The Smallest Lathe
This is a Sc
heppach (dmt450) 5 speed bench mounted wood turning lathe. This lathe was the first lathe I used seriously. And I did use it seriously considering it was a small inexpensive lathe. It was bolted well to the bench and within months I was turning bowls up to the maximum diameter of 10″ (150mm). And these weren’t always round bowls either. I had already been making furniture for several years so I knew how much I liked the natural edge and the beauty of the wood in its fullness, not cut into a straight line for my ease of use. I was very impressed with this lathe. It did everything I asked of it which was a lot. It was quite a long time later that I learned that these lathes are usually only used for turning things like pens and lace bobbins. I would never subject it to that sort of strain now I have more experience but it is still in use.
The lowest speed is 650 rpm and the highest is 3000 rpm. One of the things I started making early on was the Tea-light holders and the lowest speed on the lathe is rather high for drilling a hole this size. I think this is the only real frustration I found with the lathe. I’d never used variable speed so changing the speed with the belts felt easy enough.
When I bought this lathe in May 2005 from Timberman Huw and I were looking after his mother (with dementia) in their home and I was finding it frustrating as I couldn’t get a decent amount of time at my home in my workshop to make furniture. I put doors onto the covered area out the back of theirs (it was originally the coal hole) thereby turning it into a tiny shed. This had just enough room for the lathe on a bench, a cupboard underneath and a grinder. I started turning and never looked back. Every time Huw’s mother was comfortably settled I’d be out for an hour on the lathe. Initially it did add some stress to the already stressful situation of caring but it was also an escape. As I learned and became more confident with the tools, etc. the turning became a much needed form of relaxation. I was happy to spend more time there freeing Huw to have more time for his work and to socialise with others. The small shed was all I needed as I was able to keep my wood and saw my blanks at home.
After a few years I was able to swap this lathe for a rather larger lathe but that is another story…