Is the warranty a consideration when buying a lathe?

[Damon McLaughlin]

I hope that one day I will be able to upgrade from my Rikon midi lathe to a full size lathe. One of my needs is a headstock that can rotate for ease of hollowing and maybe even sanding. I've been day dreaming about the Jet 1640 and 1840, the Laguna 18/36 and the Nova Galaxi. All but the Jet have a one year warranty, the Jet has a five year warranty. Rikon has a five year warranty too but I'm not particularly fond of their larger lathes (on paper anyway).

The Jet 1640 is actually off my list, it sits way to high for me with a spindle height of 44", the 1840 sits lower and is more comfortable. Is the additional four years with Jet as well as their included outboard banjo extension worth the extra cost of about $500 over the other lathes? I know the savings increases to about $750 or so when Laguna and Nova have their sales.

Anyway, just wondering if others consider the warranty when making a buying decision with lathes or other power tools.

David

[John Keeton]

I think it is a consideration, but secondary to features for me. I bought a Jet 1642-2 new, but after five years of good service I didn't hesitate to buy the Laguna Revo 1836 because of the lower spindle height and the fantastic features. I don't regret it. I would think most problems would show up in the first year, though certainly not all.

BTW, the Laguna does not have a rotating headstock. But, one can easily slide it to the end to sand, etc. I also enjoy the bed extension mounted low. Let's me turn large multi-axes platters.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Eh?

Where do you get that Nova are one-year?
In addition, our lathes, the NOVA Galaxi DVR 1624-44, The NOVA DVR 2024, DVR XP, NOVA 1624-44 and NOVA Comet II Midi Lathe carry an extra three years limited warranty (making the total warranty five years for these products –

[Damon McLaughlin]

Eh?

Where do you get that Nova are one-year?

Thank you for pointing out Nova's correct warranty. I got it from the salesperson at my local Woodcraft last month when I was looking at the Nova. He told me the warranty was one year and that shipping was $350 to my house, $300 to the store. It just went to Nova's web site and you are correct that the salesperson wasn't correct. It appears that Nova has a two year warranty on the motor and all electrical parts and five year warranty on the rest of the lathe. So that looks basically looks like a two year warranty on the headstock and five year for the rest. Jet's appears to be five years for everything, no shipping cost to the store and the store will deliver to the house for $15.

I'll have to read the reviews on the Nova Galaxi, it seems to have everything I want as does the Jet.

I didn't realize that the Laguna's headstock didn't rotate. Moving down to the end of the bed might work, something else to read about.

[Steve Doerr]

David, my response is that YES the length of the warranty is a major factor in purchasing a lathe. I have the Jet 1642-2hp. During the 5th year of its warranty period I left the lathe on slow speed to help dry the finish on a HF. Went off and left it on and unfortunately forgot about it. When I remembered it and came back to the shop, the motor was dead. It had overheated and burned up. Because of the warranty, got a brand new motor free of charge. Would have cost $400 or so without the warranty. As far as the height, I built a platform to stand on. Worked GREAT. My wife is using the 1642 now and also the platform. A big selling point on the Robust lathes are their 7 year warranty. So for me, the length of the warranty is very important.

[Ralph Lindberg]

..

I'll have to read the reviews on the Nova Galaxi, it seems to have everything I want as does the Jet.

I didn't realize that the Laguna's headstock didn't rotate. Moving down to the end of the bed might work, something else to read about.

The reason for the lack of reviews on the Galaxi is largely due to they are only shipping in quantity now. Select reviewers have had them but they have not been available to anyone.

We own a Nova DVR-XP (rotating head) and a Grizzly G0766 (sliding head) I can honestly say that sliding head is better then rotating.

Now that being said, my understanding is that the Galaxi is both. It also has a "knob" for speed adjustment (one of the leading complaints about the DVR & DVR-XP)

A number of people have expressed concern over the DVR motor being only available from Teknatools (well also Jet & Shopsmith, but Teknatool is still the only people making them). But after years of use they have several features I really like. for example their "stop on catch". Where the motor control circuit senses a catch and stops applying power to the motor.

