Nova Comet 2 Midi Lathe

[ed vitanovec]

Looking for any user feedback on this Lathe.

Thanks!
Ed

[John Lail]

I have one and like it for the job it does. I use mainly for pens and smaller turnings. I've had it about 6 months and really have had no issues with it.

[Thomas Canfield]

I did a review and post here a couple of years back http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?205433-Nova-Comet-II-Lathe-Update&highlight=

I do find that I use my little Nova Comet pretty often and will go to it over my Powermatic 3520B for a lot of smaller pieces. I used it a couple of hours this morning to start 6 little bowls out of some old weathered and salvaged 2x material. It is handy to transport, but I still do not like the power in the low speed belt setting. Buffing with a 8" extension and 8" wheel works well for smaller pieces, but the larger swing of the Powermatic works better for larger pieces, say 12"D+. The price at Rockler with the free G3 chuck is a pretty good deal, but I strongly recommend fastening the lathe down solid and adding a larger handwheel. I have made a vacuum adapter and again use it often finishing smaller pieces even if they were turned on the Powermatic.

The new Rikon would be my other suggestion to consider, but then it is higher cost. It does have more power and beef, and at '15 SWAT they were saying a new change coming would have more travel in the tailstock.

[Dale Barger]

I have had a nova comet for about 2 years and no complaints about the performance. I've turned couple hundred pens and a couple of segmented vases on it. One of the vases was 9 inches in diameter and 14 inches tall, pretty much maxed out the capacity of the lathe and it done a good job handling that.

The only thing I really don't like about the lathe is the short travel of the tail stock. As far as general turning goes it doesn't really matter but I drill my pen blanks on the lathe. The travel is too short to drill without repositioning the tail stock. I works fine just a little annoying to have to do.

If I were looking to buy another lathe with similar specs to what I have I would be hard pressed to pass up the nova comet. Good lathe.