Industrial 46-460 12-1/2-inch Variable-Speed MIDI Lathe, Gray

Original review circa 12/25/2011:I have been a wood worker for over 35 years and finally decided to try my hand at turning. My family listened and got me my choice of lathes for this Christmas. I decided on a midi-lathe, since a full-sized lathe would have been too expensive and a waste should I not like turning. Who wants another expensive tool to dust off in the shop. However, I have learned a long time ago you get what you pay for. So, I wasn't going to cut my teeth in turning on poor equipment and risk invalidly marring my opinion of the activity. Before I made my selection, I read up on mini lathes all over the 'net and not just here on Amazon, but on turning websites and forums as well. I could not find anything that suggested the 46-460 was not a top of the line midi-lathe.It is not that they are complicated but the ease of use, machining, alignment of turning points, heftiness, speed control, etc. are all factors that separate a good mini/midi-lathe from the next. I got this lathe set up only yesterday and had never turned before. Becuase I had watched many TV shows of our favorites turning, I had some idea on how to do it. Straight out of the box with a set of mediocre chisels, i.e. not of Sorby class, I was able to make my first turning, a handle for a triangular file out of a stick of red oak bound for the fire pit. I bought the chisels here PSI Woodworking LCSIXW High Speed Steel Wood Lathe Chisel Turning Set, 6-Piece as a gift to myself.The 46-460 is a quality machine, very quiet, plenty of power, well-designed, feature-filled lathe. It comes with a face plate, which I haven't attempted to use yet, and one each of the spur and live centers. These fit snugly into the headstock spindle bore and the quill, respectively. You don't have to remove the face plate to insert the spur center. A couple tool rests, 6" and 10", round out the equipment. You can turn the longest piece of wood by moving the 10" tool rest only once. The sliding action on the tail stock and the tools rest is very smooth and uninhibited by rough machining; the lock down handles are easily reached and tighten with less than a quarter turn. In fact, all the machining is top notch, welds are fully ground and smooth, unlike other equipment I've bought made in Taiwan. The movable ribbed-belt on 3 pulleys offers 3 ranges compounded by the electronic speed control provides ultimate flexibility. Although I don't know much about speed control and what to turn at for what process or wood selection, the electronic speed control is a luxury (I'd say). Changing out the belt is quite simple with access from the front and side through two portals; there's a tensioning lever that makes changing pulleys a piece of cake. Since it is a midi-lathe the length of the piece being turned is limited but with a 12 1/2" swing pretty large plates and bowls can be achieved. Also, there is a forward and reverse switch that makes sanding in both directions easy; just remember to return the switch to forward if you are going to turn anymore after sanding! Nothing bad happens but your chisels won't cut...The thing weighs over 100 lbs, which is awesome for being that size. I just put in on my bench top temporarily to get a taste of turning and it never budged an inch. I wasn't turning huge lop-sided pieces of wood but the equipment itself is extremely smooth, no vibrations and well-balanced. I also like the base expandability and optional legs, which are available even for an expanded base.It's only been a day or so but I would recommend getting or upgrading to this lathe. If you turn or want to turn pens or smaller things, like ornaments, tool handles, goblets, etc. you won't go wrong with this tool. I am no wood turner yet, but I know quality when I see it.Update 06/23/2018:I have had this lathe now for over 7 years and it has performed wonderfully. However...it has just died. The motor will no longer rotate. I have tried the reset switch repeatedly thinking I had overheated it but the switch even feels loose and ineffective. I have to confess that I have periodically turned the lathe on with the indexing pin engaged. I would immediately turn off the lathe and disengage the indexing pin.The lathe would start up without fail. Until yesterday...I did it again and this time it will not turn! So, be forewarned and do not get comfortable thinking your lathe will be OK even with the indexing pin locked in just a brief moment. It will accumulate the impact and it will fail. I think a modification which would kill the power circuit, if the pin was engaged, would be a great product enhancement! A new motor costs nearly as much as a new lathe, so replacement of just the motor doesn't seem right. I will see if a repair of the motor can be done and report back later.

I purchased this after reading Fine Woodworking's Midi Lathe Tool Test from Andrew Finnigan. This Delta lathe and a comparable Rikon model were both rated Author's Choice in the under $1300 category. It is a lot of fun to use, seems heavy, well designed. It is very quiet while running, with a pleasant hum from the motor, and the variable speed adjustments are smooth. Seems like a good value for a heavy duty tool. Mine arrived with the FWD/REV switch wired backwards. In order to fix this, you need to locate the logic board and swap the M+/M- wires circled in yellow in my attached photo. The fix was simple enough, and I was expecting this issue after reading that other reviews have had the same issue, so I don't think it is worth downgrading from 5 stars for this minor issue.

The reviews of the Delta 46-460 seem quite polarized – either 1’s or 5’s. When it works the owners love it. When there are problems they are disappointed by the slowness of the warranty service department. The service department exceeded my, admittedly low, expectations. Based on reviews and my local repair shop, I expected that it was going to take months or years for the repair; when it actually only took weeks.My lathe was purchased in April, 2012 and made 53 ½ bowls from 4 to 11.5 inches diameter and probably twice that many spindle type things – tool handles, vases, spoons, ladles, beads, etc. These projects included many types of wood from pine to Brazilian walnut with some funky things like root balls and spalted logs. Many hundreds of hours were spent making sawdust and I was pleased with the performance of the machine.After a couple of years, the low end of the speed control intermittently failed to perform. The motor would pulse from low speed to full RPM’s. This, of course, is a safety problem for large diameter and/or eccentric pieces. The owner’s manual directed to contact Porter Cable. They directed me to deltamachinery.com. The Delta web site indicated that the speed control was out of stock. I sent an inquiry to the Delta Service Department and in spite of their warning, more low expectations, that it may take a couple of weeks for a response, they replied in 1.5 hours. The local repair shop contacted Delta Machinery and they informed him that T1 speed control was no longer available but that they would replace it with a T2. I checked in a couple of weeks and the shop owner proudly showed me that the brain transplant was complete but he held my lathe hostage until Delta paid him for his work. After 39 days the shop called to let me know that I could come and get my lathe. The owner whined a bit about how underpaid he was for the warranty work but seemed satisfied when I handed him the 12-pack of Sam Adams that he said I would owe him when the repair was complete. Other than the beer the repair cost was covered by the 5-year warranty.After the ownership shuffle, Delta seems to have gotten their act together and provide warranty service that meets my expectations and I am once again happily making sawdust.UpdateAlmost two years and hundreds of operating hours later, since the motor speed control was replaced, the lathe is doing a great job.One problem, always had trouble with the double jam nuts on the tool rest base anchor bolt. The nuts would vibrate loose - yes I turn a bunch of imbalanced eccentric loads - and get lost in the shavings. After a couple of trips to the local hardware store, figured out that the threads were 10mm not 3/8in. The treads on the anchor bolt finally striped to the point of being non-functional. So I cut new threads with a slightly smaller 3/8in-16tpi die and now use a lock washer. This makes it a bit more difficult to slide the tool rest but the lock washer seems to provide a bit of cushion, counteracting vibration, which reduces the need to adjust the nut on the anchor bolt mechanism.