20 Best Wood Working Machine (2022 Updated)

As expected a couple of pieces were missing. The drive bit, and the face plate. It also took a little work to fix the error message but after that everything has worked well. The drive bit was relatively inexpensive and so far I don’t need a face plate.

I have made multiple items and so far things have been great. I would recommend the sell for parts product if you are willing to put in a little work. The value is great!.

I felt compelled to give this machine a few kudos since the only review posted previously was somewhat negative. This is a good value. You can probably purchase one of Jet’s 14-42 wood lathes (no longer available) used for $500-800, and even out-of-the-box the 14-40 is a bargain at the discounted price shown above.

The weight of the machine plus the extremely well-designed cast iron brackets for a ballast shelf makes the entire unit quite stable. The outboard feature and pivoting head has allowed me to turn things that would not fit onto Jet’s 16-42, and that unit retails at $2500 or more.

Yes, there are times when I wish it had more horsepower but it has what I would consider adequate muscle to do the job. Yes, a Reeves drive needs care — you should NEVER change speeds when the motor is turned off — and the belt will need replacement every so often.

(I know this is sacrilege, but I bought one at NAPA for a third of Jet’s price. ) But the speed adjustment is mechanical, so there are no electronics that can go haywire. As long as you pay attention and don’t abuse it, the speed control system will last for years.

This new model is an improved version of the 42, which I happen to own. The speed control lever has been moved away from the quill, and the motor has been repositioned, resolving some of the clearance issues that popped up from time to time.

I am new to woodturning, but have been looking into this wood lathe as soon as it came out. When i had the chance to purchase the lathe, i did not hesitate. And i am glad i did. The versatility of the lathe is what attracted me to it in the first place, and I am extremely happy with the purchase as the lathe is exactly as advertised.

So far i have been able to turn a nice new handle for hand forged garden spade (that i broke last summer), a 16″ pecan bowl (with bed extension), even little smalls like new dogs for my workbench. And had no problems with any.

I bought this as my first lathe. I did an extensive amount of research before making an ultimate decision based on my budget. This was the best unit as far as size, money, reviews both here and WEN’s official site and my intended use.

I didn’t mind having to change the belt to change the speed, and honestly it takes no time to do. This machine is quiet. It’s high quality. It’s got room for expansion if needed. The motor does get hot pretty quick, but doesn’t affect it’s ability to perform as it should.

Just keep an eye on it, and keep it clean. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. If you’re just getting into woodturning, you won’t be disappointed with this unit.

Ive always been a fan of Wen products! When it came time to replace my beginner lathe, I knew what I was looking for and this lathe delivered! The clearances are much bigger and the motor holds up to some hard turning.

Small and suitable to start with. Needs to be fixed properly for bigger pieces

There are lots of reviews for this product on You Tube, but I’d figure I would write my two cents on it. First off, this thing is a industrial piece of equipment: It’s very heavy, but surprisingly easy to move around on a concrete surface.

It was a little tricky for me to find a permanent home for this beast in my garage. I wanted to place it in a area where I can joint/plane 8′ stock. I ended up placing it close to the wall, with the same direction as the vehicles park and it worked out good.

I wired it for a 30 amp rating. Probably overkill, but the manual does state that. The only thing I need to emphasize is, inspect your stock before jointing and planing! The blades do not like nails.

LOL! I chipped an area of the blades with a finishing nail hidden inside the stock. I’ve ran several projects with glue through the machine and it did not have any issues. But that one little 16 gauge finishing nail stoped my project that day.

I ended up having the blades sharpened and buying an extra set. I highly recommend having two sets of blades. Blade set up is easy as described in the manual. Other than that, be sure to keep the machine clean, have good dust collection and you won’t have any issues with this machine.

I haven’t used it a lot yet, but so far I love this unit. Nice clean cuts without much snipe when planing. Good power. My only complaint is it is a little awkward to work with my dust collection system since the dust hood/port is flipped and changes sides when converting from jointer to planer.

I owned dewalt battery drills more than one till the batteries became to much to replace, have a dewalt Porta band excellent tool and now I went the distance and spend a lot of cash on this 735x and the table to mount it.

I bought 150 board feet of rough sawn hemlock for some accent shelving and a pair of stairs because I can buy 2x lumber from my Amish friend way cheaper and better that the old big box. However I needed to plane it to semi smooth it down to my liking.

Let me tell you this planer paid fo itself already my wife and I ran 2×6,2×8,2×10 through this machine all day long and in meter missed a beat. These boards are a minimum of 2-1/4 thick to 2-1/2 and as long as 16 feet with sawdust flying everywhere we completed our task.

