Powermatic 90? Worth it?

[Jerome Vorndran]

So I'm still setting up shop, and I have a new lathe on my wish list. I've been looking hard at buying the Grizzly G0766, and am -->| |<-- close to pulling the trigger. That's when I spot this ad on Craigslist. Now I know just from reputation alone, this is a beast of a machine, and I loves me some old iron (already have a jointer in the same color scheme). This plus a VFD and any other things I have to acquire puts the total cost probably over $1100. If I'm not mistaken, the spindle is 1 1/2"x8, so is that a problem? I'm not planning on turning REALLY big bowls right away, but you never know. The PM 90 can use the outboard, so there's really not much of a drawback there. Oddly enough, my biggest problem will be moving the damn thing. I'm guessing it's over 500 lbs, so there's no way 2 guys could get it off a truck without killing one of them.

Basically, is this worth pursuing or should I just wait for the Grizzly to be delivered to my doorstep?

[Robert Willing]

I would wait for the Grizzly. I purchased the Grizzly hydraulic lift table which brought my purchase to $1900.00. The lift table was for assembling the lathe and getting it off my trailer, because I knew I had no help to assemble the lathe. Not sure what the PM spindle is but that would be the deal beaker for me.

[Chuck Saunders]

Powermatic and a VFD will give you the low rpms that the 90 normally lacks. It weighs in at 600 lbs and is an excellent lathe. shouldn't have trouble with the 1-1/2x8 spindle. As for moving, an engine hoist makes it super easy one man operation.
Chuck

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Great Deal

[Leo Van Der Loo]

It will outlast and outclass the grizzly a couple times over, go get it !!

[brian zawatsky]

What's the swing on that Powermatic 90? The Griz 0766 swings 22" over the bed, which is great to have. I just bought one last month and I love it so far. As for its longevity, only time will tell I suppose.

[Brice Rogers]

I think that the swing is 12" over the bed

[Mike Hermann]

The PM90 is a tried and true lathe that is user-friendly and withstands abuse. I've thoroughly enjoyed using my 90. You can buy a 1-1/2"x8tpi spindle adapter for about $20 that will allow you to use the more common 1"x8tpi accessories. It's what I did, and it works great.

The 90 was originally intended to be a spindle lathe, but as mentioned, you can get a VFD to slow it down for larger work. As it sits, you can still turn small bowls just fine. I have a Teco FM50 paired with a 2hp 3 phase motor. I also wired in a separate switch and a potentiometer (for speed adjustment) that I mounted near the tailstock.

The 12" swing may seem limiting, but that's still a pretty good size bowl. Some people have bumped that swing up to 16" by adding a 2" riser block under the headstock and tailstock. You'd need to get a longer belt if you did that though.

I don't have experience with the Grizzly, but the weight is about the same as the 90. Even if I had the swing, I wouldn't trust my 90 to spin an unbalanced 20-something inch blank. It dances enough with an unbalanced 12" blank. Segmented work would be fine, platters would be fine. I'd want to hear from someone who's actually spun a large bowl on the Grizzly, because just from the standpoint of weight, I wouldn't trust it. It does appear to have a wider stance though.

In the mean time though, you have a lathe on Craigslist that could disappear in a moment. The tension would be killing me!

[William C Rogers]

I have a PM 90. You didn't say what year the lathe was, as there are a couple of configurations. One is where the motor is mounted in the head and one where the lathe uses a jack shaft. The jack shaft makes motor replacement much easier. There are also several speed configurations. One is 1000-4000, one is 330-2100, and one in between. With the higher speed a VFD is desired. I have the 330-2100. I wanted to do bowls larger than 12", so I considered the Grizzly. You can turn outboard, but that didn't appeal to me. I ended up raising my lathe 3", so I now have a 18" swing. I'll post that in a seperate post. Since I already have the PM 90, my decision was easier. The main reasons for me were of course cost. About $150 to raise the lathe, but spent another $450 on new tool rest. I would have spent the same $450'for the Grizzly because it only has the one rest and would need to bore the banjo to 1". The Grizzly would have been too high for me, but could have added a platform. My PM 90 raised is 45" and the Grizzly would be almost 3" higher. My PM 90 is a 1973 and basically works the same as when new. The Grizzly has some nice features that I don't have, but I am very happy with my lathe.

