Hegner Lathe Question
BRIAN BURKE
out there has any experiences of this lathe. My second choice is a
Poolewood 3840(Voyager) but this is more expensive especeally when you add
Bowl turning attachments etc.
Any opinions would be appreciated.
Ian Hirst
I bought one of these about 12 months ago. I bought it with their bench and
bowl turning attachment.
I live in Bath, in the UK, so my comments on service can only apply to the
UK. Looks as though you are in Ireland?
Before deciding on the Hegner I checked out a lot of lathes, and with my
contacts could have got trade pricing on Sorby, Vicmarc, Poolewood, Robot
and Woodfast. I checked specifications like an idiot, listened to comments
from users and from the trade. The Hegenr looked good on paper, but there
was nowhere to see it. However they offered a 30 day no question return
policy, so I went for it. Absolutely no regrets, and no way were they going
to get it returned.
The service from Hegner was very good. There was a delay of 7 days from
placing the order to delivery, which they apologised for! They arranged the
time of delivery for when I could be in, and that is when it arrived.
Everything was complete, and in perfect condition, with the lathe packed in
a purpose made plywood box.
In terms of accuracy, I have not been able to detect any runout or
misalignment (I do not have any special dials etc.) It ran perfectly
smoothly straight out of the box, and has operated faltelessly since.
The levers all operate smoothly and grip well, in particular the camlock
banjo is very easy and quick, and likewise the tailstock. The tailstock
travel is about 3 inches, which was important to me for end grain drilling,
it is very smooth - no wobble.
The variable speed drive uses two pulley settings, is very quiet, and a
dream to use. I have the 3/4 hp motor, which for an amateur like me has
proved adequate. If speed of turning large bowls was important you may wish
to consider a larger option. I do not slow the lathe down with my cuts, but
when deliberately making very heavy cuts, I could slow it fairly easily.
Please feal free to ask specific questions. After 12 months I am still
absolutely delighted and have no hesitation in recommending it.
BRIAN BURKE <bburke...@tinet.ie> wrote in message
news:01bfced3$29c8a5a0$2bf5869f@default...
ljhgv
one. While its not a bad lathe, I think there are better ones out there for
that money.
The bed bars are 3mm box section steel and over all there is very little
cast iron in the lathe. The headstock and tailstock, toolrest etc are nice
to use and theres plenty of power too. A friend whose school bought one had
problems with the bed bars (a weld broke).
I think if I were you, I would buy a 2nd hand Graduate from the UK for a few
quid more. The Hegner has to come from the UK too so you're going to suffer
on the sterling rate at the moment. For an extra bit of saving you could
have the weight and quality of the graduate.
Shipping for a graduate is around £120 STG door to door.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Francis Morrin
fr...@clubi.ie