Wished I would have bought it years ago. now I’m going to do a mantel for my sons house. If anyone out they want to spend money on a planer this is the one to buy.

I’ve been wanting one of these forever. It’s one of the most highly rated benchtop planers out there and it deserves its reputation. I’ve been running rough-sawn walnut boards through it for a few days now and it’s working like a charm.

Some people might complain about the blades. I’ve never used any other planers, so I can’t speak to how these blades compare. I will say that mine have held up very well. I did have to switch them around, but that was because I ran a few reclaimed oak floorboards through that still had some small nails embedded in them.

The planer still cleaned the boards just fine and even cut the nails down to the surface, but that did nick the blades in several places. That was my fault though, you can’t really expect anything short of an industrial planer to cut nails without nicking.

The ejection fan is very powerful and I’m glad I got this model instead of the 734 (that doesn’t have a fan-assisted ejection port). It did break my little DIY dust collector, but that wasn’t a very good solution anyway.

Right now I’ve got a hose with a dust collector hooked up to it and that is collecting 99% of the dust. I would highly recommend this product, especially for hobbyists.

Operates substantially like every other planer I have owned with these comments. -Blade swapping has been streamlined. -Skyping has been reduced/improved. -fan moves chips unassisted (thru flex duct) to my collector in the base of my stand.

-power feed works as well as low/no impact feed rollers can be expected to perform. -rigid cast frame adequate for the lightweight (>12/4) stock I process with it. When you outgrow this portable machine you will be spending substantially more for a commercial or production capabilities and giving up (for the most part) portability.

The device is not designed to be mounted on router tables. meaning it will be only used on multipliable action, the manufacturer declined to recommend any other third party router tables. The device provides the primary router’s functions which are ok related to its cost.

In general speaking, it might be ok for beginners and for basic woodwork shaping.

I bought this to mount in a router table I’m building. It’s very good (but heavy) for freehand work and was very useful cutting the router plate opening. However, as a table mounted router it has some issues.

The first issue was setting the plunge depth. After a bit the plunge depth lock would vibrate open. The lock adjustment lever is plastic and can’t properly secure the plunge lock. I removed the lever and just use pliers to adjust.

This works great for freehand use but it’s a pain to adjust in a table. So I bought a Dewalt to mount in the table and kept this for freehand.

Great router, but a lot more hoss than I expected. My only complaintss are (1) the accessories inside were loose and rattling around in the case; the base plate hole pattern does not fit any router table or accessories.

I like the ability to use 1/4 or 1/2 inch shanks by installing a reducing collet. Before you buy, better check whether your other stuff is compatible.

I bought this model over 20 years ago. I use it at least once a week, usually more often. I have never had any issues with it. The only part I have had to replace is the belt just recently. There is now a small amount of bearing wear so I am thinking about upgrading to the 12×21 variable.

If the newer models are anything like this one you definitely can’t go wrong.

I am an experienced wood worker. I purchased this machine to turn smaller wooden bowls ( 7″ die and smaller). This lathe is well suited to this task and of a convenient size and weight to place on my work cart.

I’ve been around some very high quality professional wood lathes that cost thousands of dollars. I didn’t want to spend that much for a hobby. This lathe was priced in the range I was looking for and was able to handle the size of wood projects I had in mind.

The lathe is solid and easy to adjust. I am working with cedar logs. Some reviews speak of issues with the motor. No issues here. Have run the lathe now for roughly 20 hours and have had no issues. Having bought as a hobby lathe, I feel that I could turn out some very professional products with this lathe.

I highly recommend this wood lathe!.

It works as intended. Price isnt even comparable to any other lathe when you consider the 40 capacity. Its the best deal youre going to find for a brand new lathe. It isnt junk, like you might suspect.

Its not industrial quality but no one should expect it to be. Its perfect for the hobbyist or diy-er or crafter. If youre considering it. just get it. You wont be disappointed.

I’ve had the 10 in. x 18 in. 5 Speed 1/2 HP Benchtop Wood Lathe for several years, now. I have made little bowls, coffee table legs, toy wheels, coffee grinder container, and more. I have used the lathe with pine, walnut, oak, and maple.

All I can say is: it is easy to use, it is made of cast iron (hence, heavy, which makes it stay in place – no vibration making it walk), it is affordable, and most of all – it has been a work horse for me.

I have had ZERO problems with it!!! If there were a wish list: it would be great if Harbor Freight could obtain the right to sell the Variable Speed Midi Lathe Conversion Kit for it – the one that is sold through Penn State Industries.

That would enable HF to get more customer business sales (many have bought it throughout the years from PSI) while enabling the customers to upgrade their purchase with the company that originally sold them the unit – HF.

