Powermatic 45 or 3520A?

[Steve Mathews]

John - Here's a pic of what I thought was a compressor. I didn't know they had vacuum operated chucks. Maybe that's the chuck also shown in the pic. This is interesting.
lathe.jpg

I too have an affinity for the old stuff. We have an old steel water tank on our mountain home in Arizona. My wife calls it the toilet paper roll because of the shape and its white paint. It makes for an interesting piece of yard art near the pool. I plan to put some function to it by using it for irrigation. I also have a John Deere 855 tractor that I had given thought to replacing but found the newer stuff much less appealing. The 855 is built like a tank and still runs good. If necessary I'll just work on it to keep it running. I would've liked to get an older wood lathe but pickings here in the Southwest are limited, unlike the rust belt. Besides, maybe the newer 3520A will allow me to concentrate on developing some wood turning skills instead of spending time with a restoration. That's the plan anyway.

[Steve Mathews]

If it's just between these two machines.......no question the 3520A. IMHO, your still plucking down a good coin either way and your still just 1 breakdown away from having invested the same money that could have bought a brand new Grizzly 0766. Don't know your money situation but there's been a lot of changes recently in lathe offerings that (to me at least) make buying old iron not as attractive as it use to be. Maybe if the machines were sub-500 bucks, I'd have a different opinion.......

After looking at the specs. on the Grizzly 0766 I'm beginning to see your point. For about $2k less than the cost of a new Powermatic 3520B you get a larger motor. I don't know how everything else compares though including quality. This has got me stumped.

[John K Jordan]

John - Here's a pic of what I thought was a compressor. I didn't know they had vacuum operated chucks. Maybe that's the chuck also shown in the pic. This is interesting.
lathe.jpg

That white tube is a vacuum line that goes to a vacuum adapter currently connected to the back of the spindle at the left. Some will simply pull out but that one looks like you may have to loosen a screw. If so, there should be a hand wheel that you then fasten.

To use you put a special (usually home-made) vacuum chuck on the threaded end of the spindle and can hold platters and bowls and things for turning the base. Very handy to have for the future but if you get that lathe just remove it and save for a few years.

That looks like a normal scroll chuck on the lathe. If it comes with a vacuum system, chucks, and other tools you may have found yourself a real bargain. (BTW, I looked a the new Grizzly and got a PM instead. I think the PM is heaver duty and well made - and has a very good long-time reputation with amazing woodturners. But I'm sure you will be happy with either; both are far more lathe than most people start with!)

There are lots of places to read up on vacuum chucking, for example I like this guy: http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneeri...umchucking.htm

JKJ

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

it appears that the lathe includes a Oneway vacuum adapter. it installs permanently in place of the lathe's handwheel.

I agree that the chuck looks like a standard scroll (4-jaw) chuck.

[John K Jordan]

... Oneway vacuum adapter. it installs permanently in place of the lathe's handwheel.

Interesting. I have a Oneway vacuum adapter that looks like that for the PM3520B. I remove it and connect the handwheel. I can't see how to use the knockout bar if the adapter is on the lathe. Is it possible to use the knockout bar?

JKJ

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

hmm, I have one but have never installed it. I thought it was permanent. maybe I need to spend more time in the shop.

[Steve Mathews]

I picked up the PM 3520A today. This is one heavy piece of machinery. One of its other advantages is that it can be easily broken down into manageable sections without much trouble. Can't wait to get turning with it.

[John K Jordan]

hmm, I have one but have never installed it. I thought it was permanent. maybe I need to spend more time in the shop.

It looks like JT Turning tools has a a removable vacuum adapter to avoid the change-out.
http://www.jtturningtools.com/PM3520-adapter

JKJ

[Steve Mathews]

I picked up the Powermatic 3520A today. This is one heavy piece of machinery. Another good thing about it is that it can be disassembled fairly easy into more manageable sections. I can't wait to get started turning.

[John K Jordan]

I picked up the PM 3520A today. This is one heavy piece of machinery.

You got that right. I had two people helping when I disassembled and moved a PM3520B from a guy's house to a trailer, but I unloaded and set it up myself. I had to use dollys and a floor jack and make some supports hold things in place to get it back together. The mass sure is nice when turning things that are a little unbalanced.

When you get it together and the ways clean, I like to adjust all four feet until the ways of the lathe are as level as possible, although that is not strictly necessary. Then slide the tailstock up to the headstock with some kind of point center in each, tighten the tailstock, and check the alignment of the two points. If the points don't touch precisely, you can probably fix it by adjusting (if it came with the leg adjusters) or shimming just one leg.

For example if the tailstock point is slightly to the front of the headstock point (to the left if looking towards the headstock from above). raise just the right front leg a little. The entire cast iron bed will actually twist a bit to bring the points into alignment.

JKJ

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

It looks like JT Turning tools has a a removable vacuum adapter to avoid the change-out.
http://www.jtturningtools.com/PM3520-adapter

JKJ

yeah, I know...I bought one of those too.