Replacement Lathe Choice

[Carl Hackman]

Hi,

I am a British expat and live in the Dominican Republic. I have a workshop and mainly turn bowls, hollow forms and carve briar pipes. It is very hard to get items shipped to and from here and really only one company that does it securely and for that service you have to pay a premium mate.

For instance, I'm looking to upgrade my wood lathe to something constructed better than the Chinese lathe I have at the moment. The main issue with the lathe I have at the moment is the minimum speed of 600rpm which means any blanks of reasonable size that are even slightly out of balance cause me to have an all in wrestling match with the lathe until I can true up the blank. The tool rest is also a major pain as it is not cam operated and has to be adjusted with a wrench meaning extra time changing toolrest positions (which I do a lot). The tailstock also has a lot of play in it which obviously means more time setting it up to support the work when roughing the blanks. I have my eye on two models that would remove all the above issues in one fell swoop until I sell enough products to buy a Nova DVR XP. These are a Nova Comet II or a Delta 46-460. The lathes would cost around $485 or $680 and the shipping weights are 84lbs and 111lbs respectively. Amazon would ship them free to my USA courier address but to get them from Miami to me would cost $350 and $465 respectively.

I have not seen many reviews from Comet owners and would like some advice on that particular lathe. The Delta would definitely stretch my budget at the moment but the Nova Comet would fit the criteria I'm looking for. If anyone has any experience with the comet now that it has been out for a while I would really appreciate any feedback.

Many thanks for listening.

Best regards

Carl

[Steve Schlumpf]

Carl - Welcome to the Creek!

I have never heard of a Comet lathe until you posted about it... so can't offer any real time experience on it. Our turning club has 2 of the Delta 46-460 lathes and they are really nice little lathes. Hard to suggest which lathe for you to go for... but have to admit that the shipping price they are going to charge you is astronomical! Hope you can find something affordable!! Post some photos of your work when you get the chance!!

[Phil Rose]

I purchased a Comet this summer to be able to take on the road for demos and such. The door to the belt change are feels like light plastic, but it has held up very well. Nice little lathe. Not as much power as my 2HP Jet, but I wasn't expecting as much. I've made some great bowls, spindles, and lots of pens and finials. The included rest isn't anything to write home about, so I've replaced with Robust rests.

i haven't tried ant of the attachments (grinder, etc.) but I did get the converter (or whatever it is called) just in case.

I like this lathe, and frequently keep it and the Jet running on projects to save set up time.

[Carl Hackman]

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to wait until the weekend coming before choosing as I have my eye on some 46-460s auctions and may pull the trigger on one if I can get a reasonable price for one. The problem with two of them is damaged switch cover and belt guard which wouldn't bother me so much apart from the fact that looking on the Delta site these items may be difficult to obtain, also I won't know what other damage may be lurking under the hood and as shipping back will be out of the question due to the cost I'm a bit wary of pushing for one. The 3rd one is supposed to be in excellent condition so may wait 5 days and try for that one. All three are from the same seller.

[Michael Mills]

I purchased a Comet for my daughter a few weeks back and it seems very solid.
It did come with the coupler which for many turners is probably useless but in my daughters case the grinding wheel can be right there instead of having to move something else (she has limited space). I think the Delta has more hp but they use that word MAX. I am not sure what the continuous hp is but assume it is still a little higher than the Comet.
For me the choice was between the Comet and the Rikon 70-050. I picked up the Comet for almost the same price as the Rikon on sale at $250. Rikon calls their 6.6 amp 1.2 hp and Delta calls their 8 amp 1 hp.
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/rikon-12-basic-mini-lathe-70-050VS.aspx

[Carl Hackman]

Hi Michael,

Where did you manage to pick the Comet up from? According to the Highland website the Rikon is 1/2hp so the extra hp from the Comet or Delta would be nice.

Regards

Carl

[Richard Coers]

I suppose the term bowls and hollow forms have different meanings to different people, but even the Delta will be underpowered if you turn to it's physical limits. Keep in mind with Delta, that customer support is basically non-existant right now. Parts availability sounds to be impossible, and there is a fairly high failure rate in some of the switches. Some people are replacing electronic parts with after market. I have a 46-460 and love it, but never did get the rebate they offered last year. Sent in the rebate on Dec., 2011. The live center on my 46-460 was a throw away part. My bearings were so bad that you could wiggle the center around when it is installed. So add a new live center from Oneway, or Jet if you order the Delta and consider that in the price.

[Michael Mills]

Carl,
I lucked out on the bay with my Comet, I think it was a retail store getting rid of a floor models because they had another the next week.
I agree the cover is light (but should never break). The bottom pulley is accessible from the front also on the Nova and controls are at the tailstock. I think they should have put a knob for the cover in place of the “key” but almost anything can open it.