Another wish for me would have been to have bought the extension bed from HF as well. For me, I found an exact fit at Rockler – the extension bed for their Excelsior mini lathe was an exact match for my Harbor Freight lathe.

I’m just saying that it would have been nice to have been able to make the purchase at HF instead. All in all, I would buy this lathe over and over again if I had to. Lucky for me, I only had to buy the one!!!.

Out of the box, very pleased with a clean machine that had everything it was supposed to. Easy set up even for a brand new turner. Includes a 1″x8tpi head with a flat base and spur drive center as well as a cup live center for the tail.

Only has a 2″ travel on the tail for drilling though. I have only one complaint at this point. The belt and pulleys are cheap. I mean CHEAP CHEAP!! Started squealing about an hour in. Put some Johnson’s paste wax on the pulleys and she shut right up.

Takes about 60 seconds to adjust from speed to speed by changing the belt from one pair of pulleys to the next. No problems turning pine, walnut, pecan, and oak so far. Very small tool rest. Only suitable for turning pens and chess pieces really.

Miss my 10″ rest. Nade on a similar solid steel platform as the Grizzly mini lathe, I don’t think this will fall apart any time soon. Worth buying the extended protection on (if for nothing more than the motor and pulleys).

I bought this lathe and even at full price it’s a good deal compared to similar lathes out there. I opened it up and assembly was practically not required. I plugged it in and went to town roughing a piece of oak and it did ok for the most part.

It kept stalling and at times took a long time to spin up to full speed. I threw on a chuck to keep working on the piece of oak and when using the tail stock it wouldn’t speed up more than 60-120 rpm.

After readjusting the tail stock and belt, it finally sped up but took 10-15 seconds to get to full speed. I tried hollowing out the oak again and kept getting nasty catches. Thinking it may be the tools, I bought some carbide tools and it made no difference.

At one point the catch was so bad it yanked the piece out of the chuck and threw it ten feet across the garage. You can hear the motor slow down as soon as any tool touches the wood. Like I said, maybe I got a bad motor or something on mine but other than that the only downfall was the pain in the back end it was to change the belt setting.

Wish I could say good things but I can’t. Wish I could give zero stars but I can’t. I ordered this in the store before Christmas and finally got to pick it up on Thursday 1/14/2021. It took over a month to get it but that was over the holidays so I knew it would take a while.

Fast forward a couple days. I purchased a new mandrel for making pens as my existing mandrels are 1MT and this lathe uses a 2MT. I slid the new mandrel into the spindle and moved the tail stock up and the mandrel end was nearly 1/4″ low from hitting the center of the live center.

Upon closer inspection, the head stock is not bolted flat to the base. I layed the lathe on it’s back to see if I could see the problem. Now I can see that when it was assembled at the factory, they didn’t check for burs (or there’s some debris involved) and they torqued the head stock bolts to the point of cracking the cast iron base.

Jet’s quality control is apparently not what it used to be. This is simply NO quality control as far as I’m concerned. I haven’t even had the opportunity to plug it in and now I get to wait another 4-6 weeks for a replacement! Very disappointed in Jet!.

This mid-sized/mini lathe is perfect for my return to woodturning after a (gulp!) 45-year hiatus. Though it lacks reverse, it has variable speed, a nice tailstock, and a sensible method of tightening the belt.

It is a bit lightweight and I have not yet bolted it down to anything, but it can handle inboard pieces up to almost 5″ diameter without issue or much wobble (once they are roughed out with the roughing gouge).

It has a nice collection of accessories and the 5/8″ diameter for the tool rests means I could get accessory rests without problem.

Acme’s shipping was very fast. The lathe arrived in good condition. I bolted it to a bench I made for, this helps with stability. However, the 1015VS is smooth and quiet when powered up. This is a small lathe and perhaps best suited for pen making, small bowls, and similar.

Nothing fancy, just a nicely made, solid lathe.

A great CNC machine for woodworking. Im extremely pleased with it. Assembly was straight forward. Great instructions and online tech support. All make it easy to get into CNC. STYLECNCs technical staff has been fantastic, great communications and easy to work with.

I was able to assemble and setup the machine, install and debug the software, and cut a large wall sign on the 1/4 inch 4×8 full plywood sheet in 45 minutes. Been experimenting with some relief carving on the table leg as well.

All functions so far working well.

I searched and did further research to find one upgraded CNC router that I thought would do a good job. I have been learning to use this machine for a few weeks now and it is an amazing machine for my woodworking plans.

