Lathe upgrade dilemma...

[Don Wattenhofer]

I don’t think that’s reason enough to dismiss them. As I understand, compared to DC motors, servo motors are more efficient, produce more torque, have faster response rates, and are longer-lasting. Are these benefits marginal? Possibly. Are there downsides to servo motors? I don’t know—maybe potentially more complicated issues? I think it’s pretty neat that industrial technologies are becoming more and more accessible to consumers. Now that cost isn’t really a mitigating factor, I don’t see a many negatives to the addition, regardless of the need.

They are not being compared to DC motors as the most common motor used today on wood lathes is a 3ph induction motor controlled by a VFD. The servo motor requires a feedback from a electromechanical encoder where as the 3ph induction motor / VFD relies on feedback from the motor windings. The servo motors primary purpose is for positioning where a computer can translate a move from point A to point B to move the cutting tool accurately and if the tool is a rotary tool like router bit it isn't turned by a servo motor. The HP of a motor is a combination of speed and torque, therefore if they are claiming more torque in one style verses another then there is some hocus pocus going on. Also note that with the Grizzly lathe that I have it came with a servo motor rated 2HP 3550 RPM so that is half the torque then the more common 2HP 1750 RPM. The grizz controller kept tripping out until it fried itself so I replaced it with a 2HP 1750 RPM 3ph induction motor and VFD which I have never had any problems with.

 

[Michael Anderson]

@Don Wattenhofer you’re right about the comparison. Thanks for the information too—interesting about the grizzly motor crapping out on you!

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

I worked with servo motors a lot at my last job. Very expensive and don’t last as long as you think. Biggest problem I had with them were the encoders.

 

[Bill Blasic]

I've had my DVR3000 for at least two years more than my 3520b and I have never noticed my DVR ramping up to speed (that's about 21 or 22 years). Now I have to go down to the shop and check that out. On any of my lathes it's the same look at the piece, hit the start apparatus, position my self for the cut and start cutting. There has never been a wait for the lathe to spin up. 7 of the lathes in my shop have been there for at least 15 years and have seen at least 40, 2 or 3 all day hands on sessions with various pro turners. Sometimes it's not easy to watch some of those folks use/abuse those machines but it is a positive that these lathes all have motors that just keep on going no matter what type they are. It sure would be a different story if lathe manufacturers were like manufacturers who use planned obsolescence

 

[Doug Freeman]

All the big lathes use AC 3 phase motors, not DC. It's a mature control method and has been flawless for 24 years on my Oneway. But, I don't care for the Nova DVR either. I like a lathe that turns on when I push a button. I don't want to wait for something to ramp up in speed. To me, these are just unnecessary solutions to a nonexistent problems.

I have the Galaxi lathe. I dont understand this comment. When I turn the power on to the drive for a turning session, I have to wait ~30 seconds or so for the DVR to boot up, but after that no waiting to go/stop/go. Time to ramp to speed is ~ same as vfd, and time to stop is faster. It has more power vs same hp rated vfd. The programmable speed presets are great to have vs a resistor pot only, and no belt to change speed ranges. The differences dont make the DVR tech necessary, but at about the same $’s it makes sense IMO.

 

[Grant J Barlow]

20 yrs ago I had the 'Get a bigger/better lathe' bug. I had a Jet mini and was tired of moving the belts. I found an Oneway 1224 on clearance at my local Woodcraft. In these 20 yrs I haven't had any real problems I couldn't solve. While it's quite a bit more money than the Record, check out the Oneway 1640. My Oneway has little to no vibration and it has quite a bit of mass to eliminate vibration. Also, back in 2011 I caught the bug again and I bought a Robust Sweet 16. Robust makes wonderful lathes. And while I highly recommend both of my lathes, there is another - the Robust Scout - 14" and it can be bench mounted like the Record.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I have looked at the Nova in person and the fit and finish is OK but not amazing. ...
...But maybe I'd fall into the "it's not hard to change the belt position" camp.

