Used Woodfast

[Joseph M Lary]

Hey ,
New to the site , need your feedback looking at getting a Used Woodfast lathe , Its a 20" short bed It was converted to a 1 1/2 hp 3 phase ac run on a Varable Frequency drive 220 vabout 1 year ago . The guy wants $1500 for it . what do you think?

[alex carey]

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Does it have the outboard bed attachment?

[Dave Schell]

That is a very good deal I would say.

[charlie knighton]

depends on what type of turning you want to do, i want a versitile machinge, 20 inches i assume you mean 20" ways, limits you. in the furture you really do not know in which direction your turning will take

[Bernie Weishapl]

I'd say that is a pretty good deal if you are wanting to turn bowls and hollow forms. I am guessing you are saying the swing is 20". If you are wanting turn spindles you will probably be disappointed in the short bed.

[Greg Bender]

Joseph,
I have the long bed version of that lathe,the 908 and my only complaint has already been done for you.The DC motors and drives are weak for turning out to 19 or 20".I'm in the process of changing over to a leeson 1.5 hp and VFD setup and figure I'll be happy.If you need info on specifics call Craft Supplies,The Woodturners Catalog people and ask for there Woodfast/Rikon specialist and he(name escapes me) should be able to help you on anything.Good luck and the price seems about right to me.
Greg

[Greg Bender]

Joseph,
by the way,if yours is like mine the outboard spindle is 1"x8 and that does not lend itself to large outboard turning.I guess its for ease of replacing bearings on the main spindle so your inboard ide is the big spindle.1 1/4 x 8.The rikon outboard turning rig does fit FYI.
Greg

[Gordon Seto]

Is that a current model?
Both of our Clubs had a short bed Woodfast with Craft Supply cabinet. The foot print is very narrow (front to back). There is no gap between the lathe bed and the base. It is a pain to clear the wood chip between the ways. The wood chip prevents the banjo to move freely.
One of the Club replaced it with a Powermatic several years ago. It was auctioned off for around $800. The other Club is going to get rid of it because it was always the last lathe to be used. They have a Oneway, 2 Nova 3000 and several Jet mini lathes.

For $1500, I would look into the Jet 1642.

[Greg Bender]

I don't know what I was looking at as far as the price ,for $1500 I'm buying the jet.I payed 550 for mine and I saw the 500 in your post and did not register the 1 in front of it. Joseph, $1500 puts you real close to several options that are available.I would go with the Jet 16/42 2hp for that kind of money.
Greg

[John Shuk]

My friend has that lathe but not w/ variable speed. It is a great lathe. He didn't pay that much but I doubt you will find a new lathe as nice for that price.

[Joseph M Lary]

Thanks for your input . I have been looking for some time now , would like a powermatic but not in my budget ,and havent found one used . my brother-in-law found this one ,he has one but dosent have the upgrade motor. I have a rockwell/delta now so anything would be an up grade.

Thanks again