3520B has landed. Assembly and breaking in photos.

[Jeremy Leasure]

They scheduled the delivery for today between 8 and 11 AM. The guy showed up at 1 PM. I was annoyed because I rescheduled a vet appointment at 10 for this but he was a cool guy so whatever. We couldn't get the full size semi and trailer in to my drive and back to the shop because of a new power line that hangs way too low across the driveway. Soooo, we drove it down the road to my Grandads and unloaded it there. I broke down the pallet and made a couple trips back and forth hauling all the pieces to the shop. I was worried I wouldn't be able to pick up the bed solo but it wasn't too bad.


This is what I came up with to solo assemble it. I stood up one leg, placed a sawhorse with some boards underneath on the opposite side to raise it higher than the second leg. Grabbed the bed and put it down across all three. I bolted on the first leg...


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe1.jpg


Then slid the sawhorse out and bumped the second leg up until the holes lined up. That took care of the hard part.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe2.jpg


This is a comparison shot for those who wonder exactly how big the 3520 is. I always did, and it's hard to tell in pictures sometimes. Here's the headstock of the 3520B sitting on top of my entire older lathe, the 46-460.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe3.jpg


Closer shot of the controls


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe5.jpg


Fully Assembled.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe4.jpg


Close shot of the tailstock and it's cool little storage compartment.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe6.jpg


Comparison shot of the banjo and tailstock of the 3520 and 46-460.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe7.jpg


Side view of the lathe with the 18" extension installed in the low position for outboard turning.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe8.jpg


A shot of the lil' tool caddy that bolts on to the side.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe9.jpg


Finally, after wiring up the plug and seeing it worked I decided it was time to break it in. I grabbed a chunk of hackberry that I cut crooked and decided to leave it in "board" form instead of cutting into the circular shape on the bandsaw. I'd call this slightly unbalanced. It cleared the ways but not by much. 48 seems to be the lowest RPM I can get before it simply stops rotating. I stood to the side, flipped the cage down and turned it up to 500 or (cringing) but there was 0 vibration. This was a revelation to me after pushing the 46-460 pretty hard the last few weeks.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe10.jpg


After playing with the speed knob a bit I got down to business and started roughing. I was very happy with my new ability to take big and deep roughing cuts without it bogging down at all. I can tell a catch on this thing will be slightly more serious than on my smaller lathe.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe11.jpg


That crack you see in the previous picture turned out to be quite deep and I chased it pretty far down before it finally turned to staining in the end grain instead of an actual crack. Here is the kinda weird final outside shape I ended up with.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe12.jpg


Time to test the sliding headstock and outboard turning. The head stock slid very smoothly. It's very easy to move this thing from front to back. Here you can see the tool rest extension supplied with the bed extension.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe13.jpg


Here is the bowl, mostly hollowed out. You can see I was practicing cutting techniques on the side. Still need lot's of practice.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe14.jpg


And here is the roughed out bowl, waiting to dry.


http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae190/Chaoticfree/lathe15.jpg




I'm thrilled with this lathe, I'm going to be going nuts the next few days roughing out all sorts of bowls and platters and such. The 46-460 is amazing for it's size and price, but this...This is something altogether different. The only thing I've found so far that I'd change is the spindle lock. I'm not sure what they were thinking with that. You have to hold it in to keep it locking the spindle, not a very good design. Oh well, it's minor.


Very happy.

[Steve Braman]

Great size comparison. Thanks for putting it all into perspective.

[Steve Mawson]

Lots of folks have this lathe and are as pleased as you seem to be. Hope you enjoy it for a long time. There is a way to put a hinge and magnet on the headstock to hold the spindle lock down. I think the article might have been in a issue of the AAW magazine. If you google Powermatic lathe there is a site that has a lot good and helpful info.

[John M. Smith]

Love the size comparison. I've never had a mini lathe. Went from a PM90 to the PM 3520b. The 90 actually looks bigger than the PM3520.

[Jeremy Leasure]

Thanks for the tip Steve, I'll see if I can track that down.

Also, I promised a certain someone I'd be trying one of his gouges soon, but with this expense it might be awhile before my wallet stops shrieking in terror long enough to open again.

[Josh Bowman]

You're going to love it! I put a spindle lock on my Jet 1642, by simply drilling a hole from one side of the the guard to the other the size of my more common allen wrench. Works great. BTW the guard just unscrews so you don't have to dodge around the spindle lock button while drilling. I intend to drill my 3520b soon. Remember, bad words will be said if you start it with that lock engaged.

[Jay Rasmussen]

Congratulations Jeremy, I hope to be doing the same soon.

I’m curious; did you try for an Onyx one?

[charlie knighton]

congratulations

[Jeremy Leasure]

Congratulations Jeremy, I hope to be doing the same soon.

I’m curious; did you try for an Onyx one?

I asked about them but they said they were all gone. I would have liked one though.

[Alan Trout]

Congratulations, and very nice pictures. Now have a little more fun.

Alan

[Bob Bergstrom]

Good to see you getting it dirty. You are going to enjoy turning on the 3520. A great machine for the money capable of almost anything you can hoist up on it. HAPPY TURNING!!!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrat Jeremy. Glad to see ya give it a go.

