# brands of used lathes



## holtzdreher (Jul 20, 2016)

Been seeing several older heavy duty wood lathes on craigs list. My first wood lathe was purchased cheap on Craig's list and turned ok, but for a few dollars more I got an HF lathe with variable speed and better stand. Recently I have been seeing several older heavier duty lathes for sale. Currently, a 1920's Oliver and a half dozen Powermatics (models 45's and 90's) Then an odd Grizzly and a Jet. all the prior lathes for under a grand and then a one way that is $4k. There have been a few questions here and on other forums about what used lathes beginners may buy. If I were looking to upgrade to a heavier duty lathe, would an older Powermatic 45 with variable speed be something good, does it have parts availability, what to watch for and check when examining the lath. When i was first looking for a lathe, I found one that seemed kind of medium duty, but it had a very odd 1 inch spindle thread, so I passed on it. 

One local seller has a Mattison industrial wood lathe, which I have no idea what it may be. 

1. It might be a good idea for newbies, to have a place to check for what other's have encountered with some specific models of lathes.

2. What do you more experienced fellows think about a Powermatic 45 with variable, and then without? What about a model 90?

Thanks.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

There is nothing wrong with the Powermatic. They are commercial grade machines which would work fine. All you really need to know is if it fits your needs. Some people like to turn very large bowls and need a lot more space between the center and the bed. Also the heavier the lathe enables you to turn heavier turnings. If you had like a very heavy table leg to turn on the HF lathe the machine may vibrate violently until you got it turned completely round and balanced. The weight of the old cast iron lathe helps hold the machine down. If you are just turning pens then you would never know the difference. 

There isn't anything wrong with Oliver or Mattison lathes either. I believe both manufacturers only made machinery for use in furniture factories and such. I have a Mattison sander in my shop which is a very well made piece of equipment. 

The only thing about buying old equipment is many of the companies are out of business and surely have discontinued making the parts so make sure everything you need is there. Otherwise it involves having a machinist fabricate parts. Even the motor on the Matison sander of mine wasn't replaceable. Industrial machinery is very often three phase and I had the intention of replacing the motor with a single phase motor and found I couldn't. I ended up having to get a phase converter to run the sander. This turned out to be for the best as you can get some great old machinery that are three phase. Since then I've bought three more three phase machines since it was no longer an issue. 

Speaking of the HF lathe, it is said the mechanism that rotates the headstock around is prone to break so this function should be avoided.


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

Everything Steve said but also make sure it has either a 1 inch 8 threads per inch or a 1 1/4 inch 8TPI and both head and tail stock are #2 Morse taper, otherwise you will be limited to fewer choices on accessories

And also make sure it will be big enough to do what you want

If it seems a little too light and shakes when you are turning something heavy, somehow install a shelf down low on the legs and lay bags of sand on it to steady the lathe


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## WicklowWood (Sep 14, 2017)

I bought a wadkin rs a couple of years ago that was manufactured in the late 50's. I picked it up for very few €€'s and got rid of the original motor and replaced it with a new 3hp with a variable speed controller. It runs like a dream, weighs a few tons and has 1 1/2 x 6 TPI which I easily got a thread adapter for my oneway chucks. I use it for all my spindle work and I'm able to turn up to 20" dia between centres. What a pleasure to use it. I would recommend any intermediate turner to go ahead and get one of the older machines, it might be a bit much for a new turner to come to terms with initially.


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