GREAT design, EXC bowl lathe, poor web site based service
I just received my Powermatic 3520b lathe a few days ago, and haven't used it yet, so this review is preliminary, though I've added some updates at the end. This lathe is a replacement for another WMH product I own, a Jet 1442VS, so at least I have some basis for comparison.
This lathe is a GREAT design for a bowl turner. Not only is it VERY heavy, at about 700 lbs. (shipping weight was 754 lbs. on a pallet in a cardboard box), making it heavier than any similar size Vicmarc or Oneway (I think), but it is also VERY versatile. I was a bit concerned about its swing. My skills are getting into the advanced category (I think), so I wondered if I should go for one with 24" of swing or more. But not to worry! With the 18" bed extension and banjo extensions (about $400 additional), and the headstock moved to the end of the bed, this lathe swings 32"! And with the added weight of the extension, this lathe must weigh about 750 lbs., making it truly capable of just about anything a bowl turner could want.
Set-up was easy, even by one man. I moved the heavy parts around with a 2-wheeled truck. I bolted the legs, which are liftable, to the upside-down bed, and laid it on its side. I braced the legs against 25" 2X4s, themselves braced against the garage door (itself wedged to fix it in place) so they would not slip when I hoisted it up-right. I installed a 3/8" X 4 1/2" screw eye in the plate above garage door, and with a cable hoist, pulled it upright. I was then able to install the head and tail-stocks, and the banjo. The headstock is heavy enough (maybe 100 lbs.) that it was near my limit, as a 56 yo 180 lb. male, so you may want to hoist that, too, or get help. It took just a couple of hours to get it together, without any real risk to my precious, aging bod.
But, WMH does have a few quality problems, though probably not enough to scotch the deal. Although my lathe was delivered without any significant damage, the black tape stripes were scraped off in a spot or two. Thinking I'd prefer it without the stripes, which look a little fussy against the gold bed paint, I decided to pull them off. A Mistake? When I pulled them off, a few bits of paint (quarter size!) came off with it. And not only that, but some of what looked like white filler, under the paint, and about 1/16" or more thick, came off with it. I don't think that they should use filler to mask flaws in the casting, and if they do, it shouldn't come off with the tape!
But I'll overlook that if they'll send me some touch-up paint. And in every other way, so far, this seems to be a great bowl turner's lathe.
Do look out, however, for the face plate they have screwed onto the spindle. I didn't realize this at the time, since I've never used face plates with set screws before, but when I tried to remove the little 3" face plate they supply, I discovered the hard way that this one had set screws! I scored the spindle shaft. Bummer! But the damage is not serious. MOST wood turners, I'd wager, have never encountered face plates with set screws, and I admit I did this before reading the manual, but still, they did not need to install it (with set-screws tight), and should warn us a bit more upfront, like with a sticker on the faceplate.
So, I might have given this lathe a 4.5 if that option were available, for the quality problems mentioned, but I think that once I start using it, and continue using it for a long time (I hope), I'll feel that the 5 star rating was well deserved. I'll give an update after I've used it for a month or two. I think it is the cheapest and best lathe available which should meet virtually every bowl turner's needs.
Early Update: Buyers should know that the WMH Tool Group (the parent company), with which you will have to deal, has a TERRIBLE web site. Oh, it's pretty enough, but it works VERY poorly, for me at least. I just spent over an hour on line, and on the phone, speaking to 3 different CS reps, just to BEGIN the process of getting my $50 rebate (part of the offer I bought under). I have had such problems in the past (I also own a Jet lathe), and WMH does not seem capable of correcting their web site problems.
Later update: I've now started using this lathe, and I'm not disappointed. It is MUCH more solid than my Jet 1442, which is not so bad itself. It does, after all, weigh considerably more than the Jet, The Powermatic weighs 682 lbs. net, while the Jet is reported to have a net weight of 420 lbs., which makes the Powermatic 262 lbs, or more than 60% heavier than my Jet. With the 18" bed extension attached, the PM weighs 742 lbs., and is more than 70% heavier than the Jet. I thought this would be a mid-size lathe, but in use it seems quite large. I'm able to rough a fairly unbalanced 12" bowl blank without any vibration at all. Bolting it down, which I am planning to do, may turn out to be unnecessary.
Of course the continuously variable speed is INVALUABLE - the 450 rpm minimum with the Jet was just too fast in many cases for less well balanced bowl blanks. It's REALLY nice to be able to throttle down to, well, ~130 rpm in the high range, 50 rpm in low. Though the specs say that it runs 0-1200 and 0-3200 rpms, that is not exactly true. At less than 130 rpm (50 in the low range), it just stops. But even the 130 rpm minimum speed it really works at is slow enough. It seems quite slow, being just a bit over 2 rpm/second. I think I can turn just about anything except maybe the very biggest, MOST out-of-balance blanks that fit on this lathe, and with the thick 1 1/4" spindle, in the low range, and with the lathe bolted down, even those could probably be turned easily enough.
BTW, regarding the paint/filler peeling with tape problem noted above, WMH sent me a spray can of Powermatic gold paint, gratis - problem (mostly) solved. I'm satisfied.
I haven't actually tried using the 18" bed extension assembly to turn a blank up to 32" in diameter (don't have that kind of wood at the moment!), but can see no reason it would not work perfectly.
This is an outstanding bowl turner's lathe for the money. If you want to turn bowls, and would rather not spend the $5-8K other lathes this size cost, this could be the one for you. There are none more versatile. BTW, before you buy, check out Osolnik Machinery in Berea KY., which helped design this machine. You might get an even better deal.
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