Originally Posted by
Edward Weingarden
Roger:
I would think that many who purchase a lathe with a 24" swing are upgrading from a smaller lathe. I don't think it's a stretch for a company to have some foresight and consider that their banjo should be able to accommodate accessories from the smaller lathes that people are upgrading from. I agree that the banjo is well built, but the height is not in proportion to the swing.
I fully understand every turners desire to not have to upgrade everything when they want to upgrade lathes. In my mind I think it is unfair to any manufacturer to be expected to try and forsee any particular turner with any particular previous lathe model, that might possibly purchase their larger lathe sometime in the future, to not be able to somehow just pull a rabbit out of the hat and figure out exactly what they are supposed to manufacture well in advance of whatever the particular scenario might possibly involve.
I would challenge any person to be required to manufacture a unit that could possibly meet any possible upgrade at any possible time in the future.........and not have to charge 25 times the price it is actually worth.
I'm not being critical of folks who wish everything would just line up for their particular situation, but a couple of things do stand out......first off, there is very little standardized in lathes....no rules actually exist, other than the manufacturers and accessories makers have figured out that some spindle sizes are a good thing so there aren't 50 different sizes, and that goes for accessories.
Second, the size class of the lathes......not everyone wants a big lathe.......they only want to turn a few pens and maybe a bottle stopper once in a while. Some want the biggest thing on the market because they have room and want to turn big items. Upgrade in class from a midi class lathe to a 24" class lathe will of necessity require bigger, beefier, and yes, sometimes longer support for accessories like a toolrest.
"Consideration" for someone's possible upgrade, not knowing who, when, or what possible adjustment might be needed to accommodate those particular parameters is simply not the way manufacturing works.......manufacturing has a set of blueprints, specs/tolerances to meet and design to be met in the process, which cannot in my mind possibly be anywhere near cost effective if every possible desire of every possible machine owner, who could possibly sometime in the future consider one of their machines.
Manufacturers do seem to try to meet what they see as demand developing in the market place, and their offerings have gotten better over the years, but I seriously doubt any could forsee what might be every possible upgrade necessity from any possible turner.
I don't expect GM to make a universal muffler for my Ram truck, even though I have a GMC SUV. I cannot expect Honda to make parts for my Dodge. Not trying to be unkind, but reasonable.
Last edited by Roger Chandler; 05-23-2019 at 4:01 PM.
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