looking for recommendations on lathes

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

John Veerkamp

Can't go wrong with the PM . IMHO the best for the price. A real work horse and a joy to use.

My 2 cents.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Roger Chandler

I have owned 4 lathes, two of which are Grizzly.....my former G0698 18/47 currently is in our club and is used weekly and still goes strong without a single issue for nearly 8 years. My current large lathe is the G0766 22x42 3 hp variable speed lathe, and has been a superb performer for two years so far. Its performance rivals any of the eleven PM 3520b's I have turned on. I also have some turning sessions on a Robust American Beauty and one session on a Serioius SL 2542 lathe.

All are sweet machines, but likely no better value for the dollars than the G0766 from Grizzly. They do have the G0800 24x36 3 hp model which is basically the same as the Laguna Revo 24/36 with swing away tailstock, etc. for about $3500.

The Powermatics have a longer warranty, but I have not been aware of but a couple small issues with the new model Grizzly's, which were addressed imediately by Grizzly, and most reports on the forums speak well of them.

Good luck whichever machine you decide on!

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Ralph Lindberg

There is a down side to the Grizzlies that Roger failed to mention

The banjo is so short that even a tool-rest for a Oneway 24 inch lathe is a bit short on the Grizzly

We are in the process of buying rests with taller tool posts to use on the Grizzly. Unfortunately they are too tall to use on our 16 Teknatool

Laguna also get itself a really bad CS rep over the years, at one point they were even threatening to sue people that posted poor reviews.

Money aside, the Robust American Beauty would be my choice. After that probably the PM

As a bang-for-the buck, it's hard to beat the "big" lathes from Grizzly

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Luca

John, Roger,

Thanks for your replies. I appreciate your feedback.

I'm just a bit curious: what's your opinion about Laguna lathes? It looks like there are very few reviews of these tools (or at least this is what I've found)

Thanks, Luca

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Luca

Thanks Ralph. That answers to my question about Laguna

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Dick Coers

- Is Grizzly a valuable alternative? It is extremely cheap, and the reviews are not as bad, so I'm wondering: am I missing something here?

I don't consider it a viable alternative. You get what you pay for. Cheap is cheap! But I've heard people say they love their Harbor Freight lathe too. I had enough trouble with a big Grizzly band saw, I won't ever buy a Grizzly machine again. The machine they sent me would never pass a quality control test, ANYWHERE! I like lathes, like I like my bicycles. Well made, and not made in China. I've turned on cheap lathes, and I've ridden on cheap bicycles. I want to smile when I use my hobby machines. I don't want to shrug my shoulder and say, "Well, it's not bad for what I paid for it."

A lot of folks brag about Grizzly customer service when they have to order parts and rebuild the brand new machine they just bought. Me? I prefer to never call customer service when I buy a machine. My comments like this always raises the hair on the back of the neck on a lot of Grizzly machine lovers, but I've owned a lot of them over the years and don't have a single one now.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Luca

Thank you Dick for your feedback

Luca

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

john lucas

Well I"m a powermatic fan and have owned mine for probably 13 or 14 years. However if you add the bed extension your getting over your $4K limit. The Grizzly's have quite a few fans and I know the company has improved things since a new owner took over many years ago.

I don't hear much about Laguna anymore. That's both good and bad. They had a terrible reputation for Customer service but honestly that was years ago and I hate to keep repeating that if it's not true. If I can remember and find a number I will call my friend who owned a Woodcraft (his son now owns two since his dad retired) I remember talking to him when woodcraft first started carrying the Laguna lathe. He seemed to like them and the company and He's a pretty straight up guy and really good turner. I'll try to get in touch with one of them and get their opinion.

YOu just don't hear any reviews of the laguna lathe. I was very impressed by just looking at the machine and watching someone else demo on it but then all of the laguna products are pretty nice and would be excellent if the company follows up on taking care of them.

The Powermatic is a known good quality lathe with good customer service although I've heard of just a few problems with replacing the VFD's on older lathes.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Roger Chandler

Dick had a bad experience as he stated with a Grizzly BS, and that has pretty much soured him on anything from Grizz. If I had experienced what he did, I would be against them as well.

If you know the higher end models that can give you both quality and performance and stay away from the cheap built units, then you can do very well with a Grizzly.

