Considering a new lathe

[mike johnston]

I now have a pm3520a. Am considering a 3520c, or limited edition 3520c. Is there any difference in features between the 2? I turn in spurts, maybe very little for a couple of years. Then nothing but for a full winter. ( winter is my woodworking time) I don’t know if I am ready to pop the extra money for a Robust, because of my bing and purge style of turning. Thanks in advance.

PS. What’s my 3520a with swing away tailstock worth.

Mike

[Sam Force]

Where are you located?

[Reed Gray]

I sold my 3520A a long time ago. When I first looked at the B model, I didn't like 2 changes they made. Low speed range only went up to 1200 rpm instead of 1500. I liked the 1500 for turning smaller bowls. The low speed range shut off went up to 50 rpm from almost zero. I need 10 to 15 rpm for sanding out my warped bowls. You can't keep the abrasives on at any speeds above about 15 for warped bowls, and all of my bowls are warped. The only advantage the C has over the others is the locking wedges on the banjo to keep the tool rest from bumping down. Robust was the first to do this. If you are thinking of stepping up, I have an American Beauty, and it is a great lathe. It is one of the very early ones, and has 3 speed ranges which I consider a huge plus. I did have Brent help me reset the settings on the inverter so it would run down to 15 rpm. The concern is the motor heating up because not much air is flowing. I found out that my motor runs cooler when sanding than it does when I turn. I do make my lathe work hard.... I also have a Vicmark 240 which I really love. It doesn't have a sliding headstock, actually none of the Vicmark lathes do. It does have the best pivoting headstock set up I have seen. I prefer the headstock design on it as well. Essentially, the headstock spindle mount is right on the headstock tower so your bowl mount is closer to the headstock itself. I think all the bell housings that extend things farther off the headstock are a bad idea. It causes more vibrations, kind of like how hollow forms need a steady rest. It has 3 speed ranges and low speed of maybe 5 rpm. The advantage to 3 speed ranges, if you are a bowl turner, is that the mid range is perfect for bowl coring, and the high end speeds on mid range is perfect for smaller bowls. With a 2 speed lathe, you have trouble coring on the high speed range, and the low speed range is too slow for smaller bowls.

robo hippy