I'm glad I have not ordered a lathe yet. I thought about a Oneway 1224 or 1236 for a while. I was nervous about that machine due to concerns about the smallish 1hp motor on both models. I am glad I did not order a Grizzly as my fears about delivery dates have proven valid and when delivery dates slip like that I start wondering what might be behind the smoke. I have also been experiencing allergic reactions with the skin on my hands that have limited my ability to do much of the "hand" tool work I would like to be doing. It may be that a lathe will allow me to stay involved with woodworking while the doctors try to figure out a longer term solution to my skin issues.
Lately I have been thinking about buying one of the better, premium, North American made lathes. It just seems like there are too many issues that can and often do show up with the less expensive lathes that are partially or entirely manufactured in China. I expect these issues will eventually get worked out but, about the time they do I expect some new feature set will toss things back into uproar. I am less confident of products that are manufactured to compete at very competitive price points. I fear there are just too many chances for some sort of attempt to reduce manufacturing cost to result in more problems than calculated. I think I would rather spend the extra money to be more confident that the product I am buying will be over engineered.
I am a combo hand tool and machine woodworker, who, until recently, preferred to do as much with hand tools as possible. The dust and set up time for many machine made projects are issues for me. I want to make chair and table legs that will be under 36". I actually think 24-28" between centers would handle my needs. I am interested in turning smaller 12 " & under bowls and plates. I am working on some less conventional ways to make chair seats and larger bowls. I believe I can do more of these jobs with a hammer and large chisels/gouges and save a little stress on my hands vs using an adze, inshave or axe. I seem to run into problems when I rub the skin on my hands too hard the wrong way.
Robust seems to be the most popular premium lathe on this forum. I have been studying the machines they make but I am not sure what might be the best machine for me. I think the Liberty is a favorite among creekers? The Liberty looks to me to be a little better design for spindles than the Sweet 16, which seems to lean more toward turning bowls? The independence appears to be designed for seated turning. Price information is not easy to find on the Robust web site. If I step up to a larger model Oneway (from the 1224/1236) I am wondering if I might find another viable option? The Oneway 1640 looks like it might get me into a premium lathe for around $1000 less and at least on paper it appears to meet all my requirements. The Oneway 1640 seems to offer most of the options that are features of their larger lathes.