Purchasing Pm 3520b - Suggestions?

[massage123]

Hey All,
New member to AAW and hoping to gain from your collective insight, expertise and experience on the purchase of this lathe. I was originally going to buy the Jet 1642-2 but was given some substantial Christmas Mad Money toward tools and decided to use it all to buy the 3520 instead. Figuring this will now be the one and only Big lathe I will have to buy in my lifetime rather than cycling thru multiple lathes over time. Rave reviews on this updated lathe seem to have sealed the deal.

Right now Amazon is offering this lathe with both the cheapest pricing I was able to find anywhere and also including FREE SHIPPING.

So here are the ?'s I'm hoping you can help with :
1. Would you guys recommend buying this expensive lathe from Amazon or do you have other better / viable alternative sources?
2. Is shipping really Free, as including off the truck and wheeled into my garage from which I can move to my basement piece by piece later?
3. If only to back of truck can I unload myself by taking it off piece by piece; does the driver offer you enough time to do such a thing??? or will I expect to incur substantial lift gate fees as the only viable solution?
4. Is PM planning any major upgrades / changes in near future that I should wait?
5. February WW show in NJ; any huge price breaks usually given there that would make it worth the wait (although would have to figure 7% tax)?

Thank you all in advance for your help. Looking to make the purchase within the next couple days depending on your responses.
BEA

 

[Martin Braun]

2. Is shipping really Free, as including off the truck and wheeled into my garage from which I can move to my basement piece by piece later?
3. If only to back of truck can I unload myself by taking it off piece by piece; does the driver offer you enough time to do such a thing??? or will I expect to incur substantial lift gate fees as the only viable solution?

I think it depends on the policies of the local leg of the shipping company they use. In my experience, some charge extra to unload it off the truck & wheel it into your garage. Some don't. My 3520A showed up & the drive wheeled it into the garage with a pallet jack. I did not by from Amazon. I bought from a company on Ebay, that I'm not even sure is in business anymore. You could probably call Amazon, ask what trucking company they would use & try to get the number of the local distributor hub & ask them. That's the only way to find out for sure, and even then it's no guarantee. The 3520B comes dissembled in the box, but it depends on the individual driver if he would stick around & let you move it piecemeal.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Have you tried Olsolnik Machinery? Their discounted price is $2599 and they are offering free freight until January 8.

If you have a PU truck, you can go to to the loading dock of the freight terminal and have it loaded there. Once you get it home, you can unload it piece at a time, but the headstock is still very heavy. You can get get a
cheap hydraulic lift cart from Horrible Freight to help unload everything and it will be useful in the future for loading those really heavy logs into your truck or onto your lathe.
Bill

 

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Take your best price to the Tool Nut and they will beat it! In my case by $75.00. www.toolnut.com . Make sure you call them. Don't bother filling out that on line form. I had mine in 5 days. It comes shipped broken down now so it's a lot easier then it use to be as far as unloading.

 

[massage123]

Price Changes - Oh No!

What luck or NOT!!
Believe it or not I just went back to Amazon in the past half hour and guess what....they moved the price back up to the original non-discount price, which is $200 more than the sale price listed earlier today!!! Talk about crap timing. :mad:
Hoping the tool sales guy may be able to still do the cheaper deal as he gets a supervisor to contact the buyers out in Seattle and see if they'll go for it.
The one great thing I did confirm on a call back to Amazon is that when they offer Free Shipping on this item it already includes drop gate service and pallet jacking to a reasonable place of final resting. The Osolnik price requires extra $ for liftgate service.
Hoping for the best,
BEA

 

[john lucas]

Don't plan on moving it yourself. 2 people can do it piece by piece but even then it's kinda tough on your back. The bed is about 250lbs the headstock about 180, I think each leg was about 80 or 90. It ain't light. On the palet it's about 800lbs.
I bought mine from the tool nut but since they are drop shipped from Lavergne Tn. I simply drove down and picked it up. They did have free shipping but since we wanted them as soon as possible we just picked them up the next day.
Actually we got 2 because my best friend got one also. They were really nice helping us get them in the truck and trailer but we had an interesting time getting them back out. We slid the one off the trailer into my friends shop on homemade ramps.
To unload mine we had to take it apart piece by piece.

