Ok, you all convinced me....

[Lee Alkureishi]

After many questions & answers about replacing motors and building stands, I decided to listen to all the good advice here and stop messing around with lighter-duty lathes. I've bitten the bullet and sold (or am selling) a few of my tools to feed the lathe upgrade fund.. My budget is going to be somewhere between $500-$1000, depending how much I can get sold. The vortex finally has me!

So, now I'm looking for advice on which lathe to get. Planning to turn mostly bowls and hollow forms, and probably some short spindle work. Ideally, I'd love to pick up an older heavy-duty cabinet-style lathe, but it's really dependent on what comes up on the c-list/*bay sites. I don't mind doing some restoration work or replacing a shot motor if it needs it, but nothing much in the Chicago area so far... I've seen some powermatic 90's and delta "heavy duty" lathes for sale, but nothing within a reasonable drive of here..

On to my questions:

- can anyone suggest other lathes I should be searching for on the abovementioned used/auction sites? I'm not sure which other older lathes are worth looking into.
- would I be better off looking into a new lathe in that price range? I know there are some highly regarded lathes from delta, jet etc, but it seems to me that the older cabinet-style lathes are an order of magnitude heavier/sturdier. As I mentioned, I'd prefer an older lathe if feasible (I love working with old tools, and recycling them whenever possible), but if the newer models are "better" in some way, I could be swayed...

As always, thanks for all your advice,

Lee

[Michelle Rich]

I can't speak to older lathes & what is good(altho all my lathes are old!) If I were starting today I would buy the Delta 46-460 or whatever it is numbered. it's a heck of a lathe around$ 600. you will get a lifetime's use out of it & it will still be going strong. 12 inch swing is good for most of what you see turned on any site.

[Jeff Myroup]

I would go with a Jet 1220 VS, around 750.00. I would stay away from Delta do to poor customer service and lack of replacement parts available.

[Bill Wyko]

Wish you were closer, I have 2 JET 1442's for sale. One about 6 years old and one only has a few hrs on it. Good luck on your quest though.

[Roger Wilson]

Take a look at the nova 1624. Woodcraft has an annual sale on it that drops the price below 1k.

[Michael Mills]

Depending on how badly you wish turn knob speed you may want to take a look at this.
May be over your budget with shipping ($900 + S/H) but should handle anything you will probably ever want it to...
http://novatoolsusa.com/RECONDITIONED-NOVA-1624-44-Wood-Turning-Lathe-24146-R.htm (http://novatoolsusa.com/RECONDITIONED-NOVA-1624-44-Wood-Turning-Lathe-24146-R.htm)
On mine I never change the belt position (about 1.5 minutes) for spindle work. For bowls I typically only change once, at the very most twice and that is seldom. I’ve never had the need to add ballast but it may help with initial out of balance.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I really like my Jet 1642. know it's well out of your price range, but the weight is really nice if you are planning to turn bowls. You'll [probably] not need an upgrade for a while. Give it some thought. I've turned on the Jet and Delta 12" lathes they are good lathes too. The 12" Rikon is a pretty good deal, if you are looking to save some dollars. I upgraded for the 10" Jet, that is a little small for anything but spindles and pens.

I'd give the Delta the edge right now, and hope they work through the customer service and parts problems. The Jet is built really well.

Good luck!

[Reed Gray]

Find the local club. Check with the members. Some one is always upgrading, and you might be able to make a big score.

robo hippy

[Ed Morgano]

I would give this one a look too: http://www.grizzly.com/products/Wood-Lathe-With-Digital-Readout/G0462. At 595.00 it's in your price range. Has a 2 hp motor, 16" swing and 42" between centers. I haven't used a Grizzly lathe, but I have several other pieces of their equipment (17" BS, 18-36 drum sander and 6" jointer.) and they have all been good purchases for me.

[Lee Alkureishi]

Hi,

Thank you all for your advice. I'm leaning away from the midi lathes, and may hang on for a cabinet-style lathe whenever one comes up. That Nova is certainly tempting, but it's a lot of money to spend for a manual belt-change lathe. I realize that's not the only thing that makes a good lathe, but it's important to me - I change speeds a lot (making up for poor technique, most likely). As for the grizzly, my current lathe (actually, just sold it 10 minutes ago...) is a reeves drive, and I'd prefer to avoid that on my next lathe - I'd like a slower low-end for working with bigger end-grain crotch pieces.

Thanks for the suggestion of contacting my local club - email is on its way now :)

[Joe McMahon]

Attend the next meeting of Chicago Woodturners Club http://www.dreyerhouse.com/cwt/GeneralWebSite/HomePage.aspx?Feature=1 They have a few that might fit your description under "Classifieds" They are a great group. Try to make a meeting.

[Robert Champagne]

If you are looking at older lathes, the Powermatic 90 and the Yates American J-170 are some of the heavier "cabinet" style models that would probably work for you. I had a YA 170 that I recently sold, basically as a trade for an Oliver 159. None of the older lathes were really designed for large faceplate work, and most will have a 12" - 14" swing. Some have a gap bed. The Powermatic 90 and the Yates 170 are both Reeves drive machines. Look for a 3 phase machine so that you can power it with a VFD for slower speeds. Both will have 3/4 HP motors, so a new VFD will probably cost less than $200. I chose the Oliver over the Yates for a number of reasons: the headstock clamps down on top of the bed, rather than sitting in front of the bed, so it can be positioned anywhere on the bed, which allows for a short bed for turning over the ways, and outboard turning spinning the same direction as inboard turning. Also, my Yates had a single phase motor, so the lowest speed was 600 RPM. The Oliver has a 3 phase motor, and I installed a VFD for slower speeds. It is also a Reeves drive machine, so if I need to spin something faster than 800 RPM, I control the speed with the Reeves Drive. Most of the older lathes are excellent spindle lathes, which is what they were primarily designed for. With some modification, they can be good bowl lathes too. They are generally heavy and well built, but don't typically have the swing, low speeds, and larger motors modern lathes have, unless you get into the really big patternmakers lathes.
Rob

[Greg Ketell]

Be sure to check out your local Federal and State auctions. You can find many things available there for cheap cheap.
http://www.usa.gov/shopping/shopping.shtml

[Lee Alkureishi]

Thanks for the the tips. I'll keep my eyes out for the other lathes, and on the auction sites to.

Best,

Lee