[Baxter Smith]

Congrtats! Nice lathe!

[John W Dixon]

Congratulations, looks like a great addition!

[Steve Mawson]

[QUOTE=Josh Bowman; Remember, bad words will be said if you start it with that lock engaged.[/QUOTE]

Have to totally agree with that statement. Always give it a spin by hand to know the lock is off, I know from experience:mad:

[Jeremy Leasure]

What happens, belt squeal?

[Dan Forman]

Congrats on the new lathe, love the pic of the headstock sitting on the Delta! Another spindle lock solution is a couple of rare earth magnets arranged so that a large Allen wrench spanning them will hold down the button. I tied an orange plastic ribbon to the wrench that I can drape over the speed dial when the spindle is locked to remind me not to turn it on.

Dan

[John Keeton]

Nice thread, Jeremy, and congrats on the lathe! Sure is a step up!

[Russell Eaton]

Congrats on a sweet lathe. I have been enjoying mine for a couple of months now. It will surprise you at what it will spin. Be safe and have fun.

[Dan Hintz]

Congrats, Jeremy... the 3520 is the lathe I've spent the majority of my time on (at Tony's), and she's a beast. If it were mine, I'd probably remove the door on the tailstock, as Tony did to his. It's a nice little cove to throw things in between operations where you still want fast access to, like the chuck key for your sander, a pencil, etc.

[allen thunem]

next thing you will wnat to do is wire it for a remote switch, or a switch box that is not fixed to the headstock. oh and to make the spindle lock easier to use just take the bottom screw out of the spindle button guard and loosen the top screw so it will move. Then just push the button and slide the guard over the depressed button and you are hands free. make sense???

[Justin Stephen]

What happens, belt squeal?

I'm curious about this as well.

[Bill Bolen]

A hearty congrat's! I'd wish you loads of fun but see your are right in the middle of the fun part.

[Justin Stephen]

Thought I'd bump this old thread rather than start a new one.

Just assembled mine and couldn't resist taking a quick comparison shot with the old 46-460 as well:

252673

Assembly alone wasn't too bad thanks to an HF hydraulic lift cart (the 500lb model). I put the bed up on the cart under a couple of short pieces of 2x4 and lifted it up over the legs, got everything lined up with the bed just slightly over the legs and got all the screws started. Then lowered it down and tightened everything up. I then lifted the bed and legs together back up and put the feet on. With the 2x4 pieces under the bed, the lift cart got it up high enough to put the feet on with at least an inch to spare. Lastly, used the lift cart to get the headstock up almost as high as it needed to go and hefted it the last 6 inches or so onto the ways.

Popped off the faceplate and put in the centers to check accuracy. Looks pretty darn good to me:

252674

Alas, still waiting for the electrician to run the 220 line so I cannot turn it on yet. I've effectively been without a lathe for several weeks now since the 46-460 died due to a bad $9 reverse switch that no one can get right now.

[Mike Cruz]

Your little gold mine is going to get lost in this thread, Justin. Might want to start a new one...

[David Gilbert]

Congratulations on your new lathe. Like many of us, I'm jealous.

I am impressed that you installed the lawyer guard on your lathe. I've only seen it installed on one other. Of course, I'm talking about the metal cover that rotates so as to protect the Powermatic company from unscrupulous lawyers. My experience is that it does little to protect the Powermatic's operator other than get in our way.

I have another suggestion for the spindle lock button. I bought some rare earth magnets from Lee Valley that had holes drilled through them for mounting. I then fashioned a short handle for it. I just use it to press the button down and the magnet holds it down and locks the spindle. To release it, I just pull it out and remount it on the lathe.

Congrats again and Cheers,
David

[Paul Gilbert]

I wonder how long that cage will remain on your lathe. I have never seen a PM3520 with one still on the lathe. Mine is gathering dust in the attic.

[allen thunem]

Jeremy I bet that new KOBRA HOLLOWER

[allen thunem]

JEREMEY ibet ehat new KOBRA HOLLOWER will work well on that new machine

[Bob Coates]

Congratulations on lathe. Here is a site for 3520b (https://docs.google.com/document/preview?id=1UyscS8Zo3pUggyU8bMX4EpzZJnfaEkxEM6hVIy VJ4oc&pli=1) and has info on spindle locks and remote switches etc. I also have belt squeal, and I think it is do to having the belt too loose. I don't keep mine supper tight so when coring, slips(squeal) when get a catch.

[Thomas Canfield]

Congratulations. I know that mine has been a real pleasure and lots of enjoyment. I have never use the drop down bed extension and may need to turn a bowl like you did just to say I did. I'm holding out for a large 30"+ blank to do once.

A couple of heavy 1/4" wide rubber bands joined and wrapped around the tailstock shaft and then looped around the tailstock lock lever will hold it up when sliding the tailstock and keep it from locking down on you. Lots of tricks out there, but the remote switch is good to have- I use mine almost 100% of time to save main switch.

[mark ravensdale]

Congratulations on your new arrival!!!
By the way does anyone actually use those chuck guards that come with the powermatics and/or jet lathes???