 

[Martin Braun]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that in my earlier posts. Sale prices on Amazon.com for tools can be randomly posted & pulled. There are plenty of people who have had similar frustration & called Amazon to complain.

 

[massage123]

Tool Nuts Experience???

Kurt R. and others,
Kurt was your purchase with Tool Nuts a real good and straight honest dealing from them?? I took your advice and called; spoke with a Dave Murray who seemed like a real personable and honest speaking man. No offense meant, but I always get a little shudder when I think of dealing with any company in the NYC area. Are they an Authorized Powermatic Dealer with the full 5 yr direct warranty?

Without directly dissing anyone he told me to be very careful of other supposed deals that then afterwards change dramatically. He said one of the places mentioned offers "free shipping" and then when the local trucker shows up to unload he hits you with what they consider a totally independent fee for trucking, lift gate service, etc. that you were totally unexpecting. :mad: At least he told me the straight bottom line price and a flat shipping fee including liftgate for Tool Nuts.

If I can get Tool Nuts to match the hopefully lowered Amazon price would any of you guys suggest that I buy from them instead. I have heard some real horror stories of shipping damage with Amazon, that is the only thing I am leary about.
Please let me know your thoughts, thanks again,
BEA

 

[Dario]

Try contacting Charles at http://www.woodchipshome.com/contact.html

He might be able to help you get a better deal on PM 3520B

 

[almather]

I contacted a local rental outfit, which has a forklift. They agreed to accept the shipment, unloaded it, and then loaded it onto my small trailer. When I offered to pay for the service they declined and said they hoped I enjoyed the lathe. By the way, the shipping pallet was in pretty bad shape, but the lathe was okay.

My shop is on ground level, and I was able to use a chain hoist to unload, used a dolly to wheel pieces into my shop, and then the chain hoist and saw horses to put it together without too much trouble.

Al

 

[John Nicholas]

3520b

I bought mine from a local dealer that met the competition. He loaded it into a pickup. My friend and I were able to unload it piece by piece. It took two of us to get the headstock moved.

We found that leaving the bed in the truck bed and attaching the legs while the bed was upside down, made the job go faster. Two of you can then turn the bed with the legs attached off the pickup bed and stand it on the ground. We were able to move it into the shop (SWMBO says garage) and place the headstock on the ways. All told about 2 hours from heading out until power was applied.

Enjoy your 3520B.

http://groups.msn.com/PowermaticLatheOwners

Is a group for PM folk, run by George Troy.

John

 

[john lucas]

I know at least 4 people in our club have used The tool nut and been happy with him. We ordered bed extensions with our lathe. They told us up front that they were back ordered. It was taking a while to get them and my friend called to ask where they were.. The guy apologized and said it usually didn't take that long and offered us short tool rests free as an apology for our wait. We did get the extension. I think they did exactly what we asked of them and they promised us. The warranty comes from WMH tool group.

 

[Frank Alvarez]

Unloading the 3520

I used borrowed engine hoist to take the lathe, with head and tail stock off , out my F350 bed( it's higher than a regular pickup). There were no stairs just 2 door ways to navigate into my shop from my garage. Then I used the hoist to lift the parts up and reassemble it. I would recommend this highly as those parts are really heavy. You just have to use a 4x4 under the bed with a bridle rig so the bed with legs on doesn't tip too much . This seemed a much easier method than the lift mentioned above in the discussions as there was no manual lifting involved. Hope this helps.
Frank A

 

[JerryG]

3520 Purchase

Try the ToolNut. www.toolnut.com
They are a Jet/Powermatic dealer, and will beat any price.
You can pickup the lathe at the Jet warehouse in Nashville,TN.
and eliminate shipping. Set-up is easy, I unloaded it and set it up
myself. The heaviest part is the bed, you may need one person to help
carry the bed.