As I mentioned, Grizzly did correct the small banjo issue when the G0766 first came out, and if you want to use aftermarket rests, like the Robust rests [I have 6 for my G0766]. Then you will need to order a rest that has total height of 8.75 inches [top of rest to bottom of post]. The Grizzly G0766 is sold in Europe under another brand name, and the banjo hole is 25mm, so I drilled out the banjo to 1" with a twist drill bit and cutting oil. [ taking off only about 1/64th inch]

The G0766 I have and many others have been great, but more features can be had with the newer G0800, which has features like the safety cage, swing away tailstock, etc but will be about $3500.

I have turned 100 lb.half rounds on my G0766 out of ash, and 21" wide. My G0766 handled them with ease. We have two other members of our club who got the G0766 after I got mine, and they like me are happy with them. A friend up in the Washington D.C area has two, and his club did a club purchase, where 8 others got the lathe.....they all love them! These are all experienced turners, out of Northern Virginia, D.C. & Maryland.

If you go with the G0766, there are two small things to be done because of the metric dimensions.....the banjo hole, and some chuck inserts do not seat all the way back to the shoulder on the spindle....a flat file, and run the spindle at 500 rpm, and take off a smidgen of the register, testing the fit for your particular chuck, and you are good to go... some chucks fit right out of the box. I had SuperNova chucks, and it took me a few minutes, testing the fit every minute to get mine down, and polished with some 600 grit abrasive...looks factory new.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Ron Borowicz

Luca, for a fairly recent review of the Laguna check out this post...http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?241930-A-Hands-On-review-of-the-Laguna-Revo-1836

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

john lucas

Won't let me view it without a password.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

George Balock

Luca,

The lathe I would buy if I were in your shoes is the American Beauty. I looked at Robust when I bought my Oneway, and since they hadn't been around very long, I was skeptical. Today, I'd take a much harder look.

If theRobust is out of your price range, I'd look to the PM. There are any number of very good turners who swear by the PM.

If you belong to a club, see if there is anyone who would let you take their lathe for a spin. That is how I ended up with the Oneway.

George

Not surprised to see your response Roger

Dick Coers

But for some reason, I still am amazed how folks that buy Grizzly don't mind repairing or modifying a brand new machine. Also the number of owners that tolerate being the quality control and service repair departments for them. Often starting with getting help on a forum, then several phone calls and time spent chasing down the issues with customer service. How many other items do you buy, that you know you have to correct issues, before you buy it? If people would stop tolerating this practice, you would surely then be able to buy a useable machine from them right out of the crate. As it is, they benefit because the majority of their customers tolerate these practices.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Brad Vietje

Dollar for dollar, pretty hard to beat Powermatic. They may be the sweet spot between price, quality, durability, capacity, power, mass, customer support, etc, etc...

I have an 11-year-old 3520-B (only the 18" bed extension, not the big one), and no regrets.

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Re: Not surprised to see your response Roger

Roger Chandler

Hi Dick,

I agree with you, probably more than you think! I respect your years of woodworking experience [just so you know]. I think that Grizzly could have made other changes to the G0766 like they did to the spindle with the 1.25" x 8tpi threads for the American market, but those changes would likely have upped the price point they were going for [my guess?]. Having to change out and reset the manufacuring line to accommodate, is costly.

For the very minimal effort it takes to drill out the banjo hole, and take down the spindle boss [register] just a bit, because they are so very easy, I prefer the extra savings.

I am in no way a novice on turning tools or lathes...having turned on many Jets, Powermatics, other makes, as well as the Robust American Beauty [their flagship model], and the Serious SL 2542. [another sweet and premium lathe] I can honestly tell you that the performance of the G0766 is there! I have turned large heavy blanks, cored with it, and put mine through its paces, and I am actually impressed with its performance.....I would not say that with all my experience with the other lathes to compare with, and unless it was actually the truth.

I am not affiliated with Grizzly, have no reason to promote them, nor have any interest in doing so, but my satisfaction is real, and I have seen so many posts from folks who do not own one of their large lathes speak badly of them, that I feel I should at least give honest feedback, so wrong impressions are not left for those who might not have a budget to purchase one of those premium models like Oneway, Robust or Serious. My G0766 will run all day with a PM 3520b, with more swing and horsepower. That is not putting the 3520b down....having turned on eleven of them to date, I am a fan of them as well....I would recommend one of them anytime!

I am just saying that the value is there, and the performance is there with the Grizzly upper end lathes, and of course service may be an issue for those not inclined to work on their own machines, but Grizzly does stand by with parts and technical support, and will walk an owner through to resolution of any issues that my arise.

Good to hear from you,Dick. Your perspective certainly helps folks who might be looking for info. Blessings!

