Powermatic vs Grizzly wood lathe

[David Christopher]

Rich,
Good idea. I'll see if I can line some up in my area to try out.

Thanks

Ed, my Dad has the Grizzly G0632....he dont live too far from you...if you would like to try it out, PM me, and I will set it up for you

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I don't have a fancy lathe (an old Delta "benchtop" unit), but I recommend that you maintain perspective....the lathe just spins around. Not too much more complicated than that. Mass is an issue if you're spinning some big stuff...but just bolt the thing down. Also, how you vary speed settings (electronic, stepped pulley, reeve drive, etc.) is just a matter of convenience.

I've probably just committed a major sin in the wood turning spectra, but what the heck. I'm a utilitarian wood turner. But, if my limited opinion means anything, I would go with the Grizzly. It just seems the most economical option...and I'd spend the difference on good tooling.

-Jeff

[Ed Morgano]

I don't have a fancy lathe (an old Delta "benchtop" unit), but I recommend that you maintain perspective....the lathe just spins around. Not too much more complicated than that. Mass is an issue if you're spinning some big stuff...but just bolt the thing down. Also, how you vary speed settings (electronic, stepped pulley, reeve drive, etc.) is just a matter of convenience.

I've probably just committed a major sin in the wood turning spectra, but what the heck. I'm a utilitarian wood turner. But, if my limited opinion means anything, I would go with the Grizzly. It just seems the most economical option...and I'd spend the difference on good tooling.

-Jeff

Jeff,
I can't agree more. I've been using a home made wooded wood lathe for the past 15 years. I've been struggling with buying or building another lathe for several years. I really don't intend to do much large work but I really like the idea of the frequency drive for the convience of changing speeds.
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However, after a lot of thought lately, I've decided to build one more version of my wooden wood lathe. The main problem with the one I have now is the way I ran the grain didn't allow for srinkage. In some places I crossed the wood and some of it split. Other places, the shrinkage caused miss-alignment between the headstock and tail stock. This time I intend to laminate several plys of Oak to minimize any warpage and I'll run the grain in the same direction on head and tail stock so it should stay aligned. I'm going to start another thread in woodworking projects to document my build.

Thanks for all the input guys. I appreciate your time and information.

[David Christopher]

Ed, thats a good looking lathe....if you build another one, and you want varible speed, you can use a treadmill motor....they go from 1 to 3 1/2 HP and you can get them pretty cheap

[Dave MacArthur]

Ed, you're a very handy guy... every time you post something I think, "there's a guy who should build and sell something for the shop made out of wood or such". So much makes sense!

Impressive work on the lathe too!

[Dave Lehnert]

I always thought it was odd that Grizzly never went all out for the lathe bizz. Guess they have their reasons but could be a force in lathes.
I am not a huge lathe user but always thought the Grizzly G0694 "looked" like a decent unit but not much press.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/20-x...od-Lathe/G0694

Or how about the Woodtech #1 can't find anyone who has one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enR7mP1Qj8k

[Ed Morgano]

Ed, thats a good looking lathe....if you build another one, and you want varible speed, you can use a treadmill motor....they go from 1 to 3 1/2 HP and you can get them pretty cheap

Thanks David....I'll look into that.

[Ed Morgano]

I always thought it was odd that Grizzly never went all out for the lathe bizz. Guess they have their reasons but could be a force in lathes.
I am not a huge lathe user but always thought the Grizzly G0694 "looked" like a decent unit but not much press.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/20-x...od-Lathe/G0694

Or how about the Woodtech #1 can't find anyone who has one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enR7mP1Qj8k

Dave,
I watched that video and I can honestly say that I will NEVER turn anything that big....WOW. I can see why no one has one of these. The one in the video goes for about 8900.00. I'm sure if you were into that sort of thing, that would be the lathe to have.

[Ed Morgano]

Ed, thats a good looking lathe....if you build another one, and you want varible speed, you can use a treadmill motor....they go from 1 to 3 1/2 HP and you can get them pretty cheap

David,
I visited your dad on Saturday and looked at his lathe. I really appreciate his time and yours too. He also showed me some of the bowls that you've turned. All I can say is that you do incredible work. The one bowl was absolutely perfect in every way and the finish was amazing. I hope your work is getting some recognition.

[Rick Markham]

I made this decision a month ago, get the powermatic and never look back. 38" of outboard swing, nearly 700lbs, smooth, quiet,has a solid reputation and a very strong following (me included) The only thing I would even consider trading mine for would be a Robust American Beauty, and even then I would have a hard time giving it up. It's a solid machine and the fit and finish is top notch IMHO. I don't have a single complaint regarding mine, and I plan on pushing mine to it's limits, just give me time! It's a dream machine!

[Frank Drew]

I'm all for keeping it simple, and in the world of turning if you only do spindle work (between centers), then bed length is probably more important than some other features, but if you want to do faceplate work (bowls, platters, etc.) then some of the recent improvements in lathe design will make your work a lot easier. If your lathe is set up to do outboard work conveniently (including using the same tooling inboard and out -- Attn: General!), IMO you'll be a lot happier than having to turn everything inboard with the lathe bed in the way of your body; being able to move the headstock to right hand end of the ways (e.g. Powermatic) accomplishes the same thing, of course. Speed control and reversing are also what I'd consider genuine improvements, not just bells and whistles.