David, I apologize for not responding to your inquiry sooner, but we're on a road trip.

I have been turning on a Nova 1624-II for 4 years. If you have any specific questions about the machine or my experience with it I'd be happy to respond; drop me a personal message (i.e. conversation). (I also have their DVR drill press).

Quick comments.
I've heard (here) that the 1624 will be, or has been discontinued, so maybe there's some deals to be had.
I don't know the replacement.
The 1624 has served me well for the type of turning that I do.
The legs are lighter weight than the larger lathes. I have turned a couple of unbalanced pieces but this type of work is not the 1624's strong suit. If you are bench mounting then you can make the base as heavy as you like.
The fit & finish are good in the functional surfaces. Beyond that it's a little rough.
It took only 3 months of use before I bought the DVR upgrade (best money I ever spent on this hobby). I doubt you are going to find yourself in the "belt change club". If you can't afford to get a variable speed lathe now, it might be a good idea to save up some more. Your Rikon is still a good lathe.
With either DVR or VFD you will be keeping the belt drive so you can still change pulleys, if you were so inclined.
I'm on a middle pulley and the available speed range is 50 to 3000 RPM. I sand at 100-150 RPM.
There is no ramp up time to speak of.
You're right, electronic braking tends to unscrew the chuck (drill press, too).
I love the rotating head stock and the speed presets.
Rotated to 22.5* the banjo will still reach, but beyond that you'll want the outrigger. But that and the other accessories/upgrades have become hard to find. (The Coronet's banjo extension might work?)
I don't regret buying the 1624 at the time that I did. It was a good choice for me. But if I was replacing my workshop I'd be looking at the Nebula and Galaxi.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

I worked with servo motors a lot at my last job. Very expensive and don’t last as long as you think. Biggest problem I had with them were the encoders.

Yes and the encoder on my Grizzly motor was a supper cheap piece of junk.

 

[William Rogers]

David, in addition to the weight and spindle height I have mentioned, also look at legs splay. The wider the leg splay the better. I also sand at around 100-150 RPM. My previous 18” swing lathe at the time I bought it was $2200, but is $2999 now. 18” was ok for me. but I was constantly changing switches, relays, boards that finally led me to the Robust. If I were buying used I would only consider “name” brands like Powermatic, Oneway, Robust, or Jet. Not saying there are other choices, but these would be my priorities. Had I bought a Jet 18” lathe instead of the one I did buy, I might still might be using it. New Jet , Powermatic, and Oneway have 5 year warranties and Robust has a 7 year warranty.

 

[Larry Mitchell]

Like I said…”off the beaten path for many/most.” Nothing complicated, weird or confusing
about the Harvey servo motor/lathe operation…it turns on/off/reverses with a switch, speed
changes by a knob and it’s quiet. It wasn’t my first choice for a new lathe, because the Axminster
AP406WL isn’t available in USA, but very pleased with its performance. Different strokes.

 

[David Wrate]

David, I apologize for not responding to your inquiry sooner, but we're on a road trip.

I have been turning on a Nova 1624-II for 4 years. If you have any specific questions about the machine or my experience with it I'd be happy to respond; drop me a personal message (i.e. conversation). (I also have their DVR drill press).

Quick comments.
I've heard (here) that the 1624 will be, or has been discontinued, so maybe there's some deals to be had.
I don't know the replacement.
The 1624 has served me well for the type of turning that I do.
The legs are lighter weight than the larger lathes. I have turned a couple of unbalanced pieces but this type of work is not the 1624's strong suit. If you are bench mounting then you can make the base as heavy as you like.
The fit & finish are good in the functional surfaces. Beyond that it's a little rough.
It took only 3 months of use before I bought the DVR upgrade (best money I ever spent on this hobby). I doubt you are going to find yourself in the "belt change club". If you can't afford to get a variable speed lathe now, it might be a good idea to save up some more. Your Rikon is still a good lathe.
With either DVR or VFD you will be keeping the belt drive so you can still change pulleys, if you were so inclined.
I'm on a middle pulley and the available speed range is 50 to 3000 RPM. I sand at 100-150 RPM.
There is no ramp up time to speak of.
You're right, electronic braking tends to unscrew the chuck (drill press, too).
I love the rotating head stock and the speed presets.
Rotated to 22.5* the banjo will still reach, but beyond that you'll want the outrigger. But that and the other accessories/upgrades have become hard to find. (The Coronet's banjo extension might work?)
I don't regret buying the 1624 at the time that I did. It was a good choice for me. But if I was replacing my workshop I'd be looking at the Nebula and Galaxi.

