new lathe ?

[Joe Mioux]

any reason why I would want to buy something other than a Powermatic 3520b?

Actually, a better fit for me and my shop layout would be a Stubby, but given the price differential, I am having a hard time justifying the extra $3K.

thoughts? comments? suggestions?

donations accepted.

joe

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I'd rather have a Oneway. I can't afford either though. If I had the money for the Oneway I'd get it. If I had the money for the PM I'd get that too. It's just simply what you can afford.....

I want to get and may be able to afford the PM in a couple years. I'll never be able to justify the extra cost of the Oneway. But I WANT one..... It's got a load of nice features that the PM does not have.

[sascha gast]

I have a Stubby 1000 and never looked back. Footprint and versatility were the deciding factors but I also almost choked when I found out the price.

the PM, Oneway, Robust and such are all great spindle lathes with very good bowl making abilities, where I always consider the Stubby an amazing bowl lathe with decent spindle abilities.

the 2HP of the stubby is way enough, so don't get caught up on that alone, money, size of your shop and also what you wanna turn are deciding factors.
If I had space and money I would get one of each, just because, but the Stubby was the one for me, even though it's almost impossible to get a 1000 into the US now, or at least it would take a long time to get one. I could have never fit a 2436 Oneway in my shop with all the outboard attachments, it's just simply too big.

good luck deciding, either way you will end up with a great lathe, in that range you really can't go wrong and the PM has a fantastic reputation and following

[Hilel Salomon]

I have both a DVR XP and the 3520B, and I like both. I think that you'll find a very large number of forum members owning the PM and liking it. My club president also sent me a notice that Toolpost has it on sale at under $2800.
I have never regretted buying the PM.
Good luck,
Hilel.

[Joe Mioux]

I have both a DVR XP and the 3520B, and I like both. I think that you'll find a very large number of forum members owning the PM and liking it. My club president also sent me a notice that Toolpost has it on sale at under $2800.
I have never regretted buying the PM.
Good luck,
Hilel.

Hilel, that brings up another question. my current lath is a nova1624, do you notice a significant difference between your two lathes?

I really don't like the manual speed change on mine and I want to do more bowls than spindles.

joe

[Gary Max]

I could of bought any one of "BEST" lathes----------went with mustard-----just can't beat the service.

[George Guadiane]

The only reason to not go with the PM3520 is if you feel like you will want something "better" later... If that is the case, wait and get your dream machine (mine IS the 3520)... Otherwise, you'll just end up kicking it to the curb and investing even MORE money, when you consider the loss when you sell the PM.
My 2 cents.

[Jim Becker]

While I own a Stubby 750 and know it was the right machine for me, the PM3520 is about the best value on the planet for a mass-produced lathe. The price differential between it and Stubby, Oneway, Robust, etc., stems from both the "custom" manufacture of the latter group and a bunch of refinements that may or may not be of value to you. You pay more because there are not many hundreds of identical machines rolling of an assembly line like you have with the PM35020 and it's Jet cousins.

[Ron Bontz]

I got the Pm 3520b last spring and keep liking it more and more. It is good for my little shop.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe,

I have seen the Oneways and I have turned on a Robust American Beauty.

Last Saturday, a radiologist with whom I work came to my shop to test drive my PM3520B. We spent two hours discussing it and turning on it.

This guy's budget is unlimited. After turning on my Mustard, he came to the same conclusion. It's hard to justify the additional costs. The fit and finish are better on the Robust, Oneway, Serious, Stubby ...but is it worth it? I don't know which lathe he will buy.

One lathe you might check out is Vega. Made right up the road from you in Illinois.

In the end, it comes down cost differences versus quality differences.

The Mustard is a big bang for the buck!

[Tom Giacomo]

I just got my PM3520 a couple months ago. I jumped from a HF clone to the PM and that's quite a jump. I am a hobbiest and after 2 months I don't think I'll ever use this lathe to it's full potential.

[Hilel Salomon]

Joe,

Sorry I didn't answer your question sooner. My DVR has a computer driven speed and was many steps up from my Delta Reeve's Drive lathe. I like it fine, but have not converted mine to 220 because of all the power surges up in the mountains in VA. I even have my refrigerator and freezer on surge protectors up there. The DVR XP clearly doesn't have the torque that my PM 3520B (in SC) has, but in all honesty I only notice the difference when I'm roughing out a very large blank or coring a very large bowl. I think that each of these two (the DVR and PM3520B) are really worth the money. The first is often on sale at Woodcraft for about $1800. while the PM is running about 1000 dollars more.
I don't doubt that Robust, Oneway and a few others have refinements which explain the difference in cost, but I don't ever see the PM or DVR being unable to do what my limited talents will want to try.
Now if I started buying lottery tickets, won big and still had some left over from what my wife would want to spend, I would get a VB and still keep the DVR and PM.
Hope this helps,
Hilel.

[Reed Gray]

I turned on a PM for 8 years before getting a Robust. The Oneway and Serious were not considered because I liked the sliding headstock, and my lathe sits in a corner so outboard turning is not an option. I did one bowl turning on the Nova DVR. Nice little lathe, with more torque than I expected, but a far cry from the PM. I prefer the speed changes of turning the knob to 5 preset speed options and a very slow ramp up or down. The proper speed for turning bowls is seldom the same on any two blanks, and I probably have used the full range of speeds on both my low and medium speed ranges. Being able to rotate the headstock for bowl turning so you don't have to bend over the ways to turn the bowl is nice, but not as good as sliding the headstock down the lathe. One disadvantage is that the Woodcut and Oneway coring systems won't work when the headstock is rotated. I didn't look too closely at the Stubby. I know this is silly, but it looks really funny to me, and is probably more suited to bowl turning.

Is the Robust worth 2 PM3520 lathes? To me, yes. I did want more horsepower and torque. I don't need the extra throw, but it is there just in case. I got a bed extension which is also available for the PM. I also wanted a made in the USA product.

robo hippy

robo hioppy

[Gary Herrmann]

If I had the $ and turned every day, I'd get a Robust. I've got a 3520b. Great lathe. I think once you get beyond that - Robust, Stubby, Oneway, Serious, Vicmarc etc, it boils down to what you want and whether the additional cost is worth it to you.

If you were to go for one of the high end lathes, I don't think you'd ever regret it. But think of the set up you could get if you got the PM and spent the rest on accessories.

[Jeff Nicol]

Joe, This question has been tossed and retossed by everyone. For the price you will not get a better or bigger capacity lathe than the 3520B. So for the best bang for the buck just get the Powermatic and get on with the big turnings! I have put mine through the paces for, gee I think more than 3 years now and it has never gave me one bit of trouble. If I was rich I would have a giant shop and have one of every kind of lathe out there just because I could! But that really makes no sense either, that is why I am a simple guy, and I dreamed of a Stubby for a long time, but could not justify the cost.

Have fun with your new lathe,

Jeff