NOVA 1624-44 Owners

[Glenn Barber]

Hello to everyone. This is my first post here. After doing some research and reading about the Nova 1624, this led me to discover this site. I heard some good things about it from the local turner's group also. I currently own a Jet 1014, no frills at all, that I got and have used for turning fishing lures over the last three years. In the last year or so, the itch to explore turning has led me to try pens, bottle stoppers, a little faceplate work, and an attempt or two at some small bowls/candy dishes (4-5" diameter x 2" tall). I'm looking to upgrade after really enjoying these new directions. My wishes are for a lathe that will allow me to turn big bowls (16" swing is sufficient), platters, boxes, doing hollow forms in the future, and maybe/possibly using a core system of some sort futher down the road.

I am shop space deprived and not a Rockefeller. I've not been able to turn on any Nova or any "pivoting" headstock lathes to date. Here are some questions:

Has the pivoting headstock been a blessing or a curse in actual use? Has it been a problem to get the headstock aligned correctly for spindle turning? Have you found the 8 different speeds to be suitable for all your turning, sanding, and finishing needs? What are some of the pros and cons of this lathe you have discovered from using it? Is the included stand stable, or are mods needed for my wishes? If so, what mods did you do to your stand? Pictures would help. Any thoughts on trying to "mobilize" this lathe for a small shop?

With the current sale at WoodCraft, I'm contemplating this lathe and love your feedback. I tried to find the Nova Owners Group to further research this, but I was unable to track it down. Any help on that front would be appreciated as well.

Thank you for the help,
Glenn

[Alan Trout]

I don't own the 1624 but do own the DVR model. I love the rotating headstock and it is not a problem getting things lined up again. It is a very user friendly lathe. I can't answer on the other points because I built my own stand and of course mine has variable speed.

Good Luck

Alan

[Don Carter]

Glenn:
I turned for several years on a Delta midi, doing the same things that you have been doing. I bought the Nova 1624 last summer and I have enjoyed it very much. Do a search for the Nova 1624 and you will see many posts.

I had shipping damage on mine but no fault of Nova.

I use the rotating head all the time and have no problem getting it back aligned when over the bed. In fact, mine has been perfect.

Unless you are looking for electronic variable speed, I can not see anything wrong with this lathe.

I have put in a shelf with about eighty pounds of ballast right under the bed and it is very stable. The lathe was stable anyway except on large unbalanced blanks.

All the best.

Don

[Rusty Smith]

I bought the 1624 last year when Woodcraft had them on sale. I see that they now are on sale again. When I first started to use the lathe I was afraid I would be disappointed that it was not variable-speed. After using it for a while now, I hardly notice that it is not VS. In taking a bowl turning class at my local WC store I was told by the instructor that the only drawback to the 1624 is that many people try to tighten the belt too much which will cause the belt to stretch and the pulley to rub on the inside of the housing. I just allow the weight of the motor to do the tensioning for me and I've not had a single problem. The one issue I did have was the keeper for the tailstock was not fully seated from the factory and it fell out. It took me quite a while to first figure out what it was and where it went and then to finally find in the owner's manual that it needs to be locked down with a set screw. I had quite a time getting the thing to drop down into the slot on the tailstock hand wheel but finally got it with a little "persuasion". ;)

All in all I think it is a great lathe and I do not regret getting it, especially for the price I was able to get it for.

[Burt Alcantara]

The 1624 was my first lathe. I added the extension, not for spindle turning but to keep the tailstock out of the way and to park my captured hollowing system. Otherwise, it was a stock system.

Tried the swiveling headstock but didn't feel comfortable with it because of banjo placement. No problem with alignment. I never had an issue with the legs other than a bit of paint peeling off.

It's a good solid lathe and at the WoodCraft price, it is an excellent value.

I recently upgraded to a 3520B because I wanted a sliding headstock and variable speed. I had an unfortunate experience of taking a class using the 3520B. After using it just once, my eyes glazed over and had to have variable speed. Don't know how I ever turned anything without it. But, that's just me.

I turn at the end of the lathe so I can tuck a gouge under my arm. I have terminal rotator cuff soreness and my elbows are starting to look for another life form. Tucking the gouge under my arm eliminates all of those problems. The other option is to sit on the lathe. That gets old immediately.

