PM4224 Pros and Cons

[Len Mullin]

Howdy folks, I'm not new to turning, but, I'm not very experienced either. I'm looking at buying a new to me, gently used PM4224 and I am wondering what the pros and cons are for this lathe. It is the 4224 model and it has a three hp 230 engine. What are the pros and cons of these creatures, how good of a lathe are they? I'm thinking of purchasing a gently used one for around $3500.00, is that what you would think is a good deal. Please let me know what you know about these lathes, thanks.
Len

[John Keeton]

Len, I am not a PM owner, but I suspect you will get very positive comments on the lathe. I assume it is the 4224B, and the current retail is around $7500, so the price seems very good, as well.

[Josh Bowman]

Ken, if it's even in decent shape, that's a great price. You're getting the bigger PM for the price of a 3520a. This should move fast. The PM's are easy to get tooling for as well.

[Dale Miner]

As John mentioned, a 4224B is the newer version, and has a lot of usefull features the original 4224 lacks.

If it is the 4224, and not the newer 4224B, the price sounds about normal. If the B version, that is a bargain price.

Accesories that come with it go a long way towards tunrning an OK deal into a steal.

[Len Mullin]

Well, I'm sorry to say so, but I missed out on this deal. Someone else made up their mind ahead of me, I'll just have to keep looking.
Len