it is a lathe that is durable and well-liked by its user. As such, when it appears on the market it is advisable to seek it out and buy it.
From our research and review of Stubby Lathe, it is clear that this lathe is something that is unique and nothing else exists on the market which is similar. It’s patented rotating bed technology and high-powered motor makes it one of the most flexible and powerful lathe in the market. If you are looking for an all-purpose versatile lathe, Stubby Lathe is definitely one of the best and recommended options available.