Discounted Nova 1624-44 lathes at Woodcraft

[Mike Holbrook]

Woodcraft is currently offering this lathe at $999.99, $500 off the normal price.

[Izzy Camire]

I read some reviews about this lathe and it seems like guys who own it really like it. I am wondering what do Creekers think. Seems like a decent price.

[charlie knighton]

normal promotions are 10%.....do they say anything about reconditioned???????......could be model will be discontioned........with new model coming out, I have not heard anything........no facts, just conjetuae

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

not the first time Woodcraft has offered this deal on that lathe.

if you're looking to get a bigger lathe, it's a hard deal to pass up.

[Ben Darrah]

They offer this deal about twice a year. I bought one a couple years ago, and love it. I looked at several lathes and this was the best deal with quality and swing in mind. I also like the rotating headstock better that sliding units, but that is my personal opinion. It is not variable speed however. I don't mind changing belts, but some people might. WC also runs a $500 off special on the DVR at least once a year. If you are in Ohio, Hartville Hardware offers this lathe at close to this price all year long.

[Scott Hackler]

The Nova 1624 was my first lathe and I still own it, even after buying a monster lathe. It served me well for 3-4 years and I pushed the limits with it for sure. I once had a piece or wood on it so big that I had to use the chainsaw to nibble the outside so it wouldn't hit the ways! That was scary!

Pros:
Decent price on sale and they hold their value well
16" swing
1.5 HP motor
Rotating head stock. I used to use that a lot but kind of got away from using it.
MT2 tapers
1 1/4" x 8tpi threads

Cons:

Out of the box it is light on the weight. I believe it is 320 lbs or so. A lot of folks build ballast boxes to add more weight
The belt driven speed selectors are pretty wide between speeds. think 1000, 1400,1800, 2200
Only goes down to 250ish RPM, so large off balanced blanks are .....a fun ride!
Rotating head stock has to be realigned with pointed drives in head and tail, before locking down. The lock indents are not accurate.
Supplied live center is horrible and should be replaced immediately!


Overall, it is a great value and with a good live center (One Way) and a home build ballast box to weigh down the lathe... it would complete with a bunch of lathes costing double. IF OF COURSE, you over look the belt driven speed changes. I can change speeds in about 10 seconds now, but when I first got it it would take a minute.

[J.D.Redwine]

Speed Range: 215-3600

[Robert Willing]

I bought my Nova 1624-44 three (3) years ago for $899.99 at WC and one year later upgraded to the Nova DVR 1624 upgrade motor for an additional $799.99 which was the last of the Beta units. This brought my lathe to just under the DVR on sale.

I can run my lathe down to 100rpms by setting it to 250rpm preset and lower the speed using the down arrow. I do not see any loose of torque regardless of what speed I use.

I did not like changing the belts because I found that the bolts holding the motor would not stay in place and the lathe made different noises after changing the belt and retightening the back lever. Now I just leave it set to 1440rpm setting and forget the belt changing which did bother me. I had two previous lathes that were variable speed by changing a dial. All an all I would not give up my lathe for anything. I added the bed extension because of a customer requirement for a longer spindle. I did not use the legs that came with the lathe but rather made the suggested bench and put the castings and legs in the lower box of the bench for added weight.

I made the bench with 4X4's legs and 2X8's cross members and carriage bolts, 2 layers of MDF for the top and laminated the top with left over laminate and covered the top edges with walnut left overs.

[Gary Baler]

Try it you'll like it!!!! Just finished a 15 3/4" spalted maple bowl on mine about 15 minutes ago. As for changing belts, it takes about 15 seconds. For the money it is a great lathe.

[Tom Brouillette]

I bought mine in January, and haven't regretted it yet. I got it for the same price from Rockler. They put them on sale every now and then.

[Jim Flynn]

I bought mine last May and have turned lots of bowls and platters with it. Changing speeds is not hard and the lathe is fairly well behaved with reasonably in balance blanks if you weight the base. Nova provides plans for a suggested base that I built and and ballasted the heck out of with crushed stone and sand. Nonetheless it is not as stable as the bigger and heavier lathes like a PM3520 or Robust American Beauty but it costs significantly less and at that price is a terrific deal in my opinion.

I don't think you can wrong with this lathe at that price as the next step up is a significant multiple of $1000 for a PM, Robust, etc.

Good luck with your decision

[Izzy Camire]

Thanks again to everyone for their input. I am stopping after work over at Woodcraft so I will take a good look.