[Roger Chandler]

I Have spun a few large and unbalanced blanks on my G0766.....mine is not bolted down, and sits on a plywood floor. My Grizzly G0766 handled them well. Plenty of torque out of that 3 hp motor. I do have some turning blanks stacked underneath the ways on a shelf, so that adds some weight, but not as much as some sand would. After turning on 9 different PM 3520b units and several Jet 1642 EVS units, and several other lathes as well....my G0766 will IMO, handle anything you could put on any of those!
I have a friend who has a 3520b and is a prolific turner. He came to my shop a while back, and was impressed with my Grizzly 0766.

[Doug Ladendorf]

Both will spin wood. The answer may depend a bit on who you are. The Grizzly has a larger swing, but it's low price does not come without a cost. For one thing, the cast iron on the PM 90 is at least class 32 from a Meehanite certified foundry. You won't find that in Chinese made machines. If you upgrade you will get your investment back on the 90. Resale is not the same for Grizzly lathes as you can just get a new one relatively cheap.

[Roger Chandler]

Back several years ago, before I got my former Grizzly G0698, I had a chance to purchase either a PM 45 or a PM 90, from a guy who purchased old iron from some school shops that were phased out. He had all sorts of wood machinery, and probably had 30 lathes in his building.

I decided back then for me, at least, that being able to get a machine that had Variable speed and the swing I wanted at a cost that was either less than what it would take to refurbish old iron, or similar cost, and still have less swing, was not in my interest in the long term. Don't get me wrong....I love old iron, but time and expense to rebuild it right was not something I wanted to invest in, and if successful, still would leave me with no better features than came on a brand new lathe.

I cannot speak to cast iron foundry specs in America vs. China/Tiwain, but have heard that the same foundry that makes for Jet/Pm makes for Grizzly, Laguna, & others.

[Brice Rogers]

Bill Rogers wrote: "About $150 to raise the lathe, but spent another $450 on new tool rest. I would have spent the same $450'for the Grizzly because it only has the one rest and would need to bore the banjo to 1".

Here's an alternative to buying new tool rests - - either make or have someone make an adapter for you. When I upgraded my lathe last fall I had a half dozen or so tool rests with a 5/8 inch diameter and made for a 9" lathe. My new one was a 22" lathe and had a 1" diameter tool post (after I reamed it out). But I didn't want to throw away all of the old tool rests as a few were very special purpose. So I made an adapter using some steel remnants laying around. The collar in the middle was bored so that it was a fairly tight fit with the lower post and was then silver soldered. I could also have welded it but didn't feel that it was necessary. The collar could have been a much smaller OD, but other than looking a little ugly still served the purpose. In operation, the old 5/8" tool post rests solidly on the adapter tool post and are in compression (so the issue of silver solder vs. weldment doesn't exist). Cost? My time.

This same approach would work well for people who are raising their lathe 2 or 3 inches. Although not shown in the picture, I drilled and taped a 5/16" hole for a knob to lock the old tool post into the adapter. Because I'm turning things that are round, the collar never gets in the way of the workpiece.
IMG_0010 (1024x768).jpg

[Roy Turbett]

Go for the Powermatic 90. Its much easier to disassemble and move than it seems, and is a very well made lathe thats easy to work on. I've personally rebuilt four of the them. Here's some links from OWWM.org that you may find interesting.

How to Disassemble a Powermatic 90

Adding some beef to a Powermatic 90

Powermatic 90 Time Study

Another Powermatic 90 For Me

[Jerome Vorndran]

Ok, so after an expensive day, it's here. (I bought the DC and hoist too, all in one trip from separate people) It's a high school find from a guy who had picked up 3 of them at auction. He's a machinist, not a woodturner, but he went through the mechanisms and it's all in proper working order. I'll be adding on a VFD and other goodies, it should be more than stout enough to turn a bowl or two. Haven't decided if I'm going to work towards turning off the outboard side or add riser blocks, but adding a VFD will give me reverse. Came with 4 face plates and 2 tool rests, no centers or chuck, but that's not much of a problem.

I'll be asking a lot of questions here and at OWWM as for what to purchase and how to go about getting this wired and set up.