Oliver 159-A Wood Lathe

[Larry Whittaker]

Is this older lathe worth buying to turn bowls.

Thanks

[Dueane Hicks]

I had one back in the 90's. Good lathe, but the lowest speed is a bit high on those reeves drive olivers. Built for commercial use in pattern making

[Richard Coers]

That machine has a real high quality reeves drive, but it is no comparison to a modern wood lathe. We now live in the Golden Era of wood lathes for bowl turning. Today's machines are just glorious to use with large diameter capacity, incredible rigidity, and supreme motor controls. Buy a new machine if you can.

[David Walser]

Larry -- It would take a lot of work to make an Oliver 159-A suitable for bowl turning. The lathe might be an excellent choice for spindle work and for small face work (small bowls, plates, and the like). But, due to its small swing (by today's standards), you would have a difficult time turning a lot of bowls on it. Can it be done? Sure, you could disconnect the Reeves drive and power the lathe with a modern VFD drive. That would give you the low RPMs needed for large, out of balance, bowl blanks. Then, you'd need to increase the lathe's swing (or turn outboard, which creates another set of problems).

Can it be done? Of course it can. Many enjoy resto-modding old machines to make them the equal of today's modern lathes. But, unless you want to take on such a project as much as you'd like to turn bowls, you'd be better served looking for a lathe that is already set up for turning bowls.