WEN LA3424 4.5-Amp 12-Inch by 18-Inch 5-Speed Benchtop Wood Lathe , Black

I love this tool. For the price it is amazingly solid. I bought it to make a pair of 1/6th scale row boat ores, they turned out perfect. Now I'm making all kinds of fun stuff.

If you can't afford or simply don't have room for a full size wood lathe, this is an excellent starter tool. It's heavy, so very stable (as long as you have a stable benchtop). All adjustment functions are smooth. The motor provides enough torque for most jobs. The pulley system is okay, but it really would be nice to have a variable speed unit. However, even with the pulley approach, it gets the job done. Great value and quality build. Recommended.

I bought this lathe with some trepidation, but after putting it to the test, I was very satisfied. Ideal for small and medium-sized jobs.

This was my first lathe that I have had it for about 4 months and I love it. Very solidly built and works well and a very reasonable price. I gave it a 4 rather than a 5 because it has in my view it has one serious flaw and it is a safety issue. The on/off switch is out in the open where it can easily be bumped on by mistake when, for example, cleaning under the lathe. I have also had chisels roll under the switch while I am working and block it from being turned off until the chisel is removed. This is a safety issue that can easily be fixed by putting a housing around the switch. I hope Wen will address this in the future.

I'm newer to wood turning, so I wanted to step my way into it without spending a lot of money. Prior to this, I owned the WEN Mini Lathe, which I liked a lot. I was torn between this one and the larger, variable speed model. Ultimately I selected this lathe.PROs: This lathe is larger than I expected and solid. It has good power and is compatible with the majority of lathe accessories on the market.Critiques: This is not a variable speed speed lathe so you have to change the belt position during each stage of your project (actually much less of a hassle than I was concerned with). Oddly, the spindle belt door is on the back? Being on the front, like most lathes, would make things easier. The belt doors are very thin plastic so I'm wondering if that will be a problem down the road.All in all, this is a good lathe for the price and I'm glad I bought it. I bought the WEN lathe stand along with it, which I highly recommend. As long as the quality and durability remain, I'll be using this for a while.UPDATE: My concerns unfortunately came to fruition, ended up returning this model twice due to a bad headstock bearing. I purchased the next size up WEN and it's a world of difference.

This lathe is well built and works well.

This is such a great lathe. Very easy to use and fun to operate. I would recommend it to those who are looking for a smaller lathe.

I'm a beginning turner and didn't want to spend a fortune on a mini lathe to start with. This one works great. Its very solid and runs smooth and quiet. Its a bit difficult to change speeds (moving the drive belt to different pulleys) because there's not much room to make belt adjustments but I don't really need to do it often. I now wish I would have bought the model that comes with a variable rheostate to make easy speed adjustments. Also, I've learned that it would really be nice to have a reversing motor for sanding and polishing my work. Well, those two items really added on really drive the cost up and I wanted to save money on the first lathe so.....lesson learned, its all part of the learning curve.