Thanks Mark, I appreciate the perspective of your 1624 use. It's still high on my list. I missed out by a couple of days on my local club member selling one. Oh well.
The VFD change would be easy for me as I've done it on my metal mill, and my surface grinder. Contemplating it for my metal lathe which happens to be manual belt changes for speed. But truthfully changing belt positions on it has never bothered me for a moment. Different use cases of course.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

I don’t know what the encoders cost but it cost $5,000 to rebuild a motor, $10,000 for a new one. They were a good size motor but small enough I could lift one off the shelf and put it on the fork truck by myself. I would guess around 150 pounds.

 

[David Wrate]

Well my local tool store is selling the Nova 1624 next week for $1199.
But I’m not buying it. I’ve taken all of your excellent advice and vast experience to heart and am going to continue learning with my Rikon and save my pennies for something that will do me for years to come.

 

[Ken Crea]

I have the NOVA 1624, which met 2 key requirements for me: 1) price, and 2) swivel head (I'm left-handed). After several years of fighting pulleys I upgraded my 1624 with a 2HP, 3phase motor and inverter and it cost me about $300 (pre-COVID). (Anyone want to buy a used 1624 motor?) I did mess up the 8-step motor pulley, though and had to buy a new one from NOVA for an extra $77. I leave the pulleys in the middle range and get 64-3000 rpm. While the setup works fine, if I could have bought a DVR replacement head I would have jumped at it. Instead, NOVA wants to sell you a 1624 head with DVR motor strapped to it. Not at all elegant!

Here is a discussion thread that contains information on my upgrade and problems I ran into: https://www.aawforum.org/community/...-nova-1624-44-1-5hp-or-2hp.16660/#post-177906

I attached a detailed write up that might be helpful. It includes wiring and inverter settings. Note that I did end up installing a braking resistor and programming the stop time to a few seconds.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

You remind me, removing the pulley from the original motor shaft is a bear. If I had known at the time, I would have bought a new pulley to install on the DVR motor, and left the other pulley on the original motor.

 

[Mike Szabo]

I have the NOVA 1624, which met 2 key requirements for me: 1) price, and 2) swivel head (I'm left-handed).

So I'm left handed and was wondering about swivel heads. Watching reviews particularly the Record Power series all seem to imply it's a great benefit to rotate the head 180 and run the lathe in reverse with the head mounted at the other end. Guess like a lot of lefties I'm slightly ambidextrous and that just seems silly to me, and the hassle of dealing with set screws outweighs that benefit. However outboard turning, and swiveling say 45 degrees seems like it would be really interesting, but hadn't even thought that was because I was left handed. Just seems like it prevents a lot of leaning over. I'm curious do you actually rotate and run in reverse, or is it just the quick switch to outboard turning for hollowing?

Currently I'm pretty bad, but having fun, wondering if I can blame my handedness for something that's not obvious to me.

