The vortex question

[joel nucifore]

not to start a war, but if it does i am sorry.
starting to build my stuido/shed------- was addicted to turnning had almost every gizmo and gadget and thought i was getting good---moved 2 times in the last 2 years but now feeling ready to jump back in, head first.... sold some of my toys to a couple of people and even the powermatic. that was a sad day.......( which i liked )


the shed is going to be 14 x 16 , i like turnning big even putting a hoist up to lifting logs so the question is if you had a choice go back to MUSTARD or get the BIG MAYO with the out board turning up to 48"-- got the price on the dream set up but WOW..$$$$$$$$

no more LOML so need to bounce it off someone older than 4 or 5...........

[Ron Fleice]

Easy ..Get the Mayo

[Steve Frederick]

I like both..in my potato salad..:D:D

Really, I have a mini-mayo, thinking of up-sizing to the 2-hp VS.

[Burt Alcantara]

Guess it depends on what you call big. If you made a stand-alone tool rest you could easily turn a 90" bowl on the Mustard but turning off the end. Probably do the same with a 20" Mayo. More on any 24".

But if you are going that big, why not look at an American Beauty. Big swing, sliding headstock, all steel ways, heavy. Then there's the Serious at 1500# give or take a ton. Won't have to worry about ballast anymore.

However, you'll probably be limited by your shop/shed/studio more then the lathe. Turning big wood means having a lot of space up, down and sideways.

I coudn't turn anything that big, not because of the Mustard but because my ceiling is only 82".

The difference in price between the Mustard, especially purchased from the upcoming Woodcraft sale (5/09) or Toolnut, could probably pay for half your shop/shed/studio.

Grey Poupomatic

[Ryan Baker]

I probably wouldn't pick either in your case, with so many other choices ... Robust, Serious, etc. Nothing wrong with mustard or mayo either, but they aren't the best for really big work.

[Jim Kountz]

Guess it depends on what you call big. If you made a stand-alone tool rest you could easily turn a 90" bowl on the Mustard but turning off the end.

Whoa, I know dimensionally speaking the Pm can do that but I think if you slid the headstock to the end and mounted a 90" turning it would probably fall over wouldnt it? Its a nice lathe but it only weighs about 680 lbs, dont know if thats quite enough for something that big.

Waiting for reply, have donned protective gear.........

[Scott Conners]

If you're looking at the Oneway I'd also give the Robust, Serious and Stubby lathes a good hard look too. The VB36 is a pretty amazing machine too, if that's your style. If you're stretching for the pricier lathes, personally I'd grab the PM and buy a bunch of other tools and accessories like a monster hollowing rig with the cash I saved.

[alex carey]

I'd stick with the mustard. If you also make a ballast and up it to 1000# it's not going anywhere, or even bolt it down. You can bolt the 18" mini bed lower and turn up to 38". And of course with a movable tool rest you can go as big as you want.

Alex

[David Walser]

Joel,

If money were no object and I had to choose between the Powermatic and the Oneway lathes, I'd go mayo. As much as I love the Powermatic -- you can find several posts on this and other forums where I've said it's the best bang for the buck of any lathe on the market -- the Oneway is simply a better lathe. It really is better made and made with higher quality materials. (Some might still prefer the Powermatic because if it's sliding headstock or because it just feels better to them, but that's not the same as saying the Powermatic is a better lathe. Some might prefer driving a cherry '67 Mustang to a mint condition Mercedes Benz from the same era, but there's no question which was the higher quality car.)

On the other hand, if money really is no object, then why can't I choose something other than a Oneway or Powermatic lathe? In that price range, you have the Rikon Woodfast and Vicmark lathes. The Rikon is a little less money than the Powermatic and the Vicmark is just a little less than the Oneway. The quality of these two is comparable to the Oneway. For less money than you'd pay for a Oneway with a 1.5hp motor, you can have a Vicmark with 3 horses.

For a little more money, you have the Robust and Serious lathes. The two aproaches could hardly be more different. The Robust 25" American Beauty is made almost entirely out of steel and has a sliding headstock. The Robust's strong steel frame defies an out of balance blank to try and vibrate the lathe. The Serious lathe is virtually all cast iron. It's headstock is fixed, but the lathe was designed from the ground up for outboard turning, so the size of a blank is not limited to the lathe's 25" swing. Where the Robust's 650 lbs of steel defies vibration, the Serious' 1500 lbs of cast iron soaks vibrations up.

I'm not saying either the Robust or the Serious are better lathes than the Oneway. The Robust and Serious are virtually custom built lathes compared to the Oneway. (Mass manufacturing can offer some quality, as well as , cost advantages.) You should just see both up close before making up your mind.

One warning: Don't turn the quil on the Serious lathe's tailstock! If you like fine machinary, you'll fall in love. Talk about smooth. It's like a very high-end sewing machine.

[alex carey]

David is right, if money doesn't matter that much than the Oneway is the last lathe you will realistically need. The next lathe up is either a VB, a custom built, or an old 8000# Oliver.

[joel nucifore]

I want to thank you all still up in the air...........
looked at the serious "thats a machine" , not impressed with the american beauty.... never moved the head stock on the powermatic for hollowing have the lyle system and like it, even had a bar made up by a machineist to go deeper. that is why I am thinking the extra bed not just the extension????

but the one way has the option for about $1200 more out board turning..
and from my understanding are built to order not mass produced?????

money is not as easy flowing as in the past but only want to buy one more machine that I will not grow out of...

[Ryan Baker]

It sounds like the Oneway is the machine for you.

[Reed Gray]

When I stepped up from my PM, I didn't even consider the Oneway or Serious. I have to have the sliding headstock. My lathe sits in a corner, and outboard turning isn't an option. I don't know if you would be happy with a lathe that doesn't have a sliding headstock or not. It is a feature that I use constantly, and I never have to bend over the ways to turn. You can get a bed extention also. The only other lathe I really looked at was the VB 36. The one factor that went against it, and this seems rather shallow of me, is that it just 'looks' like a bowl lathe, no matter what the configuration is. One advantage to the Robust is that the legs are adjustable for up and down. I had the PM up on 2 x 4s to get it to height. Other than that, I would have considered a Nichols Lathe, but he went out of business after Oneway opened up.
robo hippy

[David Walser]

Reed,

Per usual, Reed is correct. In addition to money, space is another consideration for most of us in choosing a lathe. A sliding headstock lathe might make for a more efficient use of shop space. If you plan on making regular use of Oneway's or Serious' outboard turning capability, it's hard to put the lathe against a wall or in a corner. While the Serious comes with casters that make it, in theory, a simple matter to spin the lathe around to access the outboard end of the lathe, you still need the empty floor space to make spinning such a large machine around possible.

So, amend everything I said above to include a "space permitting" caveat.

Oh, and I neglected to mention the Stubby lathe as a potential contender. The Stubby is another high quality lathe that should be looked at if you're in the "money's no object" class of lathe buyer. The Stubby does not have a sliding headstock, but it does have a unique design that allows you to slide the ways of the lathe into different positions. It's a very flexible, compact design that makes good use of shop space.

[Richard Madison]

How much is "enough"? Depends on the individual.

Guys, if money was no object, Joel would be building a bigger shop. Some of us with 1642-EVS2 lathes have recovered from "lathe envy", and will be well satisfied with what we have from now on. No doubt the same is true for many PM3520B owners. Others will continue to lust after something "bigger and better" whether they "need" it or not. Just some thoughts.