Best lathe?

[Roger Bruhn]

I'm looking to buy a mid-size lathe, something like the Nova 1624. Is this a good buy or is there something else for about the same money which would be better?

[Dennis Collier]

Whats the current price of a 1624? They used to run around 1400 and go on sale frequently for around 900 but I havnt looked at that model for a couple years. That was the model I was saving for when Grizzly introduced the G0766. IMO, the Grizzly is a lot more lathe for not much more money. Your looking at just shy of 1800. There are coupons out there for 10% off. Get your hands on one of those and your looking at right about 1600 shipped to your door. That's a whole lot of lathe for the money. I'm a very happy customer!

[John Hart]

I'm all about horsepower and stability.
You can create your own stability but horsepower is what creates the freedom to create.
I think the 1.5HP of that Nova will provide decent freedom.

[John K Jordan]

What is the budget? Are you buying new or is a good used lathe OK? Everyone will have their favorites, mine is the Jet 1642. The long bed is nice if you want that. It is cast iron and from the manuals it is 440 lbs vs 322 lbs for the Nova. The legs have built-in brackets for a ballast shelf for vibration control. Variable speed with VFD. (I thought the Nova was not,) Tool post diameter is 1", don't know about the Nova. It looks like the Nova has a swivel head which can be a pro or con.

I bought one 1642 new and found one used at a good price.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwjL-vuI-KnSAhVIKiYKHeI_BDcQFghCMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.jettools.com%2Fassets%2Fw hitepapers%2F708359_WP_EN.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGCjVXDpM6FagquXXC8bdvoUFnZWg&sig2=92jF1HWWzKFCqQ02Z91CLw&cad=rja

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwjKu-zw96nSAhXJwiYKHUXfDPMQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acmetools.com%2Fwcsstore%2FEx tendedSitesCatalogAssetStore%2Fassets%2Fproducts%2 F9FC37232-9A4D-4FDA-89A1-BF133C173647.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFJzKOwMOp_IdH8kW7AFgXsiWzcAg&sig2=kekav9foDLlIsx3jjUSN2w&cad=rja

JKJ

[Reed Gray]

Well, in that size range, you have the Jet 1642, a Grizzly, and the Laguna. If you plan on turning bowls, you would want 220 volt and 2 hp. though you can get away with less. The Nova is a good lathe, but I would put it at the bottom of this list. Just never really cared for it, especially after turning on some heavy metal. They do have a heavier model now, but it has a some what narrow foot print.

robo hippy

[joseph moses]

THe laguna is the bees knees. It was on sale for 2249

[John Keeton]

My previous lathe was a Jet 1642 - nice lathe, but I wouldn't even put it in the same category with my Laguna Revo 1836.

[joseph moses]

John is right. The laguna is the best-kept secret in lathes. Mine performs flawlessly and is solid as a rock. I roughed a 16 inch burl and the lathe acted like it was a pen blank.

[Adam Petersen]

I think if you are talking $800-900 the Nova is the best in THAT range. Once you reach the $1600-2400 range you step well out of the Nova's class like Reed said. What's your budget? The best lathe is probably the one you can afford since the prices vary so much in that range.

[Michael Mills]

I've had my 1624 for about six years with no problems. I do use the swivel head 90%+ of the time for bowls, platters, small hollow forms.
Here is a fairly current spreadsheet by David Peters on lathes (Nova is listed as Teknatool). I paid about 1200 back when but WC has the 1624II for 1000 (black instead of gray). Columns on the spread sheet can be sorted by name, price, hp, or any other.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nu6Tp9Suaiok1OVoqfaLa8_fBy82j7SctA2O9NacBA0/edit#gid=0