Very accurate works well with the software. I am looking forward to using this machine for many years to come. It was well worth the investment and it is an engineering marvel. I will highly recommend to anybody in the business of cabinet making.

Go for it, you wont be sorry.

All of the tools work great, I’ve used all three almost every day for the last couple of months and they all perform well. Dewalt’s design of the oscillating multi tool can’t be beat! I have others but the blade change is so convenient I just grab the Dewalt.

No bolts and wrenches to keep track of just squeeze and go, it’s awesome. The 5ah battery on the sander is a little awkward and unbalanced but could be fine with one of the smaller batteries. Jig saw works good and the battery life of this 20v brushless is far superior to my identical 18v brushes jig saw.

So far so good, will definitely purchase from Acme tools again!.

As soon as I got these tools I checked to see if they operated properly and they did. They survived the shipping trip. The orbital sander is perfect, but eats batteries pretty fast. Prepare to have a couple extra charged for big projects.

The multi tool is great for attaching a mouse sander to finish off those edges or corners. The jig saw is great for small wood cutting projects with the ability to cut inner circles. It’s expected that these eat batteries, since they replace their corded counter parts.

I love this set! I have already used the sander and multitool. I plan to use the jigsaw today! Great tools at a great price! Batteries seem to last for awhile too.

Let me start off by saying this. It is slower in consideration to my larger, 45-watt CO2 laser that came from a company in Nevada (not putting any names out there). And that is where the downsides end.

This tool is AMAZING. Everything from the shipping, which only took 3 days compared to the three WEEKS it took for my larger laser to arrive. The setup was very simple, had everything assembled, aligned and running with an engraving in less than an hour, including Lightburn setup.

There has been ZERO issues running projects. I have even done some that went longer than three hours. On my other one, it’s hit or miss if the laser itself will just stop at “random”. Can’t really explain it and neither can tech support (although they think it’s a grounding issue).

But in short, this laser can do anything (engrave, cut, etch, cylinder objects, you name it) better than any other laser that I have ever worked with (and I have three). If you are relying on reviews to help you make a purchasing decision, then I would only recommend to wait until the 20 watt version is fully available.

If that is not an issue to you, then I HIGHLY recommend the Xtool D1. Aside from everything that I have already mentioned, I think one of the most important features is simply that this thing only weights maybe 10 lbs (not sure exactly, but it’s really light) meaning that it’s not necessarily limited to work in the shop.

Pick it up and go. Don’t even need internet to use. I can’t say enough about this thing and I am not one to write reviews. So if my review has helped you make any decisions, then I hope that it’s towards buying one of these.

Wish I would have before spending over $7000 on my CO2 laser. Keep up the great work XTOOL!!!!!.

This was my first laser engraver, so I do not have another to compare it to, but this is not my first tool/ equipment purchase. The order process was typical. The communication was little lacking, as the company has no USA staff.

All communication was delayed by a 12 hour time difference between the US and China. The unit arrived after only two days in transit, earlier than expected. Unboxing the xTool D1 remind me of unboxing Apple products.

No extra packing material, everything was laid out well in the package and it had that “this is not a cheap product” feel. The assembly instructions were concise and clear. Assembly time was ~45 minutes.

Having done it once, I feel I could now do it in half the time. The software that is “included” is a download. It was a little hinky to get it downloaded and installed, then a firmware upgrade was required to proceed.

After 10-15 minutes, I was past that hurdle and the machine was humming. The software is VERY basic. For almost everyone, it will not be sufficient to do much beyond very simple engraving. I bought Lightburn right away.

That said, I use the Laserbox software to learn basic settings like power and speed. Some presets are baked in to Laserbox and make it easy to learn how to set Lightburn for the best results. The machine works flawlessly, though I find it to be slow.

A lot of videos online are sped up to make it look faster than it is. A fairly simple 16″x16″ engraving (not a photo) that covered maybe 20% of the piece took 1-1/2 hours to complete. Other than speed, it works perfectly.

I recommend this machine to anyone just getting started with lasers.

This is an awesome laser. I love how simple the assembly was, and how quickly I could get started with projects. I am constantly amazed by this laser. I have made several pairs of earings, engraved product tags for my husband’s business, and made a few items for around the house.

I am in love with it. The only sound it makes is the fan as it runs. Adjusting the focus couldn’t be easier, the distance bar is attached and cannot get lost. Magnets hold it up out of the way when not in use, and one holdes it in place while you adjust the height needed for the material you are using.

I only have one negative comment; I could not update the firmware through the free software, laserbox basic. With help of the facebook group I found that there are two other methods for updating the firmware and now both laser box basic and lightburn works with it wonderfully.

I am in love even more so now.

