In the never ending vortex of lathe upgrades, I am always looking at something bigger. When I upgraded to my 16" nova 7-8 years ago, quickly learned that a 16" swing isn't going to produce me a 16" piece, because I need to fit the too rest under the piece... plus add in the fact that my started piece is rough shaped and needs to be rounded, my 16" lathe will do a about a 13" max. I would like to have the option to go bigger. I'm sure a 20" would work fine, but if I'm spending the money, I would want to go to a 24".
The issue is that 24" lathes are expensive! A oneway, powermatic, or Robust are $6,000-$8,000. They next step under that is grizzly at about $4500 and finally the Laguna a few hundred cheaper then the grizzly. I look for used ones, but they are few and far between to be that size and in my driving radius.
Are there other ones that I should be considering? I would plan to make large open forms, and not just bowls, so I need a long bed too.
Thanks,
Derek