Lathe Advise

Re: Lathe Advise

TD

>I can think of only one lathe that fits your budget and the size of the vessels you are anticipating....Powermatic 3520A. Several competive companies have shrugged this lathe off as not being competitive quality-wise with their products but too many customers say otherwise. This lathe gives a lot of bang for the bucks. It should satisfy your needs for a long time.

TD

Re: Lathe Advise

Dennis Y

>I would second the 3520 PM. mine just got here and it is a quality lathe.

Re: Lathe Advise *LINK*

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Chris,

If you have no need for a long bed, you might consider the Vega 2400. You can see one at www.vegawoodworking.com, or in the shop shots on my web page. It will turn 24: over the banjo and 26" over the bed. It is in your price range.

Mark


http://www.markkauder.com

Re: Lathe Advise

Chris Lee

>I have looked at the 3520a and it looks like a nice machine. I wish I could find someone in Virginia that sells them so I could put my hands on it! Have any of you ever used it for turning anything larger that the 20", I mean slid the headstock down and used one of those floor stands? Is that stable?

Has anybody ever used the Nova DVR 3000? Looks like a good lathe with fairly large capacity. How does this compare to the 3520a?

Thanks for the help,

Chris

Re: Lathe Advise

Richard Allen

>Hi Chris

What part of Virginia are you in?

The Capitol Area Woodturners meet this Saturday at the Bryant center. There are 200+ members and 100 or so who will be at that meeting. You will get a chance to talk to several people who could invite you to try their lathe.

There are several other clubs in different parts of Virginia.

Good Luck

Richard

Re: Lathe Advise

John Lucas

>Chris

I haven't turned on the DVR but did own a Nova 3000 that had a bed extension and the outboard attachment. It may say you can turn that big but it's like trying to load a 1/2 ton pickup with 2 tons of stuff. It doesn't work very well.

I turned an 18" bowl with it and fought it all day long. I had to constantly adjust the tool rest and the lathe vibrated like crazy. I had 300 lbs of rock in a large wooded stand under the lathe.

I now have the powermatic. There simply isn't a comparison between the two. The powermatic is solid. I turned a bowl just about the same size and it took about 2 hours to completethat one.

All of the swivel head lathes that I'm familiar with will not handle big bowls unless you want to take very light cuts and turn at slow speeds.

Re: Lathe Advise

Jack Stevenson

>I've got a PM 2035 and have lauded it's virtues in the past. My mind is still obsessively focused on this fine machine. My other 2 lathes get little work since I always find an excuse to utilize the PM.

I've turned outboard. The biggest was 28". The biggest problem was getting it mounted. The nice thing was that the ability to have awesome power down at minimum RPM was great. I started out around 8 or 10 RPM. Then as it came into balance I moved on up to more RPM. As I recall I did not get much above 300 RPM for the whole project. Maybe a tad more for sanding and finishing. It was quite awhile ago and I don't keep a notebook.

Best bang for the buck on the planet!

Even HF can't come close to competing. They've tried and ending up eating some serious crow.

Jack

Nova DVR3000

Bill MacLachlan

>I have the Nova DVR3000 and am very impressed. However, I have not turned anything that big yet or rotated the headstock. But still think it is a great machine for my circumstances.

Bill

Re: Look at General, too !

Brad Vietje

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