 

[massage123]

Buying Local

Hi guys,
Thank you all for your help and ideas on this purchase. I am still waiting to here back from Amazon today, and I have to contact Osolnik and the other source which was given as a possibility yesterday. Glad to hear Tool Nut seems to have been a reputable seller by your experiences.

I would love to buy locally and pick up to save shipping fees and hassles of loading / unloading, however that automatically means NJ State Sales Tax of 7% immediately thrown in on top of the price to truly consider "apples to apples" to the doorstep pricing. Kind of makes me wonder why we're still here??? ....highest density, highest utilities, highest insurance, murder capital of the US (Camden), highest property taxes, and sales tax .....What a Great Place to Live!!! Hopefully we will breathing the fresh air of the WV mountains or somewhere similar in about ten years, God willing.

BEA

 

[alamocdc]

Try contacting Charles at http://www.woodchipshome.com/contact.html

He might be able to help you get a better deal on PM 3520B

I ordered mine from Charles just before Christmas. WMH took a holiday break which delayed shipping, but it should be in this weekend of early next week. And I can't wait!!!!

 

[Jred]

Kurt R. and others,
Kurt was your purchase with Tool Nuts a real good and straight honest dealing from them?? I took your advice and called; spoke with a Dave Murray who seemed like a real personable and honest speaking man. No offense meant, but I always get a little shudder when I think of dealing with any company in the NYC area. Are they an Authorized Powermatic Dealer with the full 5 yr direct warranty?

Without directly dissing anyone he told me to be very careful of other supposed deals that then afterwards change dramatically. He said one of the places mentioned offers "free shipping" and then when the local trucker shows up to unload he hits you with what they consider a totally independent fee for trucking, lift gate service, etc. that you were totally unexpecting. :mad: At least he told me the straight bottom line price and a flat shipping fee including liftgate for Tool Nuts.

If I can get Tool Nuts to match the hopefully lowered Amazon price would any of you guys suggest that I buy from them instead. I have heard some real horror stories of shipping damage with Amazon, that is the only thing I am leary about.
Please let me know your thoughts, thanks again,
BEA

I happen to live near The Tool Nut store here in NY. I have dealt with them for a few years and I have always gotten a good price. Not only that but they treat me well. A co-worker's wife works there and you might want to call and ask for her. Call after 2:00pm NY time on a weekday and ask for Joy. She will get your questions answered and she is sweet to deal with.

 

[maico3]

pm3520B

I did some research before deciding which lathe to purchase and came out with the 3520B the best bang for the buck and I enjoy every minute I spend with it making bowls and anything I can think of

 

[massage123]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!

To all,
Thank you all so much for all of your help....THE DEED IS DONE!!!...a 3520B on its way...Yahoo!! A special thanks to Kurt, John, Jerry & Jred for suggesting the ToolNut!

I was surprised but Amazon called back and was willing to honor their reduced price. However taking your advice I contacted all the other possible players, but David Murray of the TOOLNUT store beat 'em all. The only regret was not buying from the other store owners/ reps who were also so helpful in the decision process.

While I do not have the lathe in hand I cannot at this point say enough about how curteous, professional and friendly David Murray of the ToolNut treated me. He not only price-matched, but also beat the best lathe price I had (Amazon) by an additional $20 including complete delivery/liftgate/pallet jack fees. If delivery goes as smoothly as the rest of the deal so far (fingers crossed) I could not have any complaints to speak of.

