8 Best Wood Turning Lathes (2021 Review)

One of the most trusted names in woodworking tools, Axminster have been plying their trade for more than half a century now. The Axminster Craft AC305WL woodturning lathe is a wonderful piece of kit that runs smoothly and has a mercifully quiet motor.

Starting with the dimensions, this is a medium sized benchtop lathe that measures 970 x 280 x 440 mm. Made with mostly cast iron components, it’s a heavy and solid tool that puts out minimal amounts of vibration. Nothing about this lathe is flimsy and it feels like a quality piece of machinery.

With a powerful 550 Watt DC motor, the dual spindle speeds are electrically controlled. It has a superior range of speed from 500 all the way up to a massive 4,080 rpm. This makes it a brilliantly versatile lathe for all sorts of woodturning applications.

The tool rest can be positioned using quick release cam levers that are ideal for small adjustments on the fly. The nose of the spindle makes use of a common 1” fitting and a 2MT internal taper, so finding chucks and other accessories is no problem at all.

You get 457 mm between the two centres, and a maximum diameter over the bed of 305 mm. That’s a lot of space to work with, so you should be able to fit most projects in this size lathe. This is no doubt one of the best beginner wood turning lathes available right now. It’s comfortable to use and incredibly solid.

Luxembourg based Proxxon are well known for their precision woodworking tools. The FD 150/E precision lathe is a lightweight but incredibly accurate little lathe that can be used for the finest wood turning any DIYer would get in to.

It’s a much smaller benchtop machine compared to some of the lathes on my list. Measuring 360 x 150 x 150 mm, it’s not designed for turning chair legs, but small pieces with amazing precision. Constructed mainly from die cast aluminium, the weight is kept down without allowing excess vibration. All the machining and finishing on the moving parts is exemplary, and it moves very smoothly indeed.

What I like the most about this lathe is the carriage that holds woodturning tools. You can crank it in multiple directions with two handwheels. The operation is smooth, and you can move the blade in tiny increments to delicately turn objects on your workbench. You get 40 mm cross slide and 60 mm of upper carriage.

With the right tools, you’re not limited to working with just wood either. Aluminium, brass, and other soft metals can be turned if you want. The 150 Watt motor isn’t the biggest, but it can put out an impressive 800 – 5,000 rpm, which is plenty for small wood turning projects.

With products for sale in over 200 countries, VEVOR produce a massive range of products from tools to materials handling products and industrial kitchenware. They also know how to produce one of the best benchtop lathes for the money. The MC1218 benchtop wood lathe is a compact but powerful machine that’s ideal for beginners to get started on.

Designed to hold larger wood turning projects, the overall dimensions of 889 x 330 x 470 mm give this lathe a good capacity. With 457 mm between centres, and 310 mm of swing over bed, there’s plenty of space to work with.

There’s plenty of cast iron in the construction of the bed, headstock, and tailstock, which helps to keep down vibrations and makes the whole lathe stable. The powerful 550 Watt motor isn’t underpowered and can spin up the MT2 spindle from 650 – 3,800 rpm using a combination of pulleys and a speed control dial.

A fine addition to this hobbyist wood turning lathe is the 7 Watt LED work light. It has a magnetic base, so you can stick it on to wherever you need it. It’s very bright and should help to create smooth surfaces when turning wood.

East Devon’s Axminster Tools have been producing industry standard woodworking kit for more than 50 years. The Axminster Craft AC240WL is one of the best beginner wood turning lathes out there. It’s the smaller cousin to the Axminster Craft AC305WL, but it’s just as capable.

With slightly smaller overall dimensions than the other Axminster lathe on my list, the AC240WL measures 900 x 205 x 365 mm. The 375 Watt motor powers up the spindle to a healthy 700 – 2,800 rpm, and it’s adjusted with an electronic speed control for ease of use.

You get a heavy duty cast iron bed, headstock, and tailstock, which keeps even this “lightweight” lathe stable. It won’t walk around on the benchtop thanks to chunky rubberised feet and a low vibration induction motor.

Just like the AC305WL, the tool rest can be positioned with quick release cam levers. They’re perfect for making small adjustments quickly. The nose of the spindle makes use of a common 1” fitting and a 2MT internal taper, so finding chucks and other accessories is no problem at all.

Wolverhampton’s own Lumberjack tools make an impressive range of kit that won’t break the bank. If you want to get into wood turning, this is one of the best budget lathe kits available right now. You get everything you need to start making bowls or vases in no time at all.

This is a decent size benchtop lathe, that measures 900 x 220 370 mm. The 375 Watt, or ½ horsepower motor is just enough for beginner wood turning projects and is relatively easy to put together from the box. The construction feels solid, although it lacks the heavyweight solidity of full cast iron pieces. It’s a good thing you can bolt the frame to a solid workbench when you need to.

What sets this woodturning lathe kit apart from the competition is the wood turning chisel set. They’re surprisingly nice quality, with solid wood handles and decent tool steel blades. You get three different tools, a pairing chisel, roughing gauge, and skew chisel. Everything you need to get to work!

Charnwood Machinery Ltd have been in the tool business since 1977. Specialists in all things woodworking, they know all about making the best wood turning lathe. The W815 mini lathe is a compact and very useful little tool for turning small dimension pieces.

Sitting nicely on a benchtop, the dimensions of 690 x 220 x 310 mm make this small enough to not take up too much space. The 250 Watt motor might be a bit underpowered compared to some of the lathes on my list, but it can still turn the spindle from 750 – 3,200 rpm. Not bad for a hobbyist tool.

The bed, headstock and tailstock are all made from cast iron. It’s the sort of material necessary to ensure low vibration when in use. It’s otherwise a lightweight bit of kit that isn’t too difficult to move around.

The tool rest and tailstock are both easy to adjust thanks to solid cam levers that lock them into place. I’m a fan of this fastening, it’s incredibly strong but also easy to move around when you need it.

Luxembourg’s Proxxon make fine woodworking tools. If you’re into making pens or other long, narrow objects then their DB 250 micro lathe is the ideal benchtop solution for turning little objects.

Compared with some of the mighty beasts on my list, this wood turning lathe is tiny. With dimensions of just 550 x 100 x 155 mm, it doesn’t take up too much space and isn’t too heavy either. In fact, it weighs less than 3 kg!

The 100 Watt motor puts out plenty of power for a lathe of this size and can spin the workpiece from 1,000 – 5,000 rpm easily. And seeing as it uses electronic speed control, there’s no belts to fiddle around with.

Although you can’t fit large pieces of wood or acrylic into this lathe, it still offers excellent build quality in a small package. The stable base is machined from aluminium and all the moving parts feel well machined.

Desktop lathes don’t get much smaller or more affordable than this one. The SENRISE micro lathe is an ideal choice for anyone that wants to try out wood turning without splashing the cash. It comes with everything you’d need to try out turning and can produce decent results with a bit of practise.

With the dimensions totalling just 305 x 60 x 65 mm, this lathe won’t take up much real estate on your workbench. The tiny 96 Watt motor isn’t big, but it should be enough for the small things you can turn on this minute machine.

Using a standard drill chuck in place of a specialist turning one, it can open to a modest 66 mm. This is fine considering the small maximum capacity this lathe has. It’s not the heaviest duty piece of kit and has a basic overall construction.

Don’t expect any cast iron parts, but there’s not too much vibration anyway. You get a set of small chisels included with the kit and a small tool rest to position them on. It’s good fun if you want to try out wood turning before investing more money into a larger lathe.