 

[Normand Therrien]

I has to much lathe, I finish with the Nova DVR2024 and love with 330pouds in the base, but got an occasion for a Powermatic 3220B, it's an 2009 with lot of equipment, that's the lathe I should have bought first.
I've said change to often, yes, when you got the sickness of woodturning, think what you would like to turn later and you may see, hum what do I really want, with all the changing I've made, I finish buy put money in all the others that would easily paid for the Powermatic.
So if you got the sickness, you have to choose on what you'll finish at the end by expense, of finely save my taking now the good one. I didn't really choose the Powermatic, it was a nice occasion to get one. the Nova Saturn is about the same as the DVR 2024, in order of quality and price, Lagune, Powermatic, Harvey, Vicmarc, Oneway and Robust.
So that's the game, spend now or spend more with time, choose by what you want to turn, I love turning big and unbalance, you got to think about those to.
No easy task
My Powermatic after an upgrade of paint like the 80 th anniversary, and my Nova when I've sold it.

Normand

 

[Mike Johnson]

Many wood turners have been struck with the limitations of the lathe they own; you could fabricate a couple or riser blocks to mount under
the headstock and tailstock assemblies. A 1" or 2" riser block will gain you the turning capacity you are wanting. You would need to get a
long drive belt between the motor pulley and headstock spindle pulley to make it work. You can purchase a link-belt assembly which can
quickly replace the old drive belt at any length required for the modifications.

This option can get you by for now while you put some money aside for the lathe you really want down the road. There are large numbers
of baby boomers that are heading to the retirement home, there will be plenty of deals to be had if you keep your eyes on the estate sales
and garage sales in your area.

 

[David Wrate]

Many wood turners have been struck with the limitations of the lathe they own; you could fabricate a couple or riser blocks to mount under
the headstock and tailstock assemblies. A 1" or 2" riser block will gain you the turning capacity you are wanting. You would need to get a
long drive belt between the motor pulley and headstock spindle pulley to make it work. You can purchase a link-belt assembly which can
quickly replace the old drive belt at any length required for the modifications.

This option can get you by for now while you put some money aside for the lathe you really want down the road. There are large numbers
of baby boomers that are heading to the retirement home, there will be plenty of deals to be had if you keep your eyes on the estate sales
and garage sales in your area.

I've actually thought about doing this. It's an interesting idea which I may try.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

So I'm left handed and was wondering about swivel heads. Watching reviews particularly the Record Power series all seem to imply it's a great benefit to rotate the head 180 and run the lathe in reverse with the head mounted at the other end. Guess like a lot of lefties I'm slightly ambidextrous and that just seems silly to me, and the hassle of dealing with set screws outweighs that benefit. However outboard turning, and swiveling say 45 degrees seems like it would be really interesting, but hadn't even thought that was because I was left handed. Just seems like it prevents a lot of leaning over. I'm curious do you actually rotate and run in reverse, or is it just the quick switch to outboard turning for hollowing?

Currently I'm pretty bad, but having fun, wondering if I can blame my handedness for something that's not obvious to me.

I've never seen that done, but I supose it could be. Only a very few lathes have a headstock which will both rotate AND slide. The Nova Galaxi does that, so maybe the head could be rotated 180* then slid to the other end of the bed to make a left hand lathe. Maybe @Doug Freeman will chime in. Thing is your spindle is still right hand thread so when you spin the motor in reverse the chuck is going to want to come off.

Most people rotate the headstock for better access to the workpiece --as you say, prevents a lot of leaning over.

 

[Gary T Egbert]

There are a lot of good lathes out there so I will not say my Record Power Coronet Hersld is the best out there, but I will say I am very satisfied with this lathe and would buy it again in a heartbeat.

 

[David Wrate]

There are a lot of good lathes out there so I will not say my Record Power Coronet Hersld is the best out there, but I will say I am very satisfied with this lathe and would buy it again in a heartbeat.

I like the Herald, just not sure it’s enough of an step up from my 12” Rikon to warrant the $2K it would cost to get one here in Canada.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

I like the Herald, just not sure it’s enough of an step up from my 12” Rikon to warrant the $2K it would cost to get one here in Canada.

I moved up from the Rikon 12” and would recommend not going any smaller than a 16” lathe. With the swiveling head you can do larger than 16” easy.