Having multiple Delta products over the years they have had strong and reliable products. They call this 46-460 industrial lathe, it is built solidly and has good attention to detail, from the pulleys and belt to the electronic controller, Even with all the shipping and multiple handlers everything was right on the money.

The price was fair, most of the small mini and midi lathes do not a electronic speed controller or a reverse this does and it makes all the difference. I gave it a simple but solid stand and set it for my height and comfort.

In the picture I am setting a glue block on a small 5″ sea grape wood bowl. I normally power crave hardwood bowls, but not everyone wants a 1 off more expensive bowl, and this gives me more options.

This is a tremendously great professional-grade bench lathe. It comes ready to use right out of the securely packed box. Detailed instructions and safety reminders are clearly written. The on and off power switch allows for a lock, if needed.

Large variable speed dial with clear numbers. Large front access panel for belt changes. It is a very well built machine that is absolutely worth owning for your shop. And the motor is smooth and quiet.

My lathe was the older version but I only had it 4 years before the motor burned out. The Lathe had only been used for 4 years it sat in the back of a shop in the box for a bit longer. But it was a Delta It should be fine to buy Delta always stands by there products, so I thought.

So I call to order a new motor None, they dont make them. And they leave me with a bad taste in my mouth not even willing to help me out. So much for the warranty, and standing behind your product. I will never buy another delta/ portercable product for my shop.

I bought this recently, 3 weeks ago. And since I’ve been having fun with it. It’s very capable, and a fantastic upgrade from a budget mini-lathe. I’ve only been turning for 1 year, and for my abilities it’s both a pro-level and easy for a beginner to use.

The motor is powerful, the buttons and switches well laid out and easy to use. The assembly was easy, and only slightly difficult because I did it by myself. The cost of this lathe was super reasonable, compared to anything else (even the DVR 1644 is more than twice the cost).

Buying through Acme ended up being the even more affordable than anywhere else. I initially was going to buy from Woodcraft or Rockler, but they charged 200-300+ for shipping and lift gate fees. Acme was the only supplier that had free shipping and $0 charge for the lift gate.

The delivery driver even rolled it into my garage for me and left the pallet with me. This lathe even looks sharp. Changing the belts for speed changes is not a con, if you want DVR-type speed changes via a single dial, then you’ll have to pay immensely for it.

The amount of money you save by getting a belt change system is a pro in this case. Cons: Not many, but the leg configuration is annoying, they weren’t made to fix extra weight to them. I figured out a way, it involves trimming a 4 x 4inch beam down to 3.

25 x 3. 25, stringing it between the upper leg bracket hole, then bolting a 2 x 8 board to it hanging down 8 inches, to create a hung-shelf. Then on this shelf I placed six 30 lb cement landscaping stones.

This adds about 180 lbs to the whole setup, not counting the extension bed I bought, plus eventually the outrigger accessory I’ll be getting. The extension bed doesn’t align very good, and it instructs to file down the bump, which shouldn’t really be necessary.

I wish the lowest possible speed was closer to 100, for larger pieces. The flap you open on the back to change belt speeds doesn’t stay up when open, gravity wants it to flop back down, which is annoying when trying to change speeds, a magnet or spring assist to keep it open would be nice.

After much research on mid-size lathes, I decided to purchase the Nova 1624 II. I looked at the lathe at my local Woodcraft store, but did not purchase it at the time. When i found that Walmart had the same exact model for $80.

00 less and free shipping it was a no brainer. The lathe shipped the next day and I had it in hand in 3 days from placing the order. When it arrived the package had no damage from shipping and the lathe was in perfect shape.

It only took me a couple of hours to assemble and was trying it out that same night! This lathe is all that i will need for the coming years turning Pens, Christmas ornaments and other various items.

If you are looking for a midsize lathe, look at this one it’s winner.

Just as advertised, smooth operation, plenty of power. Have had it year and a half, do wish it had a brake. Would like to update for safety reasons, but mighty expensive to do that. I do really like it.

I’ve started two new turners and that’s fun!.

Like most items from Vevor this required stripping and putting back correctly. No manual of course but was directed to Makita. Having now used the router for a few hours I am very pleased with this item.

Does run a little hot. Also I was initially concerned with some very rough edges and burs that had not been cleaned off after the casting of the bases. Only took a few seconds. Best of course, was the price.

So no complaints, very happy and have already recommended it to about 100 of my colleagues.

This is a nice little router (trimmer). Good quantity metal housing with soft start. Comes with dust extraction attachments and either metric or imperial collets, depending on your order. It doesn’t take 1/2″ or 12mm bits but then you wouldn’t expect a small router took do that.