Feedback Desired

I'm currently using an old Nova Comet minilathe with a gap bed. Not a bad lathe (excepting the motor mount) but at my age a swivel head is looking better all the time.

I'm seriously considering the General MaxiLathe VS. See:

link to the lathe I'm looking at

without commenting on the specific lathe, let me discourage you from swivel head lathes - others who have such things will no doubt comment, but very few persons I know with such things use the swivel feature, and it is another source of vibration and problems - you will be far better served getting a more rigid lathe without a swivel feature, and without a motor for that matter - motors are really really cheap - when you get them used or surplus - and I would seriously doubt that the motor is really a sustained 2 HP - it might reach 2 HP if you swung it around on a rope and had it smack into something, but at 110, you are right at the maximum of a typical breaker with a 2 HP motor, and there is usually a significant starting surge.

ask around, including here, for used lathes - ask around for used motors. And if possible, get 220V out to where your shop is - almost all houses have

I would also encourage you to insist on a standard thread pitch on the spindle - either 1.25X8TPI or the one way type M33 threads - avoid things like the Oliver with the 1 1/8 diameter spindle unless you get a real steal

Minimum speed too fast, banjo from a lathe half its swing, and a minilathe backswept tailstock that'll make bowl turning a bit more difficult because the base will interfere with even a short tool handle.

On the plus side, it is a "standard" diameter and pitch at the head stock, at 14 amps there's more than enough oomph to remove a shaving.

I can't agree that swivel heads are inherently unstable. The moving headstock has to have clearance to move and hold to stay, but if the hold is properly tended to, should present no problem. What will present a problem is that fragile banjo extension. A ridiculous item guaranteed to break if used.

William

On the question of a swivel head, I'm on the other side of the fence.

I have a swivel head on a Jet 1442 and love it.,

Yes, I have to adjust it (just a bit) after swiveling it, if I'm going to use the tailstock.

But for turning the inside of bowls I find it much easier to swivel it about 45 degrees. Much better than hanging over the ways of the lathe.

When it's in line, it locks down nicely, and doesn't cause any problems.

BTW, the usual concept is that you turn the head 90 degrees, and put a piece of wood on it bigger than the swing of the lathe. Not me. Looks like much more excitement than I care for. Think I'd have better chances driving wrong way on the interstate.

Just my $.02

Old Guy Who actually turned someth> > On to my question, has anyone here seen the Grizzly G0462? The photos

I could not disagree with you more. I have a Nova 3K purchased after using a fixed head lathe for years. I use the swivel feature constantly. I got it because I was tired of leaning over the bed to work on the inside of bowls, boxes and deep vases. I DO NOT find any increase in vibration nor have I experienced any problems. Moreover I have far greater control, my sight picture is better, and it is far easier and more comfortable to work on the inside of faceplate work with the head turned.

My question to you is "Have you ever really used one?"

Hi JD, Not to pile on our good friend Bill N., but let me encourage you to consider a modern swivel head lathe. Like most here, I don't use mine as an outboard spindle for turning large heavy blanks, rather to ease and enhance turning the size blanks the lathe is designed for.

Most lathes have a swivelling banjo and a sliding tailstock, both locked down by a cam lock and vibration bedamned, not many of us would go back to nut & bolt lock downs.

Even before my spine stenosed and my back ached (and my gourd softened), I much preferred to realign my N3K's headstock than my vertebral column. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Well.... It's not a real 2HP (not at it's 110 current draw). It's not a bad lathe (I looked at it at the show room last year), but it's not a GREAT lathe either

I have always been wary of the Grizzly tools. In almost every tool review I have read, they say you need to fiddle with them a bit. I have heard of a lot of small problems with their machines. Generally they have power, but fit and finish isn't so good. Their industrial grade machines are better. As far as the swivel head, there were some problems with the earlier versions of these machines, but most of them have been worked out. I prefer the sliding headstock. It does the same thing. A 14 inch throw lathe is made for up to 14 inch diameter things. If you consistantly want to turn bigger things, you can on a smaller lathe, but really, if you want to turn bigger things, get a bigger lathe.