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Ron Borowicz

Sorry, good review by John Keeton. I don't know how to fix the password issue.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes *LINK*

David Walser

Luca -- For a penny less than $3,000, you can get a brand new Rikon Woodfast lathe (with free delivery). Woodfast was a top quality brand when the lathes were made in Australia. Woodfast sold its designs to Rikon, who makes the lathes in its factories in the far east. From what I can tell, the lathe is the same quality as when it was made by Woodfast.

The lathe has a 20" swing and the ability to turn outboard allows even larger capacity. The downside is that the headstock doesn't slide or rotate. (Some consider that an upside, since it's one less thing that can go wrong. Most don't.) The lathe has electronic variable speed control (50 - 3890 RPMs). The motor is reversible. The lathe also has 5 speed ranges, which allows you to pick a speed range that is in the sweet spot for more torque from your motor. But, this feature dates to the original design of the headstock that was mated to a single speed motor. With variable speed, most turners pick a speed range for a project and leave it there. Some simply leave it on the highest speed pulley and use the variable speed control to adjust the speed.

I have an original Woodfast. It does all I need it to do without complaint.


Amazon Rikon Woodfast link

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Luca

First of all, thank you everybody for the great feedbacks which were provided.

My 1st choice would be the PM 3520b, and I totally agree on the importance of the quality out of the box. However, my target is to turn up to 22”, so I will need to buy also the bed extension and this will bring the cost to around 4450$, which (sadly) is far beyond my budget…

The Grizzly products are fascinating for the price, but I would not feel comfortable in buying something which I already know will require some tweakings when new.

About Rikon, I have a couple of tools and I’m not impressed by them.

Laguna looks to me to have higher quality vs. Grizzly. The details of the Revo look really nice. I’ve found awful stories about his CS, but the majority of them were at least two years old. Perhaps now the Company did fix these issues with its CS? I understand though that the 2nd hand market of Laguna is minimal, and that the product will depreciate very quickly.

Bottom line: I'm a bit inclined towards Laguna, but still need more time and info to decide … : )

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

mikeee12345

Another option is the secondary market, there are always used lathes coming on to the

market and many of these machines can be bought at a discount. Many estate sales have

quality machines owned by older owners that put limited hours on bigger machines. You also

have owners upgrading to newer bigger machines and need to sell the other one. The nice thing

with buying a used machine at an estate sale is you usually get a ton of accessories with the lathe

which adds up in value in a hurry. The accessories needed for a lathe usually end up exceeding the

cost of the machine over time. You might want to consider the lathe head stock spindle size/thread

when purchasing the machine and decide what size is best for your future needs so you start adding

the right size of face plates, chucks and accessories that will work on your new lathe and any other

machines down the road.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Dick Coers

Check inside the head of the lathe if you intend to give it a steady diet of 22" stock. The cheap lathes have two bearings, and smaller shaft diameters. The high end lathes have 4 bearings and larger main shafts. Also get the biggest motor you get. Torque needed at those diameters is much greater. Sure you can get a chip with a 1 hp motor, but roughing it out can be painfully slow.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes *LINK*

David Walser

I understand your concerns about the Rikon. If someone has one close to you, see if you can spend some time turning on it. That's the best way to see if the quality is up to your standards.

As for the Laguna Revo, Craft Supplies USA caries the lathe. They have a very good reputation for customer service. I'm sure they'd stand behind the lathe if you bought it through them. They just put out a YouTube video review of the Revo 24/36 lathe. They point out both the good and bad points of the lathe.


Laguna Revo review

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Michael Kratky

Luca, if there's any way you can make it next month to the AAW Turning symposium in Kansas City it would be worth your while, every major lathe manufacture and dealer will be there for you take a test spin and ask away any and all questions, also the deals will never be better anywhere. I bought my PM 4224B that way a few years back at the Tampa Symposium and saved over $1500 not including the free shipping.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

George Balock

Dick has a good point here. If you are turning 22" bowls, you are going to want as much HP as you can get. When I had my Nova 3000, I was coring 14" bowls and the 1HP motor could hardly do it. On my current 3 HP lathe, not even close to an issue.

Re: looking for recommendations on lathes

Luca

Thanks again to everyone

Michael, I'd like to attend the turning symposium in Kansas City. I will look into the details. Thanks!

Dick, George, I agree, I was told at least 2HP, or 3HP even better

Mikeee12345, what would be the best site for 2nd hand woodworking stuffs? I always relied on eBay, but if you may recommend something specific I would appreciate that