Burt

[Michael Mills]

Hi Glenn,
I have owed a 1624 for about a year and I am very happy with it.
The pivoting Headstock is one of the things I like best. I always rotate it out to the 22.5 position for the inside of bowls. It gives you a lot more room. I did find that when returning it to original position it was off just a tad (maybe 1/128) from the tailstock.
I guess the pin needs some room to engage. I now just tug it slightly towards me and they line up perfectly every time (I don’t even check even more). I have not had a problem reaching the bowl with the supplied banjo and tool rest.
Eight speeds has been good for me, the slowest for roughing, the about 900-1200for turning, slowest again for sanding, the up again to 1500-2000 for finishing. They say it takes about 20 seconds to change the speed, my pudgy fingers take about 2 minutes…
Stability…I have had no problems. Yes, when unbalanced you will get some shaking but not bad. (I have seen the huge mustard at my woodturners club shake also). If you buy it and get shaking write back Lyle Jamieson in his video shows a simple adjustment (to long to discuss now).
Pros/Cons I sure there are better ones (and more expensive) but I am happy.
Mobility: I haven’t moved mine but a search of forums shows many ideas. If I did need to I would mount two wheels at one end with the lever to raise it from the floor and a trailer jack with wheel (1) on the other end. Three wheels is enough to move it where every you want it in the shop.
There was a great NOVA forum at MSN but Microsoft stopped all of MSN in Jan or Feb.
The link at Technatool has not been updated.
These two have started up for Nova Lathes but both are slow getting started. Maybe when more people know about them the activity will pickup.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teknatool/ (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teknatool/)
http://www.myfamily.com/isapi.dll?c=site&htx=main&siteid=LG-hAI (http://www.myfamily.com/isapi.dll?c=site&htx=main&siteid=LG-hAI)
Then myfamily group is called ‘Nova Owners"

Mike

[Glenn Barber]

Thank you all for your input. I will continue to look for more info to help me decide about purchasing this lathe or not. It seems like a very good "bang for the buck" deal at the sale price when compared to others in the same ballpark.

Now that you have used this lathe, what accessories are a no-brainer to get, and what would you leave behind? I'm thinking the handwheel is a no-brainer for sure. How does this lathe perform with a vacuum system?

Thanks again,
Glenn

[Bob Hamilton]

The Nova vacuum adaptor that fits into the outboard hand wheel is a cheap way to try vacuum chucking if you already have a shop vac. It does not develop the kind of "inches of mercury" that vacuum pumps develop but on the other hand it is not nearly as sensitive to leakage because of the large volume of air it is moving. It grips well enough to allow light cutting to clean up the base of bowls or platters and for sanding same. I use mine all the time. Any heavy cutting requires tailstock support to keep the piece from shifting but light cuts near center, as in removing the stub where the tailstock was, are fine.

Take care
Bob

[Stephen Massman]

I use the holdfast vacuum adapter on my 1624 with a wobble vacuum pump. I also agree the handwheel is a must. I also just purchase the bowl tool rest from woodcraft but havent tried it yet, but it looks great and big.

[Michael Mills]

Hi,
I do not use a vacuum system with mine but do have the handwheel.
Listed here...http://www.teknatool.com/products/vacuum.htm
It appears the handwheel is also an integral part of the vacuum system on a Nova.
Mike

[Paul Douglass]

I have the handwheel, could not live without it!

[Rusty Smith]

The lathe comes with a live center, a 4 prong dead center, knock-out tool and a 1 1/8" threaded adaptor. I bought an adaptor thiniking I would need it for my G3 chuck and was suprised to find one in the package. Not a loss though, I'm sure I'll be getting another chuck eventually (kinda of a hastle changing out jaws all the time). I too got the handwheel, don't know how I did without one on my mini. A couple other things to consider is if you are doing pens, you may want a 60 degree cone live center and some rare earth magnets. You apoxy the magnets to the top of the pully housing and use it to hold your pen bushings. Those buggers have a tendency to grow legs otherwise. :mad:

[Glenn Barber]

What is the spindle height of the 1624 on the included stand? I'm around 6'3" and would be looking at a height of around 48" (the bent elbow method of measuring height). I really like the open design of the stand and wouldn't want to build some type of box that would limit foot placement and movement, did this with my JET 1014 for mobility. I've looked at the self-leveling castors (Zambus,etc) because the ability to move it would be an added advantage. Would the stem type castors be a better choice than the plate style for this stand? Not sure that the castors would get me to my desired height by themselves.

Any ideas to help are appreciated.

Glenn

[Bubba Davis]

I have had my Nova for two and a half years. No major problems and have no trouble with alignment. I think you might look into getting a good drive center and the hand wheel. Also look into the Robust tool rest. It is ten times better than the stock one that comes from Nova.