3/4HP lathe

[Rick Levine]

What are the turning limitations of a 3/4HP lathe motor? I have a new Delta 46-715 lathe the I got as a bonus for purchasing 3 Delta X5 tools during the Delta promotion last May.

[Bernie Weishapl]

You can turn about anything that will fit your lathe. Some of the bigger stuff you might have to take lighter cuts but don't see a problem. Some other folks will no doubt jump in here.

[Gordon Seto]

To use the bowl saver (coring).

Gordon

[Curt Fuller]

Again, Bernie gives good advice. There wouldn't be much sense in beefing up to a larger motor on a lathe with a 14" swing. If you're going to get into serious bowl coring you'll probably want to be able to turn larger bowls on a larger lathe with a larger motor.

[Stephen Hibbs]

I stall my 3/4 HP HF lathe all the time with 10" pieces and below. I've alse stalled out one of those deltas, it just depends how aggressive you are. You can turn anything that will fit the lathe though, as long as you are patient.

[David Walser]

As others have said, you can stall a lathe powered by a 3/4 horse power motor. However, you can also stall a lathe powered by a 2 horse motor. DAMHIK! Too heavy a cut will stall any lathe. It's just that how heavy a cut is too heavy varies. ;)

Try searching for "upgrade to Harbor Freight lathe" and you might find a thread on another forum (don't recall which one) describing how somebody put a 2 horse motor on his Harbor Freight lathe. He also added a vacuum chuck and a great stand for the lathe and hold supplies. It's incredible what you can do if you've the time, skill, and imagination.

[Jack Savona]

Rick, I had a Delta 46-715 for two years and turned up to 13 15/16" on it, even cored bowls with the McNaughton system. You should be fine. The only problem is that when you do the big stuff on it, you might find the lowest speed is just too fast for the first cuts. I found filling the bottom shelf with concrete blocks from the Borg will give you unbelieveable stability.

Beware of the reeves drives on the motor and in the headstock. Make sure you have all the parts/repairs you need before the warrantee runs out...from experience.

Jack

[Rick Levine]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Jack, since I just got the lathe a couple of months ago I have plenty of warranty left. I'm not sure what parts I would need to order for a just in case scenario. Any suggestions?

[Gordon Seto]

Any suggestions?
Rick,

There was a thread about the Delta Reeves Drive several days ago, it is very informative. It seems the problem starts with not good design, the factory choosing cost cutting parts to begin with. The solution in it is more than you can get from the service department. Unfortunately, it is a high maintenance system.
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=50194

My first lathe was the Jet 1236 which is similar design as the 12" Delta. I replaced that lathe with the Jet mini lathe. I regard that as a major "upgrade". I gave up some capacity and HP, but it is a much better all around lathe.
For me, I will never buy any lathe with Reeves drives, no matter how cheap it is. There has not been a new lathe (other than clones) introduced with Reeves drive for at least several years. It seems the manufacturers are abandoning it also.

Gordon

[Rick Levine]

Gordon,

Those links were very interesting but I don't think I'm going to worry about it right now. I still have the full warranty period ahead of me and I really don't plan on that much turning, at least not yet. I got the lathe free as part of the Delta X5 offer so I'm way ahead of the game as far as cost. I've had pretty good results from Delta customer service and hopefully that won't change.

[Jack Savona]

Delta's service was quite satisfactory. When parts were in, Delta replaced two tightening handles that snapped (now they've improved material & design), two banjo extensions and both Reeves drives (several times). When you notice the rattling begins, try to isolate which Reeves pully it is and order it. They come in matched pairs and can't be interchanged.

[Gordon Seto]

Delta replaced two tightening handles that snapped (now they've improved material & design), two banjo extensions and both Reeves drives (several times). When you notice the rattling begins, try to isolate which Reeves pully it is and order it. They come in matched pairs and can't be interchanged.

That's my point. If it is good to begin with, we may get a lemon once in a while . But they should not break down several times on a regular basis. The bean counters at Delta and others tried to cut too many corners may had been the problem.

Gordon