This summer, I moved from the East Mountain Area near Albuquerque, NM up to Taos, NM to be near family and the Grand Babies.
Tragedy struck during the move and my 1940’s vintage American wood lathe was dropped and shattered (mostly cast iron) into a million pieces.
So I am looking for a replacement: 4′ to 6′ between centers, partial to the old Oliver, Powermatic, etc heavy machines.
I have wondered about the new Oliver 2018 lathe…. I know it’s a Tawain/China manufacturer, but it looks like it is a decent machine. Anyone here have any experience with this model?
I have been with fine working since the 1970’s but I am a newbie to this forum. So apologies if I am treading on old discussion here.
Thanks for your thoughts or suggestions.
Replies
General 260 with extended bed to get your 6' between centers, a good old cast iron lathe I've been using since 1980.
I've got the Grizzly G0766. It's a heavy duty machine that works great, though not US made. If you decide on this one be sure to get the tool rest with the 1" shaft size. When I bought mine, it only came in the 25mm size and Grizzly did not sell additional tool rests. Go figure! Good luck finding after market tool rests in this size. I had to buy 25mm bar stock and get mine welded.
Thank you Gulfstar and jfsksa for your comments.
Did you look at Oneway lathes ?
I'll second the Oneway. I have the 1640 with a bed extension that allows 62" between centers, you could cobble two of them together if you wanted longer yet. It can also be mounted for outboard turning. The Oneway is, I think, much higher quality than the Taiwanese stuff. They also offer a wide range of accessories.
I have previously owned both a Powermatic 90 and an Oliver 159. The Oneway is far superior to both.
I have only seen the Oneway lathe in adds. Can you specify the characteristics that makes this lathe superior to the Powermatic or the Oliver?
I appreciate your thoughts.
I spent a good deal of time detailing a response yesterday. When I tried to post it it disappeared. I tried again and it wouldn't accept it, said it was a duplicate. I have tried several times since and no luck. Waste of time. Sorry
They need to fire whoever the 12 year old IT guy is that manages this site.
Well, thank you for the effort. I spent some time yesterday at the Oneway website and then on YouTube looking at these lathes. Very impressive; obviously designed by turners.
Finally:
The biggest difference is the silky smooth operation compared to the older lathes. Also the convenience of the inverter drive vs the variable speed Reeves drive on the Powermatic and Oliver. As heavy as they were, there was always just a bit of vibration or a tick I could not get rid of. Maybe I was just unlucky with the two...
You are right, the Oneway is a bit pricey but if you can cough it up you won't be disappointed. Also the availability of parts and accessories such as bed extensions. Like you I was primarily spindle turning, so the ability to easily extend the distance between centers was a plus. Since then I have gravitated toward more turning of live edge bowls, hollow forms and lidded vessels so my bed extension spends most of it's time bolted on the outboard side and with a taller banjo (24" swing out there) it provides great flexibility here as well.
With that said, I hope the following will be helpful if you decide to look for an old machine:
I think the issues with the Powermatic and Oliver centered around the close coupled Reeves drive. If you find one of these you would be wise to look at one you can see run.
I found out later that there were two versions of the Powermatic 90, the one I had, the early version, it was of the close coupled type with the variable pulley mounted on the motor and connected to it's mate on the arbor by the short wide drive belt typical of this design. The later versions isolated the motor from the arbor by mounting the variable drive pully to an intermediate "jack shaft" driven by a second V pully and belt wit the motor down below. I would recommend this version over the one I had if you can find one.
I have a friend who owned one of the old Art Deco design Yates, It also had a Reeves drive and it was a very smooth machine, maybe it was the extra mass. Picture attached. All these old machines are getting rare though, and as most are typically 39" between centers you will have to build a bed extension. You might find a good condition patternmakers lathe but they usually typically sell for a premium as well.
Anyway Best of luck in your search
No help here on the lathe (benchtop model owner here), but condolences on losing your old one. Hope it all works out and hoping they made you whole..
You did not specify a budget but Nova lathes can have bed extensions added. Top of the range in every way.
Thank you. I've not investigated the Nova lathe, but I'll look at it.
My budget is still undefined as we are in the middle of building a new shop. Should be completed in the next month. I was hoping to find a quality lathe for up to $3K. I know that the NEW Oneway suggested here is quite a bit more.
The biggest difference is the silky smooth operation compared to the older lathes. Also the convivence of the inverter drive vs the variable speed Reeves drive on the Powermatic and Oliver. As heavy as they were, there was always just a bit of vibration or a tick I could not get rid of. Maybe I was just unlucky with the two...
You are right, the Oneway is a bit pricey but if you can cough it up you won't be disappointed. Also the availability of parts and accessories such as bed extensions. Like you I was primarily spindle turning, so the ability to easily extend the distance between centers was a plus. Since then I have gravitated toward more turning of live edge bowls, hollow forms and lidded vessels so my bed extension spends most of it's time bolted on the outboard side and with a taller banjo (24" swing out there) it provides great flexibility here as well.
With that said, I hope the following will be helpful if you decide to look for an old machine:
I think the issues with the Powermatic and Oliver centered around the close coupled Reeves drive. If you find one of these you would be wise to look at one you can see run.
I found out later that there were two versions of the Powermatic 90, the one I had, the early version, it was of the close coupled type with the variable pulley mounted on the motor and connected to it's mate on the arbor by the short wide drive belt typical of this design. The later versions isolated the motor from the arbor by mounting the variable drive pully to an intermediate "jack shaft" driven by a second V pully and belt wit the motor down below. I would recommend this version over the one I had if you can find one.
I have a friend who owned one of the old Art Deco design Yates, It also had a Reeves drive and it was a very smooth machine, maybe it was the extra mass. Picture attached. All these old machines are getting rare though, and as most are typically 39" between centers you will have to build a bed extension. You might find a good condition patternmakers lathe but they usually typically sell for a premium as well.
Anyway Best of luck in your search
Merry Christmas
Rob
“[Deleted]”
Have you looked at the Robust lathes? I don't own one but the ones that I have looked at appear to be really solid. A bit pricey, but I believe they're all made in the USA.
Thank you, I will.
Here is the picture I referenced. Had to jump through a lot of hoops to get all posted. They need to do some work on this site.
Definitely a code 18.
Art deco is right!! what a beautiful old machine this is.
My American Lathe was three phase. The motor shaft was the spindle of the lathe and the lathe speeds were controlled by a shifting handle just below the motor which adjusted the power feed to the motor. Limited number of speeds but it was very smooth.
My father and I cobbled together the wooden extension. I turned a lot of spindles on this old thing. After looking at a number of references regarding the Oneway lathes, I a currently lusting for the model 1640.
I really appreciate the time you have taken with this.
Again, best of luck and
Merry Christmas
Rob
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