Best Buy By Far (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I have been turning for a couple years and my teacher had a couple of Oneway 2436s. For the money, the Powermatic is the way to go without a doubt (you could have two of these for the cost of a similar Oneway). The sliding head stock is my favorite feature. I have the 3520 and think the wider stance of the 3520A is a nice improvement(although they no longer have Baldor motors). The safety shield/cage -not pictured- is a terrific idea (it only takes one time for a piece of wood to come off the lathe for you to realize that). Another feature which is nice is that the lathe can be moved into a basement with relative ease because the legs, bed, and motor can all be seperated. I got my lathe from Joe Osolnik (Rude Osolnik's son- Rude designed the lathe) and there are great package deals available. I highly recomend the remote on/off switch. I cannot say enough great things about this piece of equipment. I have seen that Jet now makes a 16 inch lathe with similar features but you would have to be nuts to not spend a little more and get this lathe. As one reviewer mentioned you can set a board between the legs- I put sandbags on top of my board for when I am doing really large pieces (it probably is not necessary but it is nice to be able to do). If you do not have a money tree in your backyard, this is the lathe to buy.
Upgraded from my Rockwell/Delta (Rating: 5.00)
Review : ...So what makes this so great?
1. No vibration,(within reason). I mounted a 20lb. piece of wet silver maple, very off center, and was able to take it up to over 500 RPM (my guess), and the only thing shaking was a very slight vibration on the shield.
2. Outboard Turning on the end of the lathe bed. With the Oneway, it looks like the tool rest is a neat solid deal, attached on the end of the lathe, but that does put a slight restriction on where you can put the tool rest, and the diameter stops at the banjo for those people turning mirror frames on plywood backs. The tool rest on the Powermatic is movable anywhere, and free standing. It is also heavy enough not to move in use. Allows your diameter to go to the floor, if you desire.
3. The electronic drive. They say you get a Baldor, but mine is a Delta and it is extremely smooth, and loses no power that I can detect. The lowest speed available is about 8 RPM, even though they say 0-1200 and 0-3200. I actually did some rough gouging at this speed with no loss of power.
4....
5. Fit and finish is top shelf. End of story. They even cleaned up early complaints about rough finishes on the tailstock handle. What's wrong?
1. Not enough accessories in the chuck department. ...and found Oneway chucks set up for the Powermatic that work great. ...BR>2. No real RPM meter. The readout on the electronic drive is in Frequency, and in any case, it is on the back of the headstock. My only real gripe. (Actually, I do it by sound and judgement anyway.)
...5. That awful yellow color. (What were they thinking?) If you're looking to make the jump, and you're serious about woodturning, skip the Oneway, buy the Powermatic and load it up with accessories. You'll still spend less than the Oneway.
The Rolls-Royce of lathes (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I own many power tools and have been a Delta fan for years (cabinet saw, sander, contractors saw, and lathe). I wanted to move up in quality and chose the Powermatic over the One-Way. This is a wonderful tool. Huge,extremely solid, and runs virtually vibration free--I keep a nickel handy to stand on edge, turn on the power, and watch my friends amazement
Every part of this tool is quality from the variable speed motor to the tool rest. This is one fine machine
A Great Lathe (Rating: 5.00)
Review : This is my third lathe and I love its stability and quality. I placed a solid 2X12 piece of purpleheart across the bottom between the legs of the lathe to provide a place to put additional weight on it when I am turning heavy off-center pieces (Powermatic placed built-in stops for this purpose). It does not crawl or wobble and I have been able to do some large out-of-balance pieces with no problem. I also appreciate the sliding head allowing one to do large diameter pieces at the end. A great value! This one I will be keeping. I highly recommend it.
Powermatic 3520A (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I graduated from a Delta Midi Lathe to this lathe and have been using it for about a month. It has met and exceeded all of my expectations. The weight and smooth running system have allowed me to turn to such a degree of smoothness that sanding time is almost non existant! The power at low speeds combined with the smoothness even with out of balance wood at higher speeds is phenominal. The only feature I feel could use improvemnet is the digital readout is for the frequency of the motor control, it would be more user friendly if it actually read out spindle rpm instead. Don't waste your money on the more expensive popular lathes..... this one will do anything they can do!
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