Personally I still hold a grudge against Laguna. "Back when" newsgroups (forums, etc) were first becoming a "thing" Laguna threatened to sue some owners for poor reviews. Additional publicity convinced Laguna this was a bad idea (it's also now against US Federal law).

[Dennis Ford]

Warranty is not a big concern for me; I would put a higher value on apparent durability and "ease of repair".

[Jason Edwards]

Warranty is not a big concern for me; I would put a higher value on apparent durability and "ease of repair".

I think a manufacturer's warranty is the ultimate statement about their belief in the "apparent durability of a product". They designed it and they are agreeing to stand behind it. 7>5>3>1>0. If a manufacturer starts to say they'll stand behind their product for 5-7 years given how bad some of us beat stuff up and neglect it, I'd say that's a pretty strong statement in their favor.

[Dennis Ford]

I think a manufacturer's warranty is the ultimate statement about their belief in the "apparent durability of a product". They designed it and they are agreeing to stand behind it. 7>5>3>1>0. If a manufacturer starts to say they'll stand behind their product for 5-7 years given how bad some of us beat stuff up and neglect it, I'd say that's a pretty strong statement in their favor.

I agree that a good warranty is a strong statement. It is also as much a marketing device as it is a belief in their product. Any well built lathe will last many years although there will be some issues, if the selling price is enough to cover the cost of issues for the fraction that has issues; the manufacturer can make money. Nothing wrong with that, just that I have only rarely used the warranty on anything I bought and am willing to fix most issues myself.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I will go against the grain on this and mention that there are car manufacturers that have a 10 year warranty. While this is great, I have friends that have bought them because of the warranty, but when the car is in the shop being fixed for months, (many many visits, not a month long) is is worth it? Yes, it didn't cost them anything to fix, but the hassle not having a car? My car had a 3 year warranty and hasn't been in need of repairs at all. All that being said, I have a Jet, and glad it has a longer warranty. If brand x lathe company offers a 10 year warranty, it may not be worth it..... Stay with the "solid" companies.

[Damon McLaughlin]

..... Stay with the "solid" companies.


Who would you consider to be the solid companies? For someone new to turning like myself I wouldn't necessarily know.

[Ralph Lindberg]

I think a manufacturer's warranty is the ultimate statement about their belief in the "apparent durability of a product". They designed it and they are agreeing to stand behind it. 7>5>3>1>0. If a manufacturer starts to say they'll stand behind their product for 5-7 years given how bad some of us beat stuff up and neglect it, I'd say that's a pretty strong statement in their favor.

IF (note the CAPS) you plan to use the lathe commercially, read the warranty. Several companies slip a "no commercial use" clause in there. It's interesting which ones (since it can change with time, I will leave that as an exercise for the prospective buyer)

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Who would you consider to be the solid companies? For someone new to turning like myself I wouldn't necessarily know.

The well known companies like Nova, Griz, Powematic/Jet, Oneway etc. For now, I'd avoid the Delta lathe. Just avoid the off brands in the catalogs and you should be fine. Harbor Freight, for example is hit or miss. Some good, and some not so good. Not sure what brands they carry. Customer service, for the unfortunate event that you do need a repair is important, No sense having a a lathe you can't repair. Good luck in you search.
No offense to the Delta owners, I've turned on the new Delta, and it is an absolutely fabulous lathe. All the right things, just the power switch is a problem, If you can find one and don't mind if you have to cobble in a different switch, I'd buy it.

[Len Mullin]

Warranty should be taken into consideration no matter what your buy.
Len

[Rich Riddle]

To answer your question, the warranty has little impact. In my experience stationary tools seem to either quickly have problems or not have problems for an eternity. The two lathes in the shop are a Walker Turner restored lathe from about the fifties and a 1930 Boice Crane utility lathe. The warranty on both expired. Both work fine. There are a lot of OWWM lathes out there that surpass the quality of the newer lathes and there's no need to fear them. That said, many people prefer the newer types because of features. It's surprising that a manufacturer would have honored a warranty on a motor when the owner left the motor turning and burned it up. That said, many motors have an overheating feature added to their motors to avoid similar situations.