lathes

Re: lathes

Brett Sherwood - Richmond, IN

>Hi Bob,

I finally got to the Woodcraft Shop in Indianapolis, IN yesterday. The salesman I was dealing with is definitely a great guy and a wood turner (both seem to go together well) I went in to get a Sorby box scraper and some other small items. We got in a discussion about lathes... He has a Nova 3000 and is VERY impressed with it. (This was definitely no sales pitch as we never discussed lathes as he assisted me finding things) He was telling me about all the electronic advancements (that I had not a clue what he was talking about...) He was definitely in love with his lathe and had 1000 reasons why.

Based on his excitement alone yesterday I would give a positive review to the Nova 3000 without ever actually using one. The floor model they had of this model had a swivel head, and included a decent stand. The overall weight of the lathe seemed like it would definitely need additional weight. The turning height was TOO low for my personal taste in comfortable turning, but I'm tall.

Happy Turning...and I hope this post helped.

Brett

Re: lathes

Jack (Turtle Workshop)

>When I was in the research phase of getting my big lathe I considered Nova, Oneway, and PM. After it was all said and done and the coincidental serious reduction in pricing the PM 3520 won hands down. I did opt for the big cast iron outboard rest and it is both massive and stable.

I can't remember all of the reasons for going with the PM, but I will admit to a tad of bias. I'd always wanted one and at around 2200 bucks it was a steal.

Jack

Re: lathes

Larry

>IMHO the Nova 3000 is a far better option than the DVR. I looked at & studied everything that I could find on both. For the money, I think the 3K wins hands down, without even considering the problems that are being reported on the DVR. That's what I bought and I'm extremely happy with that decision.

Re: lathes *LINK*

Fred Holder

>I owned and used a Nova 3000 with a 1 hp DC motor for about three years. It was a supurb machine. I've had a Nova DVR 3000 for about one and one half years now, and would not want to go back to the Nova 3000. The Nova 3000 was a fine lathe. The Nova DVR is better in so many ways.

I felt that the Nova 3000 was the best lathe on the market for under $1500 and I believe the Nova DVR 3000 is the best buy under $2000.

I should add, however, that any of the larger lathes will likely do you a very good job and will be a significant step up from what you now have.


Fred Holders Domain Site

Re: lathes

Bill MacLachlan

>I've been using the DVR for about 1 month and am greatly impressed. It is very quiet and runs great. The speed changer is simply pressing the UP or DOWN arrow on the keypad.

The regular bed is somewhat restrictive length wise, if turning something on the chuck, but then I never expect to doing any long spindle work.

I recommend it.

Bill

Re: lathes *LINK*

georgetroy

>You can go to the Nova owners group and find more information on the DVR. This group has 155 members and you will discussions on the pros and cons of these machines. My DVR will be 2 years old in August and has performed well without any problems what so ever. You don't need to worry about tool rests breaking with this machine, because they are steel not castings.


Nova owners

Re: lathes

Bruce McElhaney Spring Lake, MI

>I've never turned on a Nova, but considered one before buying my PM. The Nova reminded me of the old commerical "Where's the Beef?" It seems well made, but kinda lightweight.

Re: lathes

Peter Teubel

>I have had a DVR for almost a year. I use it in a production environment and it works flawlessly. More power than a regular Nova 3000 and alot quieter (no belts or pulleys). The only thing that grates me is the time it takes to speed up or slow down the lathe. From a production point of view, it takes an eternity (10 seconds) to go from turning-speed to sanding-speed.

Re: lathes

GeeSeaWhy

>I bought a DVR late last year and have been using it almost daily ever since. My major reasons for buying the DVR against other lathes in the same price/capacity range were the swivel head and the weight.

I use the swivel head a lot for hollowing, finding it much easier to turn the head out than hang over the lathe bed. The outrigger attachment is solid and takes up very little space, which is good because I don't have much space.

At just under 200lbs, it was possible to move the DVR into my basement shop without either professional help or knocking down a wall.

Other features that proved useful are the vacuum adapter (hooked up to my Fein Turbo 2 it works well) and the 100rpm minimum speed (useful for sanding oval bowls and applying finish).

Biggest annoyance is the handle which locks the toolrest - it sticks out too far.

HTH

Graeme

Re: lathes

Norm

>I have been turning on the DVR for almost 6 mos and love it very smooth and stable. A big step up from the Jet 1236 that I found too light and small. The weight that has been stated as a problem is not a problem even with very unbalanced rough blanks the lathe doesn't jump and walk around the shop like the Jet would.

And the DVR is 10% off this month at woodcraft.

Norm

Re: lathes

Robert Simmons

>My DVR is 2 years old this month> It gets a fair amount of use and has been a very ggod machine. As mentioned above the handle on the tool rest sticks out a bit far, but that's about my only complaint. The bed isn't very long, but I don't do long spindles anyway, so the shorter bed is actually a benefit for me in a tight shop. Try one on for size, specs on paper will never tell you the entire story on any machine. You need to get the feel of it.

Robert

Re: lathes

Guy

>For the price (around $2000) I would look at the new Jet 16 incher or the Powermatic. I think the Powermatic is probably the bargain of the century for about $2000. I had a Nova 3000 which has the same bed, banjo, toolrest, and I added a DVR tailstock but I put a 1.5 HP motor and controller on it. The only difference is the motor/electronics. I liked being able to source my own motor/electronics and if something broke it was easy to replace. When I got my new lathe I went big (VL300 longbed) but I did the same thing and opted to get my own electronics/motor. Go as heavy as you can but try take a class or find a woodturners club near you where you can check out other lathes in the flesh. Good luck!!!