The turncrafter plus is a small lathe from PSI, and I'd have to say my favourite thing about it is the price, which is lower than any other lathe I've come across. It costs several hundred dollars less than similar sized lathes with the same features, and seems to be good quality also.
I'm a beginner in wood turning and I wanted to get started without investing a ton of money in an expensive lathe, so I decided to look at the mini lathes since in general they're cheaper. The Turncrafter really stuck out, as it's pretty much designed to be a beginner lathe for people who don't want to spend too much, exactly what I was looking for.
I ordered it from Amazon.com, since they have the cheapest price around, and so far I've been very happy with it. Everything I've turned has turned out well, except for one spindle that I broke, but that was entirely my fault anyway.
I was really impressed with how heavy and solid this lathe is for the small price, the specs say it weighs about 45 pounds, and the 1/4 HP engine seems more than powerful enough to turn everything I need.
The first thing I made was a small wood lure, for my other hobby fishing. I'll put up some pictures of that as soon as it's done. I thought it came out very good, especially since I was just getting familiarized with the new equipment.
One really col thing about the turncrafter plus is the variable speed control, which is usually only on much more expensive models. It means you can continuously adjust the speed all the way up to 3200 RPM without having to stop and change any belts or mess around with your lathe. This ends up being a HUGE timesaver, since adjusting speeds manually can take several minutes, and if you're like me you'll have to do it a lot.
I'm still learning when it comes to woodturning, and I've got a lot of work to do, but I think this lathe will last me a long time. If you're a beginner I would definitely recommend the Turncrafter, the only limiting factor is the size, but that's the case with any mini lathe whether it costs 150$ of 900$.