Good deal to better: with another available Jet/PM discount I also purchased the 18" short extension/riser assembly and the dust port assembly as well, ultimately saving another $60. In fact David was the one who offered to do the extra research on the accessories to make sure he definitely got me the best price on them as well. He found the manufacturer discount and called me back to let me know he was dropping the extension price he originally quoted based on his findings without me having to do a thing.

Planning on asking if any of the local chapter members might be available and willing to give me a hand getting it from the garage to the basement when the time comes. Fortunately our next regular meeting falls on this coming Thursday so I have a perfect opportunity.

Again, I thank you all very much and will let you know how the delivery goes in about 1-1/2 weeks, the projected ETA.

Kindest regards to the group,
Brian A

 

[Jred]

Brian,
Enjoy the lathe! I'll be heading over there to pick up a new jigsaw tommorrow. The Powermatic is easily broken down to it's components so it should be not too bad to get into the basement. One reason I had my eye on the machine for a while.
Happy Turning.
John

 

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Where are you in Jersey Brian?

 

[massage123]

Location Response

Hi Kurt,

I live in a little spit along the road up in the jersey pine barrens to your north called Tabernacle. Kind of half way between Phila, Pa, and Manahawkin. Or if you are more familiar with this area at all, the next small settlement east of Medford around the Rte 206 & Rte 70 circle (or as out-of-staters might know it as a rotary).

Thanks for your help. Also, for those who had mentioned Charles as a possible source, I had called and left him a detailed message but never heard back from him. Disappointed as many of you seemed to regard him highly.
Brian A

 

[Charlie Anderson]

Late to the game, but

Here's my experience. Several dealers had 'show specials' at the AAW Symposium in Louisville. I shopped that price at my local Woodcraft and then called the Tool Nut. Surprisingly, he called me back on a Sunday. I told him my deal ($2399) and he told me to take it as he couldn't match that price.

For the delivery, the freight co. had a $75 charge to deliver to a residence. I would have paid it, but they insisted it would be delivered on a tractor trailer and there's no way one can get in my driveway.

I contacted an auto repair shop a couple miles away that had a Jerrdan rollback tow truck. The freight company delivered it there, loading it directly to the tow truck. They then delivered it to my house and were able to put it directly in the garage when they lowered the bed. Worked great. The tow truck operator also brought an engine hoist, asking me to return it when done.

A friend who works at our local nuke plant, checked out some loading straps from his tool crib and we were able to easily and safely move the lathe an assemble it in the shop (same floor as garage).

I paid $50 to the tow truuck operator.

 

[Jred]

Charlie,
Alot of the time hose show prices are available because the manufacturer is subsidizing the sale for the show. I bought my Unisaw at a show for an awesome price and don't regret it at all.

 

[massage123]

Taxes @ Shows???

Jred and others,
I have heard many wonderful stories of happy purchasers saving big $ at shows. I would have liked to have done the same with this espensive lathe, however I was assuming they would be charging me sales tax because I live in the state the show is being held....wouldn't that be the case??? I know in the past couple years going to the WW show in Edison / Sommerset, NJ I have always been charged sales tax by the exhibitor/sellers.

Based on the projected sales tax at a rate of 7% we are talking about $210 extra which I figured would have negated any savings they would have been offering lower than I was able to get it for delivered and dropped in my shop.
As the show is coming up in February I will inevitably torture myself and find out what the best deal would have been from the PM rep/distributor...just the nature of the beast. Whatever the outcome it seems like the deal David Murray from the ToolNut offered and the curteous nature with which I was treated will be more than sufficient....and I'll have it before the show is even in town.

I have been careful not to quote actual pricing so far as I know from experience some of these forums/websites forbid it. Is this the case with the AAW forum format or can I reveal the deal for anyone else who may want to brave the waters and part with their cash?
Best to all,
Brian A

P.S. Local chapter had a fantastic demo last night from a real pro (published in AAW Journal) who showed us the great fun and magic of inside-out turning. Soooooo Coooolll ...can't wait to give it a whirl with the new lathe.