The Midi with the Most
If you’re new to woodturning and looking for a lathe to get you started but also keep up with demands as your skills and exploration of turning develop, a ‘midi’ could be just what you’re looking for. Alternatively, you may just be looking for a back up lathe that doesn’t take up too much space but has the oomph and features of a full size lathe – in this case the midi could also be the solution.
What is a ‘midi’ lathe?
Nowadays the line between definitions can be blurred either by the capacity of the machine and its overall size, as well as the marketing of retailers, so here’s a summary of what my research found.
A midi generally has a swing of at least 300mm, distance between centres somewhere in the 400–500mm range, and many features of a full sized lathe such as #2 morse tapers and a standard thread size that will accommodate chucks and faceplates suited to full sized lathes. In addition, the footprint of these lathes takes up much less space and they can be mounted directly to a bench or a dedicated stand.
A midi-lathe will have a single phase motor somewhere between ¾ and 1hp that can be plugged into a standard household power point. Its capacity enables turning of decent sized bowls and other faceplate items, and anything up to a coffee table leg between centres.
