Nova 1624 II Lathe

[Dan Bevilacqua]

I recently posted a thread concerning my current interest in the Jet 1640 (1.5 hp) lathe and the Laguna Revo (1.5 hp) lathes. I am now throwing another possible contender in the mix, the Nova 1624 II lathe which can often be had for around $850.00 on sale new. This is almost 1/3 the regular price of the other 2 lathes. I have given up on the other lathes that I cannot afford such as the Powermatic, Oneway and Robust.

The reasons I have thrown the Nova 1624 in the mix are as follows. I like the shorter bed lenght for fit in my garage shop. I like that it is simple without fancy electronics (DVR; EVS) Yes, I fully understand that it operates with manual belt change, something with which I have no issue. If I do develop an issue with it, I can purhcase a Nova DVR upgrade that includes a motor and electronics for around $600.00 ("fancy electronics", which if it fails, I could always go back to the originl setup). I am a hobby lathe turner so the capacities of the lathe are fine for me. Of course, the price is attractive.

Now for the real questions.

Does the swivel headstock lock down as positively as the one on the Jet, or the Laguna which is just sliding?

Is the absence of vibration (inherent with nothing on the spindle or with only a chuck attached) going to be as good as the Jet or Laguna? I do understand that turning larger out of round bowls will result in more vibration than the Jet or the Laguna due to the significant differences in weight.

Is there any issue with the spindle being unsupported on the outboard end of the spindle pulley?

I guess the real question is whether for my purposes, there is a great difference in performance of the Nova vs. the Jet and Laguna other than the variable speed? For that matter, is there a significant difference between the Jet or Laguna and say a Powermatic 3520?

Sorry about these questions; but, this is going to be a very important purchase for me, and I want to have the lathe I choose for the rest of my life. Hopefully one day, I will be able to contribute to this forum, as opposed to always having questions.

 

[Marshall Sadler]

You may want to take a look at Carl Ford's blog which I found when I was researching dust collection. (specifically look at this one: http://carlford.info/blog/2015/07/newbie-lathe/ ). I disagree with a few of his points but it was still an interesting read on lathes. This blog may answer most of your questions about your 3 lathes. Even with this knowledge, it would still be best to turn on all three and then decide.

 

[Dan Bevilacqua]

Marshall, I agree that it would be great to turn on these lathes to allow me to make first hand observations. I would love to be able to try even one of the lathes; but, that seems highly unlikely in my area. Still looking though.

 

[Richard Coers]

I just can't imagine buying a lathe with limited speed settings like that. Do you plan on turning bowls? It is often the case that another 50rpm above or below a setting puts the blank into a spin with less vibration. You are just SOL with multi step pulleys. The last two Jet 1640 lathes sold in my area went for $1000. I bought one, my club bought the other.

 

[Dan Bevilacqua]

I just can't imagine buying a lathe with limited speed settings like that. Do you plan on turning bowls? It is often the case that another 50rpm above or below a setting puts the blank into a spin with less vibration. You are just SOL with multi step pulleys. The last two Jet 1640 lathes sold in my area went for $1000. I bought one, my club bought the other.

I do plan on turning bowls, and as you make a good point that the manual speed changes may be insufficent to completely remove vibration. Of course, I could always upgrade the Nova to the DVR motor for around $600.00.

As to the Jet lathes you and your club purchased, that is a great deal, and I would buy one in a heartbeat at that price.

 

[Stan Semeniuk]

Dan I turn on a 1624 with the bed extension and cast legs. I have been very happy with it and like to hollow with the head swiveled. My only real complaint would be the lowest rpm setting is 214 rpm. I would prefer slower for some unbalanced loads.

 

[Dan Bevilacqua]

Dan I turn on a 1624 with the bed extension and cast legs. I have been very happy with it and like to hollow with the head swiveled. My only real complaint would be the lowest rpm setting is 214 rpm. I would prefer slower for some unbalanced loads.

Any vibration issues or issues with the tightness of lockdown of the headstock? Thanks.

 

[Stan Semeniuk]

I have no problems with the head-stock lock it's as solid as the day I bought it. I do get vibration at times but that is more to do with shape and size of the turning than anything else. I have run my dial indicator on the spindle and the run out is very minor.

 

[Dan Bevilacqua]

Thank you, Stan.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Now for the real questions.

Does the swivel headstock lock down as positively as the one on the Jet, or the Laguna which is just sliding?

Is the absence of vibration (inherent with nothing on the spindle or with only a chuck attached) going to be as good as the Jet or Laguna? I do understand that turning larger out of round bowls will result in more vibration than the Jet or the Laguna due to the significant differences in weight.

Is there any issue with the spindle being unsupported on the outboard end of the spindle pulley?

I guess the real question is whether for my purposes, there is a great difference in performance of the Nova vs. the Jet and Laguna other than the variable speed? For that matter, is there a significant difference between the Jet or Laguna and say a Powermatic 3520?

I don't have any of the lathes that you mentioned, but I have a Delta 1440 that I no longer use that has several of the features that you asked about.

