Vintage Woodfast Model M408H Lathe?

[Steve Mathews]

I've been looking for a used Vicmarc short bed lathe for some time without much success to compliment my Oneway 2436. A vintage Woodfast Model M408H just became available locally and was wondering if I would be disappointed in purchasing it. It seems to be a well built lathe but lacks the M30 spindle and the reverse that I appreciate on the Oneway. Any opinions on this lathe would be appreciated and some idea of what would be its fair value.

[Neil Strong]

I've been using Woodfast lathes for almost 60yrs. Never been unhappy with any of them. That one is a good lathe. A good buy if in good condition and at a good price. Add a spindle adaptor to give you your 30mm compatibility.

[Reed Gray]

Only person I know who has a Woodfast lathe is Odie over on the AAW forums. For me, being mostly a bowl turner, I want a sliding headstock or a pivoting headstock. The Vicmark 240 has the best pivoting headstock set up I have ever seen.

robo hippy

[Steve Mathews]

Only person I know who has a Woodfast lathe is Odie over on the AAW forums. For me, being mostly a bowl turner, I want a sliding headstock or a pivoting headstock. The Vicmark 240 has the best pivoting headstock set up I have ever seen.

robo hippy

That would be my preference but it's a bit pricey for me.

[Neil Strong]

For me, being mostly a bowl turner, I want a sliding headstock or a pivoting headstock. The Vicmark 240 has the best pivoting headstock set up I have ever seen.



As long as I have been using Woodfast lathes they have had an outboard turning option for bowl turning and larger pieces...


505298 505299


A few years back they brought out a swivel head model (C1000X), which is what I have used since then...


https://www.cwsonline.com.au/shop/item/woodfast-c1000x-variable-speed-lathe

505297

For me it fell right in the sweet spot with all of the features I needed and at a 40% better price than the Vicmarc VL240 when that came out later on. Not that the VL240 isn't an excellent lathe, it is just more lathe and power than I need.

I'm not sure if they are still making that C1000X model. The model number WL520B seems to be also used for a model without the outboard attachment.

I'm not sure where Rikon fits into the branding arrangements.

[Steve Mathews]

The larger 16x40 version of this lathe just became available on Facebook Marketplace (Phoenix) if anyone is interested. Good price at $425. I would get it but want the smaller version.

[Steve Mathews]

Anyone know the overall width and height of the M408H?

[Steve Mathews]

I ended up purchasing the M408H. It's definitely heavier than expected and seems to be well built. Even the lower cabinet was more stout than something made out of thin gauge sheet metal. I was disappointed in the amount of noise coming from the lathe based on a brief running, much noisier than my Oneway 2436. At this point I don't know if it's coming from spindle bearings or the DC drive system. I'll know more after using it some. Overall I'm happy that I brought it home and look forward to using it.

One thing that I just learned is that Woodfast did not recommend modifying this lathe to run in reverse, which is obviously the reason it doesn't have this feature. Anyone know why this is?

[Neil Strong]

One thing that I just learned is that Woodfast did not recommend modifying this lathe to run in reverse, which is obviously the reason it doesn't have this feature. Anyone know why this is?



My variable speed upgrade that was done here in Adelaide by Woodfast themselves had a switch on the inverter box located down below the bed (not up with the speed control box near the headstock), but I never used it because the outboard spindle where I might have used it had a left handed thread and running in reverse would have had the left hand threaded chucks unscrewing if any counterforce was applied. I can't recall if the M408H model had that outboard left had thread.

I never reverse the lathe myself for sanding but something light like that would be less of an issue if done carefully.

Of course, sliding and rotating headstock lathes eliminate this issue and does away with the need for dedicated left hand threaded chucks and some dedicated tools and fittings for outboard work. However, those earlier Woodfasts are workhorses that are going to outlast most of us and if I had the space in my workshop I would have kept every one of them.

On the noise coming from the lathe cabinet, it could just be the cabinet itself. I always added some extra weight inside the headstock end of the cabinet to dampen any normal vibration.

[Steve Mathews]

I finally had a chance to make some shavings with the Woodfast M408H lathe and I'm very happy with the results so far. It was very stable despite its diminutive size. I'm still looking for a similar size Vicmarc but not because of any shortcomings this lathe has. If anyone happens to come across one of these for sale I don't think you'll be disappointed picking one up.