Advice buying a Woodfast MC908 Lathe Please

[Matthew Moreno]

I found the Creek a few months ago, and have learned so much. I have been using my Dad's 60+ year old benchtop Craftsman lathe having a ball, but its time to get my own now. I found a Woodfast MC908 thats 13 years old, has a 16" swing, and is about 40" long. It has a closed cabinet under it and weighs over 400 pounds. It is NOT variable speed, it has 4 speed pulleys. The owner is asking $700, and that seems like a lot of money for a 13 year old lathe, but I know what they cost when they were new, so I am trying to factor that in to the price. It is a 1 1/2 h.p. motor. I would really like to turn some bowls. Please give me some advice. Is this a fair deal? I can't seem to find anything on the internet or ebay for a reference, and even here on the Creek I can't really find any info. Any advice would really be appreciated.

Thanks

[Mike Vickery]

My take on it is that it is probably a pretty fair price not a steal but not real high. If you are more interested in bowls that spindles I would probably consider Nova's 1624 as well. It is in around the same price range.
I have a Woodfast VS that I bought used and they made a good lathe. If you decide to get it you should be happy.

[Mike Wilkins]

Woodfast lathes are very well made and robust. I got hold of a 910 with 20" swing, but it is the short bed model-16" between centers & variable speed.
The price does not seem too far out of line with other lathes in the same category (Delta, Jet, Craftsman, smaller Grizzly machines).
Like anything else used, try to negotiate a better/lower price, since it is a used machine. Since it is so well-made, there should not be any mechanical problems due to age.
Good luck and watch those fingers.

[Paul Engle]

Yep, only one thing you should look hard and long at is low speed setting ....boy the outa wack bowls will be hard to deal with if your minimum speed is over 250 to 450 :eek: .....and the ones with pith will rumble the whole time at speeds over that..other wise don't fool yourself into thinking you will only do one type of turning....once the vortex gets you, you will want to do lots of different stuff , thats why you see so many guys and gals looking for the VS in a lathe...I did and now have a min of 500 rpm( I can force the reeves drive to a slightly lower speed with a smaller width belt allows the reeves to close up all the way on the motor end but does not try to jump off the spindle shaft ( 1/4 in round looks like a large O ring, to rough with) , (my first wood lathe min speed was 900 rpm scarry at best ) then switch it back to a 3/8" wide belt on my 1236 mayo lite which i can live with.:D