 

[Mike Szabo]

I've never seen that done, but I supose it could be. Only a very few lathes have a headstock which will both rotate AND slide. The Nova Galaxi does that, so maybe the head could be rotated 180* then slid to the other end of the bed to make a left hand lathe. Maybe @Doug Freeman will chime in. Thing is your spindle is still right hand thread so when you spin the motor in reverse the chuck is going to want to come off.

Most people rotate the headstock for better access to the workpiece --as you say, prevents a lot of leaning over.

I agree. I was just surprised by the reviews. I've seen a few different people mentioning the Herald and all the video reviews keep mentioning a big benefit for lefties is you can rotate the headstock 180, slide it to the other end and run in reverse. (ex:

View: https://youtu.be/H6vwN8_60CU?t=129
). Sounded to me like the marketing team was putting putting together their salespoints but didn't actually consult a lefty.

Don't get me wrong the lathe seems really nice, just can't see ever actually doing that because as you say the chuck will want to come undone. The set screw would help, but not sure I'd trust that. I've only run in reverse for sanding at slow speed.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

So I'm left handed and was wondering about swivel heads. Watching reviews particularly the Record Power series all seem to imply it's a great benefit to rotate the head 180 and run the lathe in reverse with the head mounted at the other end. Guess like a lot of lefties I'm slightly ambidextrous and that just seems silly to me, and the hassle of dealing with set screws outweighs that benefit. However outboard turning, and swiveling say 45 degrees seems like it would be really interesting, but hadn't even thought that was because I was left handed. Just seems like it prevents a lot of leaning over. I'm curious do you actually rotate and run in reverse, or is it just the quick switch to outboard turning for hollowing?

Currently I'm pretty bad, but having fun, wondering if I can blame my handedness for something that's not obvious to me.

I am left handed for most things, but found out quickly that, when turning, being left handed or right handed isn't really important. Turning bowls, there are situations when holding the tool left-handed is best and other situations where holding the tool right-handed is best. To be honest, I don't even know what right and left handed means for turning. I just do whatever works the best.

 

[Dave Landers]

I am left handed for most things, but found out quickly that, when turning, being left handed or right handed isn't really important. Turning bowls, there are situations when holding the tool left-handed is best and other situations where holding the tool right-handed is best. To be honest, I don't even know what right and left handed means for turning. I just do whatever works the best.

Not left handed, but I'm with you. Majority of the time, my body does the coordinated motion. One hand has to hold the tool down on the tool rest, the other hand holds the tool against my body - doesn't take a lot of coordination from either hand for that.
(That said, there are of course situations where I'm actually using more of my arms/hands in a coordinated way, and then one way is more comfortable than the other. But I still don't really think about right- vs left-handed in the same way I do when writing or drawing)

 

[Bill Blasic]

I see folks wanting to upgrade so they can do bigger pieces. In theory a 16" lathe can make close to a 16" bowl. Do you realize how big a 16" bowl is? In most kitchen cabinets a 16" bowl will not fit. In all my years turning I have seen only one 16" ish bowl sold and that was after trying to sell it for 7 years. Usually turners are 1 and done with big bowls. I always tell my folks if the want to turn a big bowl come on over and turn one on my Powermatic.

 

[Vincent Vogel]

Riser blocks would do the trick for something to get you by until you buy a bigger lathe, these aren't anything new. I also agree with 16" is a pretty big bowl. I have made several platters that are 15" and they are plenty big for a table. I roughed out a 15" bowl but haven't finished it yet-still drying. I read an article once that a bowl over 16" diameter overpowers the table.

 

[hockenbery]

There are more things than bowls.
A ladle with a 8” handle and a 5” bowl needs 10.5” to clear the ways
Any off center turning benefits from weight and swing

A 24” lathe is going to be heavier than a 16” lathe and have more power.
That can translate to turning a 10” bowl in 15-20 minutes on a 24” lathe while taking 30-40 on jet 1221
This piece is made from a 6x6x14 won’t spin on a. 16” lathe

 

[Isaac Davis]

There are a couple of pretty reasonably priced oneway 2436 lathes for sale here in Portland, it's not thaaaat far of a drive...

