new guy wants to introduce himself

[mike fuson]

Hey fellows, my name is Mike Fuson and I am in southeastern Kentucky.
I own a custom kitchen cabinet shop and like to turn bowls. I have not turned any in the last three years when I traded my Nova 3000 to a shaper to use in the cabinet shop. I am trying to get back into it,I got this lathe give to me the other day http://owwm.com/PhotoIndex/detail.asp?id=3367 This looks just like the lathe I have , I found this one on the old woodworking machine web site. It evidently was made in the late sixtys. It has a 1hp motor that is evidently to worn out to hollow a bowl. As soon as you put a gouge to it it will almost stop the motor. Everything else is top notch, bearings ,gears, etc. It only has a 12'' swing so this will limit my turning capacity. I have been looking at the grizzly g0456 lathe ,it has 20'' swing, 2hp motor, 1 1/2 spindle. Very heavy built lathe the only draw back is on the variable speed end of it. The catalog says 300rpm is the slowest speed and the web site says 500 rpm for the slowest. I am worried that this isn't slow enough to start an out of balance bowl. What do you pros think? I hope when I get a new lathe or fix this one up that I can show some of my bowls off. I really enjoy doing segmented.

[Tom Sherman]

Welcome to the turning portion of the Creek Mike. There are a couple of the folks here that have the General I'm sure they'll chime in shortly. Look forward to seeing some of your work.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome Mike. Have you seen the new Griz G0632. 0-3200 rpm. Looks pretty nice. I am sure you will get lots info.

[John Hart]

That looks like a pretty nice piece of old iron Mike. You could always just put a heftier motor on it. The only thing I would want more is some form of outboard turning capability. On the issue of low-end speed...500 is pretty fast....300 ain't too bad. Before I re-tuned the circuitry on mine, it had a low end of 400 and I rode the bronkin' buck without killing myself...but I'd really rather not.;)

Welcome to our little swirling vortex.:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Welcome to the Creek Mike! Hope you can figure out something with your lathe and get it up and running soon. Looking forward to seeing some of your turnings!

[mike fuson]

Hey Bernie, the g0632 you mentioned have some nice features, but for two hundred more you could step up to the g0456 with much more weight,hp,swing,etc. Would it not be the better choice? I do like the swivel headstock of the other and especially the low rpm, I don't know I guess I just like the big beefy look of the g0456.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Welcome to the Creek Mike! Nice Iron! Personally, I get a bit jittery on my Jet 1442 at it's slowest speed of about 450 with an out of balance bowl blank.:eek: I'm looking forward to seeing your turnings!:)

[Mark Pruitt]

I have been looking at the grizzly g0456 lathe ,it has 20'' swing, 2hp motor, 1 1/2 spindle. Very heavy built lathe the only draw back is on the variable speed end of it. The catalog says 300rpm is the slowest speed and the web site says 500 rpm for the slowest.
Mike, in that statement you identified the characteristic of the G0456 that rules it out for serious bowl turning IMHO. The G0632 (http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0632) is the one and only full sized Grizzly lathe I would even consider. The rest are scrap iron to me, not because of quality which is probably fine but because somebody wasn't thinking straight when they designed the RPMs.

If you're big-time serious about bowl turning, consider a Vega 2600 Bowl Lathe, it's a sweet machine. And of course the PM3520 has a proven track record as well.

BTW, welcome!!!

[Dennis Peacock]

Mike,

First of all WELCOME TO SMC!!!!

Glad to have ya onboard. You're not too awfully far from General Industrial Supply in Nashville, TN. Depending on your budget, you could get a PM3520B and not have to think about ever needing to upgrade. The PM3520's have a long proven track record. I know, I have one. :D

Welcome to the addiction. Can't wait to see some of your work, flat and round. ;)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Welcome to the Creek and the Abyss Mike!

[Gordon Seto]

The G0632 (http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0632) is the one and only full sized Grizzly lathe I would even consider. The rest are scrap iron to me, not because of quality which is probably fine but because somebody wasn't thinking straight when they designed the RPMs.

Until Grizzly is getting serious about their lathe design, I wouldn't even consider them. It looks like to me they are dressing up others' out of pattern old designs with Mickey Mouse bells and whistles as their new line.
I am glad Grizzly finally starts abandoning their odd ball size spindle thread size. You will have limited accessory choices with 1½" x 8 TPI.

The gap bed design on the 0456 was very old. Other than the clones, other maufacturers are moving to outboad, sliding or swiveling head to accomodate larger turning. With gap bed, you can't move your tool rest close to the head stock. When you mount your large piece with the chuck, then the bed ways are in the way. IMO, it has very limited use.
The disk sander on the outboard side is a stupid idea. There is no through hole for you to use regular vacuum chucking. I would rather have a hand wheel than a calluses remover for my left palm. I also think the fine dust from the sanding may also affect the heat sink of the electronic vs control near the headstock.
With claimed capacity of this lathe, I think the 300 min. speed is too fast to be comfortable to turn out of balance work.
I am not bashing Grizzly, I have their bandsaw. It is no Laguna; but I was not paying close to a Laguna either. It serve me well for what I use it for. I have no regret on it.
I hope Grizzly gets some woodturners' input along with their engineers in designing their future woodworking lathes. Competition is good; it keeps the price down and quality high for everybody.

Gordon

[mike fuson]

Thanks for all the welcomes guys. I have eliminated the big grizzly from my choices, but also the 032 . I plan to buy one more lathe in my life so I plan to get the one that I will always be satisfied with. Mark I am glad you mentioned the vega 2600, is this what you have? I have been considering it also. I guess it just doesn't look like a lathe, but I will have to agree that it does look like a sweet machine. On the 16th of this month I will be going to the carolina expo show, mostly cabinet industry machines there which is what I do for a living, but powermatic will be there too and I can scope this 3520 lathe out. They may also have a show special on it. Either way I will get one in the next two weeks, this fever is about to kill me. As far as the old lathe ,a guy that works for me in the shop wants to turn so he will probably end up with it. Mark I would like to hear more about the vega if that is what you have. Is the cheaper version 1 1/2 hp variable speed? Or is just the 2hp variable speed? I don't understand the way they have it listed. Haveing said all this, I expect to buy the vega 2600 or the pm3520. Are there any others I should consider? A link to the site would be nice. Thanks for all the good info guys

[TYLER WOOD]

When you are ready to get rid of the beast lathe let me know. I know a good way to dispose of it for you:D !!!!

I am especially interested in the headstock and tailstock.

Where are you located?