I think that swivel head stocks way overrated. When you first start turning a piece of wood, it really needs to be between centers or at the very least, there should be tailstock pressure on the piece of wood. Besides not serving any real need, getting the headstock properly lined up with the bed was a PITA. There was a lot of free play in the swivel detents so the end result was that I locked the headstock down and never moved it.

When you say vibration I assume that you really mean shaking because the load is unbalanced. That's mostly a matter of lathe size and size of the hunk of wood. RPM's also play a part.

The spindle on my Delta 1440 was only supported at the nose end. Actually it was two bearings that were about 2½" apart. I never had a problem with it, but I understand your concern abou the overhung pulleys. Just pay attention to belt tension.

One great advantage of a purely mechanical drive with stepped cone pulleys is that you always have the rated horsepower available at the spindle. That's not the case with any type of electronic drive.

 

[john lucas]

I owned a Nova 3000 for many years. I love it. I eventually put a DVR and 3phase motor on it. Most of what I didn't like about it they changed on the 1624. The headstock locks down very securely. You may want to buy the double morse taper to realign the headstock but that's a cheap fix. I drilled a 1/8" hole where the headstock meets the ways after carefully aligning it. Then I could always get it back to dead center but that required the headstock to be in what I call the Home position on the lathe bed to do that. I really like swiveling the headstock for some operations. What I didn't like was extending the banjo out far enough to use that positon caused vibration and made it hard to get really clean cuts. Now I'm being picky there because I don't think most people would notice the difference but I had been turning a lot of years buy then and my skill were improving. I also had a problem with lathe vibration on larger pieces. The mass of the heavier lathes makes a huge difference in dampening this vibration. That being said I think it is one of the best lathes on the market for the it's price range.

 

[hockenbery]

Keep a look out for used lathes.
If you buy a quality used lathe at a good price you can likely sell it a few years down the road for what you paid for it.

Once you get used to electronic variable speed it becomes a necessity.
Switching belts adds a little bit of time to process and you always have to settle on a working speed that is either too fast or too slow.
Lots of folks out there have turned lots of stuff on fixed speed lathes.
I have turned on lots of belt changing lathes.

 

[Richard Hodsdon]

Dan
We have been using a 1624 for about 8 years now. No complaints at all. the headstock does lockdown well. I would love a DVR but cannot justify the extra cost. ( I have a large shopbuilt Bowl lathe with variable speed on which I turn up to 1Mt pieces) The 1624 was a birthday present FOR my wife and she loves it.
A lathe can never be too heavy so I have hung a large concrete block ( coring sample from bridge 50Kg) from the Headstock end . Will probably hang another one from the tailstock end eventually.
Changing speed is very simple and normally start on a slow speed for the outside , speedup one it in balance to do the final out side shape , turn and then hollow it inside. then slowdown to sand . sometimes will do another speed change but not a major problem. Is a speedup by a dial and then dialing the speed down justify the extra $1000 not to my way of thinking . Thats 10 bowl gouges

 

[Dan Bevilacqua]

...

I think that swivel head stocks a way overrated. ...

When you say vibration I assume that you really mean shaking because the load is unbalanced. That's mostly a matter of lathe size and size of the hunk of wood. RPM's also play a part.

...

...

Thanks for your very informative post, Bill. I removed parts of your quote to focus on what I intend to comment upon.

As to the swivel headstock, I would prefer a fixed head that does not rotate or slide. Those options appear to be limited unless you want a midi/mini lathe or get into a very high price range.

As to vibration, I am actually talking about no load (just bare spindle) or with just a chuck. I do understand fully (been there)regarding the shaking that would be heavily dependent upon the characteristics of the piece being turned.

 

[William Rogers]

As to vibration, I am actually talking about no load (just bare spindle) or with just a chuck. I do understand fully (been there)regarding the shaking that would be heavily dependent upon the characteristics of the piece being turned.

Maybe I'm missing something but no properly setup lathe should vibrate with no load. I understand your decision diligence. I went through the same thing last year. I finally took price out of the equation and concentrated on my needs first and then my wants. Then I compared lathes. Then I determined my wants and finally price. My needs and wants will be different from someone else. For me I needed the floor to spindle height to be less than 43", 18" swing, minimum 36" between centers, and variable speed. I wanted a sliding headstock, heavy weight, and vacuum chuck capability. A sliding headstock is great for turning bowls.

 

[Bill Boehme]

... As to the swivel headstock, I would prefer a fixed head that does not rotate or slide. Those options appear to be limited unless you want a midi/mini lathe or get into a very high price range.

As to vibration, I am actually talking about no load (just bare spindle) or with just a chuck. I do understand fully (been there)regarding the shaking that would be heavily dependent upon the characteristics of the piece being turned.

The trouble with headstocks that swivel in addition to sliding is that when the headstock is unlocked it becomes more or less loose to do both even though you only want to slide it. Then getting it back in alignment requires a lot of time and saying of bad words. Lathes in which the headstock only slides are far better than those that do both. For the most part sliding headstock lathes have no reason to apologize when compared to fixed headstock lathes and depending on your needs might be more desirable.

Unless you're talking about a HF lathe or one with a cheap Reeves drive then the kind of vibration you're concerned about doesn't exist.

 

[Dan Bevilacqua]

Thank's, Bill.