As far as the 2 hp motor, while I am not an electrical engineer, everything I have read states quite clearly that a motor from 1hp and up runs more efficiently on 220 volt service. 2 hp on 110 makes me suspicious. More hp is better. A variable speed option is money well spent. Once you have it you wonder how you lived without it.

robo hippy

Larry.. having a lathe with a swivel (Jet 1442vs) head and about to buy another, (Nova dvr xp) I think swivel heads are way over rated.. I turn it once in a while for sanding, but then I have to move it back and go through the aligning process every time I want to use the tail stock... I've used quite a few lathes and never seen one that detents to an exact match...

mac

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guaranteed to break if used.

You got my vote there..

One came with my Jet and I've never been brave enough to use it... When I was researching my purchase, both Jet and Delta owners said "don't use the tool rest extension"..

On the Nova I'm buying, I plan to add a free standing tool rest for any offset or outboard turning.. just seems safer and steadier to me.. YMWV

mac

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Thanks, Reed... You're helping justify the $2,500 - $3,000 I'm gonna throw into the Nova..

That's a LOT of sales, er? lol

mac

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If you get the locking insert for your chucks you don't need to fiddle with outboard too much. Reverse and turn with the standard banjo and rest. We used to turn at 9 o'clock in the bad old days, and it wasn't that bad a deal.

I love mine, but never expect it to pay for itself. After a multiple pulley lathe, and a reeves drive one, the XP is abnormally quiet and smooth.

Hi Robo, I wonder if sliding and swivelling headstocks do quite the same thing, at least re convenience and comfort.

I can see that a cleat on the headstock that rides between the ways would help prevent lateral vibration and motion, but it has to be loose enough to slide. I don't see any way to easily correct a possible misalignment occuring somewhere along the bed, even if it is minimal.

I like to keep my tool cabinet and sharpening station near the headstock where I usually stand. Swivelling doesn't change that, but sliding the headstock and standing at the end of the bed to face the bed axis might.

I don't have to remove the tailstock and clean off the mess I usually leave on the bed behind it for convenient and comfortable access to a swivelled headstock. Don't I have to remove (and replace) a heavy tailstock before I can enjoy the advantages of a sliding headstock?

I have never actually turned wood on a sliding headstock lathe and my arm chair musings may have it all wrong. If so, blame my nit pickin on my being one of those "trashy Southerners" who spent many happy years in 'Hotlanta'. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Locking insert??

I just figured on turning the headstock 180 degrees or sliding it to the other end, not using the actual outboard spindle.. I keep the vac setup on the outboard/hand wheel side and would hate to take it off any time I turned outboard..

mac

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Good, good, good.. Keep telling me how much you like it as I put all those bucks onto a perfectly good credit card that finally has a zero balance.. *sigh*

I figure that all I have to sell is an average of 40 or 50 bowls or pens and it's paid for..

Now, all I have to do is coordinate ordering it and having it and all the accessories that I need with it all together at one store and talk a friend into bringing it down..

mac

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Only if you're using a self-standing tool rest, Arch... If you're using the normal tool rest it's optional but the tailstock might get in your way... I find that if the tailstock is at the end of the bed it doesn't get in the way near as much as when it's up near the head of the lathe..

I sometimes slide the headstock down to the tailstock instead of sliding the tailstock up to it... Sort of like working on a bowl lathe because you have just enough lathe bed for the tailstock and can stand at the end of the lathe..

mac

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Hmm, I knew there was something... You have me at a disadvantage. Since that is where I'm from, before Florida, I thought the trashy ones were those who collude to protect self-serving, carpetbagging political tools, and, of course, the tools themselves. (Having no empathy for dangerously myopic sycophants or baseless, yet far reaching rumor mills.) For me, Atlanta was much preferable pre 1987. And Chicago wasn't too shabby either.

As for headstocks, I've found the sliding version to be useful, but does require removal of the TS. It is cheap to implement. There is no sterling solution I've found for the banjo issue, however. Anything that reaches around from the bed is going to be unstable, and a floor mounted stand is theoretically objectionable. I am tempted to try it, nevertheless, just to see if I can turn a 28" bowl with a DIY free-standing tool rest without encountering that horrific catch which breaks not only the bowl, but my skull as well; indifferent to the cabal of Cobb residents who would rejoice at that prospect...

Ciao,

Greg G.