While looking at a few videos demonstrating the Robust American Beauty it was mentioned that one of its advantages is being able to move the headstock along the lathe ways. It's obvious that this feature was made possible by making the motor integral with the headstock as opposed to it mounted to the base. A number of lathes are now made this way. Just thinking out loud on a weekend morning, I have a few questions about the design ....
Is the higher placed motor design less stable than one with the motor positioned lower?
I noticed in one of Ashley Harwood's videos where the headstock on her Robust is slid toward the opposite end to handle a 48" table base. That got me to thinking, isn't that the same thing as turning outboard on the back side of a fixed headstock? Also, does the motor placement on the Robust prevent turning on the backside? It would seem so because of their fixed indexing system and no means of attaching a chuck, faceplate, etc.