A wood lathe is where your wooden creations are born. If it doesn’t have a good start there is no saving it afterward. Choosing the right wood lathe requires a fair amount of research and understanding. But even we know that this isn’t easy!
There are so many options in the market and it’s hard to know which right wood lathe is best for you. The technical lingo used to describe lathe features and functions makes it even harder to understand! Let’s have a quick look at the Shop Fox W1758 Wood Lathe Review.
This review will make choosing the right birthplace of your wooden creations easier.
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Features of Shop Fox W1758 Wood Lathe:
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The Shop Fox W1758 wood lathe is an impressive high-performance machine.
Built with a whopping 2 horsepower 110V motor, this is one of the most powerful wood lathes of its class on the market. All this basically means that it will be able to turn your wood for hours with no problems! With a variable speed of 600 to 2400 RPM, it has a 10-speed adjustment lever that allows you to keep close control over the movement of your workpiece.
The body of the lathe is made using heavy duty and precision ground cast iron. Weighing a hefty 338 pounds, there is no doubt how solid this machine is. It will be able to easily manage your big projects with the capillitium to beautifully sculpt your smaller projects too.
It has cast iron legs that ensure stability and minimal vibrations. This means that you will be able to create error-free high-quality woodwork. It has an in-built digital tachometer readout that shows you its exact spindle speed, which helps maintain consistent control.
There is a quick lock and release feature for the tailstock and headstock, this makes fitting, adjusting and holding your workpiece steady, as simple as the flip of a lever. The Shop Fox W1758 includes a three-way adjustable tool rest with an extending option. This provides support for the turning tool you’ll use.
The height and distance from the workpiece can be adjusted to your desired position with easy-to-use locking handles. Another handy feature is with the precision cast iron tailstock. Its center can be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate workpieces up to 46-inch in length.
This full-featured lathe offers the ability to perform outboard turning.
Outboard turning is a kind of faceplate turning that is usually done when the stock diameter is greater than 12 inches. Its headstock can be positioned at either 90 or 180-degrees for large diameter pieces. This means that it can create a wider variety of items in more sizes.
This machine will make you look like a pro!
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Its tailstock part is equipped with a cam-action clamping system. There is a locking plate that lifts up underneath the bed and secures the tailstock in place providing a rock solid grip. The manufacturers at Shop Fox are very generous because when you buy your W1758 wood lathe it will come with these extending accessories at no extra charge!
The W1758 comes with its MT#2 live center installed so you can start turning spindles right away.
- It is made by a trusted manufacturer
- The cast iron case makes this wood lathe very solid
- Its 2 horsepower motor means it will have a powerful turning capability
- It has 10-speed settings which gives the user better control
- The has a handy quick lock and release feature
- 2-year manufacturer’s warranty
- Its 338 pounds will make it difficult to move if necessary
- The minimum speed may be too fast for new wood lathe users
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Frequently Asked Questions:
You can find additional details and information about the wood lathe you are considering in the Frequently Asked Questions.
See below questions that current and potential owners have asked as well as the provided answers, based on their requirements of and experiences with the Shop Fox W1758.
Question: What kind of belt does the W1758 come with?
Answer: The manual calls it M24 3L240. This appears to be a standard 24 inch x 3/8 inch belt. I just did a search based on the numbers and it seems it’s pretty widely available.
Question:Â What is the largest diameter bowl you can turn on this lathe?
Answer:Â In reality, because the motor can be turned 90 or moved to the end you can turn large sizes. But on center, you can turn up to 16″.
Question: What is the footprint? Curious to know the dimension’s where the feet sit on the floor.
Answer:Â I actually took it off the legs and mounted it on a bench, But overall dimensions of the lathe with legs attached are 76-1/2″L x 19″W x 4.
Question:Â Does this wood lathe come with a 12 inch,16 inches or 17-inches swing range over the bed?
Answer: The lathe has just over an 8 inches swing (but less than 8 ½ inches) radius above the bed, so you can have a 16 inches maximum diameter workpiece.
Question:Â Does this have a change belt system for variable speed or what?
Answer: Yes it does. It is a big investment, but I love it and a lathe is something you don’t want to buy cheap, it can be very dangerous otherwise.
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Final Verdict:
From the research we carried out on the shop fox w1758, it is clear that this is a good choice for serious wood crafters.
Shop Fox pride themselves on manufacturing tools that are built to last. They are specially designed to give their owners years of trouble-free service.
They paid close attention to detail when creating each tool.
They used strong and solid materials to build its parts and have a strict quality control program that assures the safe and reliable operation of each model they produce.
This assured quality takes the guesswork out of choosing a good wood lathe, you can feel confident that this will be able to handle all your woodturning requirements! Hopefully, you got a perfect Shop Fox W1758 Wood Lathe Review.
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