A few weeks ago, I turned to this august body for advice on which new lathe to buy. My venerable Harbor Freight lathe had bitten the dust so what better excuse to buy a new, more powerful lathe? The fact that SWIMBO had agreed to a new one as my Christmas present meant that the stars were all aligned for once.
I received a ton of great thoughts, insights and recommendations from my fellow SMCers. A Powermatic 3520A was the overwhelming consensus. So, being a well trained Creeker, I called up Amazon and told them to send one right over.
It showed up less than a week later on an 18-wheeler. Fortunately, it had a lift gate and one of Santas elves complete with pallet jack. For a measly $20 donation to the elfs Christmas fund,he wheeled the 700+ pound package right into my garage and within about a foot of where it needed to be. He even helped me remove the steel bands and cardboard box that weighed 40# all by itself.
Getting it off the pallet, installing the adjustable machine support feet, moving it into final position and getting it all level proved to be a piece of cake. The input I received to a second SMC query regarding how uncrate it and set it up was invaluable. I easily managed to do it all myself with a small floor style car jack, a 6-foot long 2 x 8 and a little of that good old engineering ingenuity. Think leverage!One person can easily get this monster off the pallet and completely set up within 20 minutes and not even break a sweat.
Ive now had a couple of weeks to really work with my new favorite tool. I built a box to hold 3-50# sand bags to add even more mass low down below the center of gravity. I also installed a piece of wire closet shelving at an angle to hold all my turning tools. Finally, a sprinkling of rare earth magnets to hold all the other various other lathe tools completed the ensemble. Total investment was less than $25.
I know many of you like those catalog ready photos showing the new tool in a pristine environment without a speck of saw dust. Unfortunately, in my shop those moments are measured in nanoseconds and the 3520A was no exception. As soon as I had it all set up, I threw a bowl blank cut from a really, really punky Live (Dead?) Oak that had come down in my back yard a few weeks ago during a storm. It was still so wet I needed a snorkel when I began to turn it. It is shown in several of the photos and is about 14-inches in diameter.
Some of the things I like:
1. The power that 2 hp motor is heavenly after the Ύ hp HF unit.
2. The smoothness the speed adjustment in either the low or high range is very linear and silky smooth. I suspect I will just leave it in the high range.
3. The mass this baby isnt going anywhere!
4. The power!
5. The sliding headstock it makes bowl turning a lot easier if you dont have to be a contortionist.
6. The 20-inch swing the 14-inch bowl blank still has plenty of room to spare.
7. The power.
8. It reverses this comes in handy when making the final cuts on the inside of a bowl. It is also nice when sanding.
9. The price only a few hundred dollars more than a Jet 1642 with similar motor and $500 less than a 3520B. The legs are the new 3520B configuration for no extra charge to boot!
10. Did I mention the greater power?
A couple of things I dont like:
1. The color it looks like something that came back up after a hard night of drinking in college.
2. Location of the readout what could possibly have prompted the design team to put the digital readout on the back of the headstock and not even have it read in rpm?
The bottom line is that this is an outstanding lathe that will last me a lifetime.
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Originally Posted by Andy Hoyt
