Teaser Alert

[Nate Davey]

After 14 total hours of driving, my "new to me" lathe is at the house. I remember reading many a post over the years of SMC folks hitting the woodturning jackpot and always wishing it was me. Well, my jackpot number finally came up. My wife and picked up this slightly used Nichols lathe with all the attachments and a vacuum setup. He also threw in bunch of turning blanks. More pics to follow.
Nichols.jpg

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nate... CONGRATS!!! Looking forward to seeing photos of it all set up!!

[ray hampton]

You bought a Nickle lathe , we want pictures

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats Nate. Now the fun begins.

[Reed Gray]

Those were very good lathes, predating the Oneway, and the 3520. Should be fun.

robo hippy

[Alan Trout]

Nate,

That is an awesome lathe congratulations and I look forward to seeing it when you get it setup.

Alan

[Nate Davey]

So, after doing some honey-do projects I was able to get out and play with the lathe. As I don't have 220v in the garage yet it was more cleaning and setting up. This is the original plate from Nichols. Was surprised to see this was built in 2002 as there isn't a single scratch on the lathe. The lathe hasn't been used in about 6 years. Fortunately, it was stored in Southern Arizona, so not very much rust. The original owner must have bought every gizmo Nichols made as it came with a lot of swag. To call this lathe a tank would be giving tanks more credit than they deserve.
Data Plate.jpg
The lathe came as a long bed, but for me, the short bed replacement piece will fit the bill. The Gast vacuum pump came with it and the remote pendant is pretty handy.
Nichols 2.jpg
The lathe bed length can be increased by cranking the handle on the through beam. The outriggers came with the floor plates and custom wrenches for leveling the lathe.
Nichols End.jpg
There is even an indexing wheel and a simple spindle lock, the locking pin is stored behind the safety cover.
Nichols Index.jpg
While this wont impress anyone but us Yanks, ALL the connectors are in inches. I plan on adding a RPM display, hand wheel and put a plug and magnets on the remote pendant. Now I have to finish unpacking everything in the garage, get appropriate power and build benches and storage.
Thanks for looking.

[Tim Rinehart]

Nate, what a great gloat!!! You are in a very small group of owners of a lathe that a lot of folks had been scrambling for. I'm glad to see you'll have it, and I know you'll put it to good use! Dang...now I really hate you having left NC, but I don't think you'd have it had you not moved there. Have fun my friend!

[Nate Davey]

So Tim, when you coming out?

[Russell Eaton]

Congrats Nate, that thing looks like a BEAST!

[Michael James]

Hey neighbor - congratulations on a nice haul. Have fun!
mj

[David DeCristoforo]

Now I'm impressed! That lathe looks like it will handle just about anything you would ever throw at it. I'm not even going to ask what it set you back but I'm sure it was worth it! There are so many nice features on that machine. I tried searching for more information on them but there seems to be little available. Apparently they don't make em like that anymore....

[Reed Gray]

He stopped making them 12 or so years back. I was looking at the 3520A and that lathe. Chose the PM. Mostly when Oneway came out, they made a huge cut in his sales. I looked one over very closely, and it was built like the proverbial brick out house.

robo hippy

[Scott Hackler]

Wow that is a great gloat and a great find. Looks like a monster of a lathe. The trees in the neighborhood should be worried!

[Josh Bowman]

A friend of mine has a Nichols. It's a monster! Congrats