[Mikail Khan]

Those rates look like they are air freight.

I ship heavy items sea freight. Talk to a shipping company that does LCL cargo (less than a container load). They will normally consolidate items free of charge if you would like to buy other stuff as well.

For $400 US I can normally ship more than 1000 lbs sea frieght. My 3520 probably cost around $250US in shipping from Miami. This is not a door to door service though. You will probably have to clear the items from customs(pay import duties) and transport them home yourself.

MK

[Carl Hackman]

Thanks Mikail, I am looking into sea freight at the moment. Customs over here are a law unto themselves though LOL

[Carl Hackman]

I spoke with Joel at Teknatool yesterday and he is very approachable and addressed my concerns with regard to my inability to RMA the Comet II if there are any issues so I ordered it from Amazon and it should be in my shop on Friday. He told me that if I have any problems at to contact him directly and he will sort them out.

As there are no real reviews on the Comet II I'll put something together when I've had a chance to turn on it. It may be some time next week as the insert for the G3 to fit the Comet is coming direct from Teknatool and may take a day or so longer to get to Miami.

The Delta I watched on eBay went for just over $400 but with shipping it cost more than the Comet II. As I said, it had cracked covers etc and with the parts issues with Delta I shied away from pushing for it.

[Carl Hackman]

Had a chance to play with the Nova Comet II today (haven't received the chuck insert yet so used the faceplate)

Initial Thoughts:
It came well packed but there was some damage to the finish on headstock under the spindle. This was just paint scrapes but as the lathe was well protected inside the box it probably occurred during packing.

The lathe is pretty well laid out and I really like the VS and also reverse feature. The Versaturn attachment probably will not be used by me as I have a seperate grinding station with Wolverine Jig and I use a hand sander if I need to power sand my work.

The banjo and tailstock slide freely and without snagging and are a dream to use after the major evolutions required by my other lathe.

The spur drive and live center line up pretty well straight out of the box with perhaps 0.5mm offset to the right. Vertical alignment was spot on.

I set the lathe on higher band of the 3 belt settings and left it to run for 45mins as recommended to bed the bushes of the motor in and it is a very quiet machine.

Changing the belt positions is very quick and easy although I did notice another minus against the Nova here when I cut my hand on the sharp edge of the belt drive housing. This is another problem with quality control in Chinese manufacturing.

The labels are attached poorly out of alignment and with bubbles showing laziness by whoever attached them.

In Use:
I started with a blank that would normally have my other lathe rocking about due to the lowest setting available being 600rpm. I set the Nova at around 350rpm and started it up. It was quiet and steady, I found I could take it up to around 500rpm before any indication of vibration occurred. The banjo was very simple to slide around and adjust to give me optimum positioning when working on the bowl and the tailstock slid in very easily to add extra security while I brought the blank into balance. This was a completely different experience than on my other lathe where I have to work to balance a bowl blank. Speed adjustment was very easy and the lathe stayed at whatever setting I selected without creeping up as with my other lathe.

The blank I used was a very hard wood and the lathe only started to bog down if I tried to take a really deep cut. I didn't manage to complete the bowl as there was a knot in it where a crack radiated right through the blank so I used the rest of it to make shavings and get used to the Nova.

Conclusion:
I found the Comet responsive and easy to operate and I hope to spend many hours working on it in the near future. It seems nice and sturdy and has none of the vices that my other lathe has and if it continues to operate without problems it will suit me until I can afford to get a Nova DVR XP in a years time.

On the plus side: The lathe is quiet and can handle out of round blanks (mine was 10" Cola) without problems as long as it is started at a low speed and the lathe is secured to a bench or stand (I didn't use the feet that come with it but I think it would probably not be as stable). The bed is smooth and the banjo and tailstock slide easily. The spur drive and live center are very well aligned straight out of the box. The belt change to set your speed range is quick and simple. The variable speed has very usable ranges and I probably will only use the first 2 for bowl turning.

On the negative side: The finish on certain areas could have been a lot better. The door to the belt compartment is flimsy and the securing lock is also pretty cheaply made, but the door stays closed without issue. The labels on the lathe are poorly attached and show a lackadaisical approach to final finishing. These things, although not too important, point to poor quality control. The electrical box at the tailstock end could probably have been positioned in a better place as the shavings can collect in the ventilation slots and need to be cleaned out with a vacuum after using the lathe. Rather than supplying a Versaturn coupling with the lathe (launch package) I would rather have had an extra 10"-12" toolrest but you can buy a set of 5/8" post toolrests from PSI for under $30. An extra 6" faceplate would also have been a nice to have.

This machine is around $200 cheaper than a Delta or Jet of similar specs and I find it a very nice lathe to use. It gets a 4 out of 5 from me, basically dropping a point because of the poor finishing in some areas.