I need a little advice...

[Brent Grooms]

I am re-discovering the joy of making woodchips and have a question... I am looking for my first lathe and have an opportunity at a Grizzly G1485 for what I think is a reasonable deal. Would this be a good choice or is there something else that I should consider? I know there is a good deal of expense in tools, chucks etc that will also come into play. I have also seen some deals on, dare I say, Craftsman at the local Sears. Thanks for your input!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Do you have the numbers right?

Is it a G1495?

http://images.grizzly.com/grizzlycom/pics/jpeg500/g/g1495.jpg

I Googled G1485 and got nothing.....
What are you wanting to turn? Bowls, or spindles?

The package deal with shipping is $870....

Cheers!

[Brent Grooms]

yup. thats the model... had an issue typing this morning.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

OK, define "A good deal" :D

If it is in nice shape and it is a lot less than the $870 that Grizzly sells it for, I guess it could be a good thing.

But, what do you want to do?

If you are wanting to do large bowls, larger than the 17" capacity, well then it is not such a good deal.

I'm sorry, but I don't have any exp with that lathe, but it does look similar to a lot of the older Oliver and Delta lathes with the "Gap" near the headstock.

I've got a DVR 3000 and I just love it, and I've yet to spend more than the price of the lathe on tools, but then again, I've only had the lathe for a month or so... :rolleyes:

Maybe some owners of this lathe will chime in.

Cheers!

[Raymond Overman]

A couple of things to be wary of:

A Reeves drive speed control with a low end of 510 RPM is still pretty high. When you get a off balance hunk of wood on it, it's going to flop around. The lathe has to be on to change the speed. I worked with a pulley based lathe for a long time and this is something you can work around. Just be aware of it going into your purchase.

I also don't know that I would go with a lathe that has a 14" swing over the bed in Grizzly's class if I could buy one with a 16" swing over the bed at half price. The GO462 seems like a better deal to me and has some indication of speed. Either way you go, ballast will be your friend since the starting speed is still high.

I'm also not too sure about the sanding attachment. I'd rather have a hand wheel out there.

I have a Grizzly bandsaw that I've had good performance from for the money and size. I had one problem with it where a piece was bent during shipping. They shipped out a replacement immediately.

As for the Craftsman, I don't have any experience but know that a few guys here use them. I'm sure they'll weigh in soon.