Woodworking Machinery
..The Equipment Experts

Description:
This starter kit offers the novice turner everything required to begin producing attractive turned items straight from the box. Included in the kit is DML24X Woodturning Lathe and the 3 most popular Carbon steel tools
The DML 24X lathe in action.
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Specification ..
The lathe is powered by a 1/3hp induction motor, giving speeds of 450, 950 and 2000rpm. It has 600mm (24in) between centres, and a bowl-turning capacity of up to 229mm (9in) over the bed bars, and 152mm (6in) over the banjo.
Both head and tailstock take No.1 Morsetaper fittings. The drive spindle, which is groundt o fine tolerances, is mounted between two shielded deep groove ballbearings, which are sealed for life. Thespindle nose is the ubiquitous 3/4in dia x 16tpi fitting found on all Record lathes.
The major lumps - headstock,tailstock, toolrest banjo, toolrest andbed bar mounting blocks - are made from grey iron, and the bed bars of tubular zinc-plated steel.
In use..
Bolted to an old woodworkingbench, the lathe ran smoothly andquietly. We first did a piece of workbetween centres, using the two-prongcentre drive provided and the Recorddead centre - also supplied. Dead centres are not the most satisfying, but providing a live revolving centre withthe lathe would make it moreexpensive, and there is a large rangeto choose from. There were noproblems here, with very littlevibration and the 1/3hp motor providedenough power. At 2000rpm thelathe was still quite quiet and wewere able to get a good finish off thetool.Although there is a ratchet handleon the headstock to facilitate quickerrelease of the motor for speedchanging, toolrest banjo adjustmentand the tailstock on the bed require aspanner, irksome to say the least,especially when the spanner is notprovided. We would have liked to see a coupleof locking levers here, which wouldhave only added a small amount tothis well-built, budget-priced lathe.Quill locking on the tailstock is doneby a knob, and the toolrest is lockedin the banjo by a quick-release handle.Well positionedThe NVR (No Volt Release)OFF/ON switch is well positionedabove the motor and is easilyaccessible when both spindle and Ratchet handle on the motor mount flange-for easy belttensioning and release.The machine screw that keeps the headstock belt casing in place.Belt casing open showing how easy it isto access the belt when changing speeds.No-volt release (NVR) switch.
bowl turnin
. Speed changing is fairly quick easy, taking only a few seconds. The speed range offered should easily cover most turners' needs and the turning capacity of thelathe.Bowl turningThe head is fixed, not swivelling, sobowl turning is done over the bed.As there is enough distance betweenhead and tailstock to swing a gougehandle across, this was fairlystraightforward. Using the smallscrewchuck provided, and also the150mm (6in) ash blank provided,there was no problem forming thebowl's exterior quickly. We later used the three carbon-steelturning tools provided - a shallow15mm gouge, a 5mm parting tooland a 16mm skew. These were fine,but being carbon steel rather thanhigh speed steel, needed sharpeningquite often. Nevertheless, they werefunctional and would, as the salespitch indicates, get you started. We particularly liked the firmtoolrest, which has a very comfortableprofile for the hand, especially forspindle work. The instructional video takesthe newcomer through the basicprinciples of turning between centres,and includes advice on timber andtools, techniques and safety, anddesign and finish.In conclusionFor somebody coming into turning,who wants to get started without toomuch capital outlay, the optional DML 24X`starter kit' is certainly worth considering.
It is not the largest and most powerful of lathes, but it is a very well-made product with a five-year guarantee and is very reasonably priced. It also has the added advantage that if you later want to upgrade to alarger more powerful Record lathe,the accessories - centres, faceplates,tool rests etc - will also fit the larger models.