 

[Randy Heinemann]

I see folks wanting to upgrade so they can do bigger pieces. In theory a 16" lathe can make close to a 16" bowl. Do you realize how big a 16" bowl is? In most kitchen cabinets a 16" bowl will not fit. In all my years turning I have seen only one 16" ish bowl sold and that was after trying to sell it for 7 years. Usually turners are 1 and done with big bowls. I always tell my folks if the want to turn a big bowl come on over and turn one on my Powermatic.

I went from a 12” capacity midi lathe to a 20” capacity full-size Powermatic. Part of the upgrade was capacity and I have turned a 14” bowl. However other factors were more important- weight, stability, power, …. Since upgrading I know I can mount any piece whether it’s round or some amorphous shape and the lathe will be solid and run with the required power and smoothness. Will I ever turn a 20” bowl? I don’t know but the rest of my turning is less of a fight and more enjoyable.

 

[Bill Blasic]

I wrote that because folks specifically wrote they wanted to do bigger pieces. We all understand that bigger lathes are bigger and weigh more etc.

 

[David Wrate]

There are a couple of pretty reasonably priced oneway 2436 lathes for sale here in Portland, it's not thaaaat far of a drive...

Do you have links to them? I’m curious about pricing.

 

[Daniel Henry]

There are more things than bowls.
A ladle with a 8” handle and a 5” bowl needs 10.5” to clear the ways
Any off center turning benefits from weight and swing

A 24” lathe is going to be heavier than a 16” lathe and have more power.
That can translate to turning a 10” bowl in 15-20 minutes on a 24” lathe while taking 30-40 on jet 1221
This piece is made from a 6x6x14 won’t spin on a. 16” lathe View attachment 47233

Now, that is a well presented ANALOGY!

 

[robo hippy]

That little Coronet lathe looks interesting, and I should play with one some time. My main concern, since I turn off the end of the lathe most of the time, is with the legs splaying out not only to the sides, but also outwards, is that they might be in the way for turning off the end of the lathe. Since that lathe has a good pivoting option, that may not be an issue. I still consider it being a bit small, and would want a 16 to 18 inch max capacity. All that being said, my favorite bowl lathe is my Vic 240. Best speed options in all 3 ranges, rock solid, and the best headstock design as far as I am concerned.

robo hippy

 

[Isaac Davis]

Do you have links to them? I’m curious about pricing.

PM sent

 

[Nathan Roper]

I've got the nova 1624 and started watching for "big boy" lathes pretty quick after buying it last May. Its my first lathe and I bought it used for $700 but I want heft and the ability to turn legs longer than 24" or whatever real capacity I have now.

It wobbles a lot and I've got a platform under it with 8 sandbags piled up for additional weight. I try and get my blanks really round on the bandsaw before I start to turn because of the wobble. When they are round though the wobble goes away. I've considered bolting it down to my concrete but think I'll wait for my big boy lathe before I do that.

I don't know what I'm doing but I generally rough out the bowl on the second slowest belt position on a screw chuck I made a-la-Richard Raffan. Then I move the belt to about the middle position for the rest and to hollow out the middle. I only get a few minutes here and there to turn so when I do get a chance I've been trying to batch out three or four bowls in a go. (Small ones, like 6" +/- so they go pretty quick.) Doing the rough turning first for all of them then moving the belt and continuing makes the belt changes not horrible but I really do want the spin dial for speed. Its not worth the money to me to upgrade this lathe to do that. I can move the belt position pretty quick too so its not like it takes 10 minutes to do.

I'm holding out for a used Vicmarc or Powermatic. I had a chunk of money ready for when I found one but got fed up with my 14" bandsaw and started looking for a replacement and found a fair deal on a laguna 18bx which is awesome. I think I'm fine with this nova for now while I work on my consistency. I'm wasting wood by not turning the absolute biggest bowls possible but doing the steps more times on smaller bowls I think will get me further if that makes sense.

