My new 3520b arrived today!

[mark ravensdale]

Well it arrived today, first impressions are "damn this things heavy!!!"
had no one around to help so had to assemble it myself, somehow I managed it, though I did think I had bitten off more than I could chew when it came to moving the lathe bed (but it's amazing what you can lift and walk with when you really need to turn some wood ;-) I thought the hard part was over once I had the legs on, but then that left the headstock, lifting it was fairly easy but lining it up so it could slide on the bed OHH MY WORD!!! I won't tell you the words that came out my mouth but they would not have gone down well in church, anyhow long story short it's up and running, only managed a couple of minutes turning, but straight away it feels solid as a rock and has much less vibration than my dvrxp, tomorrow I will be adding my ballast box to it with abt another 400-450lbs on it, think I will leave it at that then (should be enough I think) cannot wait to get a nice 14-16inch wet blank on it!!!
my advice to anyone thinking of getting a 3520b would be "get someone to help" when you assemble it!!! (seriously !!!)

[Josh Bowman]

I bought a $150 engine lift just for the occasion. Very helpful with the monster. Look forward to seeing it dirtyed up.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congratulations! May it serve you well!

I assembled mine by myself using my Little Giant ladder and a mini-chain hoist.

[Fred Belknap]

I put mine together a little over a week ago and you are right it is a heavy beast. I removed the plate on the bottom of the headstock and built a incline ramp about 8'long and slid it up the ramp a little at a time. I'm not planning to take it off very often, my advise is to do like Josh.

[Dick Mahany]

Congrats on the monster !! It is by all measures a great machine. I have it's baby brother (Jet 1642) and keep sprinkling growth hormones on it hoping for a 3520, but so far no luck :D.

[Chip Sutherland]

Yep, it's heavy. I assembled the legs to the bed and couldn't lift it or even lever it upright. I had to wait half a day for a neighbor's high school kid to come home to help me lift it. I shoo'd him away with $5 in his pocket. Silly me, I had not anticipated the difficulty in lifting AND aligning the headstock on to the bed. I put sliders under the feet so moving was easier...but only just a little bit. I've only moved it an inch or two since that time. Have fun with your new toy.

Hope you remembered the threads are 1.25x8...anything with 1x8 will not work for you. I had to buy new inserts for my Nova chucks and some jigs I had built using 1x8 tapped/threaded wood and faceplates had to be re-done or replaced.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats. You will be feeling it in the morning. lol

[Tom Collins]

Shortly after mine came I had some work done on my heating system. I talked the contractor into having his younger men take the parts down in the basement and help with lifting the headstock. He didn't charge since I had him run the 220 line for the lathe.

You will really enjoy the turning experience on the 3520b. I don't have any extra ballast and don't have problems with excessive vibration. Make sure you have it leveled well

TomC

[Greg McClurg]

Mark, I put my together last week. I did it mostly by myself, but did have my wife there to prevent things from sliding out from under me. It is a beast...but what a lovely beast:D Enjoy!

Greg

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mark - Congrats on your new lathe! Looking forward to seeing the photos!

[charlie knighton]

congratulations, enjoy

[bob svoboda]

Congrat's and welcome to the mustard club-you will enjoy that machine!