 

[David Wrate]

I've got the nova 1624 and started watching for "big boy" lathes pretty quick after buying it last May. Its my first lathe and I bought it used for $700 but I want heft and the ability to turn legs longer than 24" or whatever real capacity I have now.

It wobbles a lot and I've got a platform under it with 8 sandbags piled up for additional weight. I try and get my blanks really round on the bandsaw before I start to turn because of the wobble. When they are round though the wobble goes away. I've considered bolting it down to my concrete but think I'll wait for my big boy lathe before I do that.

I don't know what I'm doing but I generally rough out the bowl on the second slowest belt position on a screw chuck I made a-la-Richard Raffan. Then I move the belt to about the middle position for the rest and to hollow out the middle. I only get a few minutes here and there to turn so when I do get a chance I've been trying to batch out three or four bowls in a go. (Small ones, like 6" +/- so they go pretty quick.) Doing the rough turning first for all of them then moving the belt and continuing makes the belt changes not horrible but I really do want the spin dial for speed. Its not worth the money to me to upgrade this lathe to do that. I can move the belt position pretty quick too so its not like it takes 10 minutes to do.

I'm holding out for a used Vicmarc or Powermatic. I had a chunk of money ready for when I found one but got fed up with my 14" bandsaw and started looking for a replacement and found a fair deal on a laguna 18bx which is awesome. I think I'm fine with this nova for now while I work on my consistency. I'm wasting wood by not turning the absolute biggest bowls possible but doing the steps more times on smaller bowls I think will get me further if that makes sense.

Thanks, I'm juggling a few different challenges:

1) Space. I have a very small shop and can't deal with a long bed lathe. Don't really need one either.
2) The used market here is terrible. Old Rockwells and Beaver or round tube machines are what I see. Polling my club and nearby clubs hasn't turned up anything except a Reeves drive, 42" bed machine.
3) Budget. A new lathe of any substance is minimum $3,000. Laguna 1524 is $3000. A Record Envoy to my door is $4000. A Oneway is $6000, Vicmarc is $8000. Powermatic is basically unobtainable here.
Going across the border could work except that I pay 30% exchange. I was looking at a Grizzly 16x24 and it was going to be over $3500 to my door. Used is kinda the same situation.

I know there are lots of folks here who are turning on some serious machines, and if money were no object I would be too. I'd also have a shop with way more floor space

We all have our priorities and have to make trade-offs based on our realities.

 

[Nathan Roper]

I hate buying tools twice. Thats a big reason I bought the 1624 in the first place because I knew I wouldn't be happy with a midi or benchtop size tool. Space is always a concern. If I had more room I'd probably bring in the stack of wood I've found inside rather than let it sit in the dirt until I can find the time to get to it. I have a single car sized garage bay dedicated to my wood tools though so I know I'm fortunate. Where I have this lathe will be tight to fit a longer one but I'll figure it out when that time comes. I'm okay with this one for now though and will try and be patient until I can find a good one used.

 

[David Wrate]

I hate buying tools twice. Thats a big reason I bought the 1624 in the first place because I knew I wouldn't be happy with a midi or benchtop size tool. Space is always a concern. If I had more room I'd probably bring in the stack of wood I've found inside rather than let it sit in the dirt until I can find the time to get to it. I have a single car sized garage bay dedicated to my wood tools though so I know I'm fortunate. Where I have this lathe will be tight to fit a longer one but I'll figure it out when that time comes. I'm okay with this one for now though and will try and be patient until I can find a good one used.

I'm not keen on buying twice either though I seem to have a knack for finding deals on machinery. If I resell them later on I either break even which means I used it for free for whatever time I owned it or best case scenario I make a few bucks. I'm very confident I'll be able to resell my Rikon for what I paid so that's a good thing.