wrote in message
ups.com...
QUESTIONS:

* Why should I consider the Nova (
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=20011
) over the Jet ( http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5225
) ?

Note the 450 low speed on the JET. Can get a bit dicey if you've got an
unbalanced design in mind or you've cut a piece of green wood that's been
laying on the ground wrong, dividing it into two half-dry half-soaked pieces
instead of one of each. At 180 rpm you can turn some strange stuff if
you've the patience, and at 360 you're still well below the 450 on the JET.
You also get the 2" extra swing with the possibility of tail support, a real
boon. The cheaper versions of the Reeves drives have some problems you
never encountered with the old-style monster Reeves types. Lot of
possibilities for misalignment and oddball stresses.

http://www.teknatool.com/products/La... pril%2007.pdf
Is a pretty good writeup.


* With regard to "As mentioned, 90 is plenty. Anything else
complicates things." can you elaborate on this? ... as it seems all
units now have 360 ...
personally I dont see much use for more than 90 ... or
even 45 ... from my experience

Anything more than 90 would be to avoid moving the lathe, as all quadrants
are more or less equal. Turning without a tail support would allow you
larger pieces, but you certainly want to look much harder at low speeds if
you're planning 20" stuff. Faceplates, too!

COMMENTS:


I turned for years on a 46-204 Delta, a cast-iron monster with a low speed
of ~600. It was a pucker factor eight or above on some pieces, I can tell
you that. Especially outboard (180 degrees) with the left-hand threaded
faceplates and chuck. Now I'm on my third year as second owner of a Nova
3000, the predecessor of the 1624 44. Several hundred pieces later, I'm
happy to say he's doing just fine. I too lusted after "Big Arn," but
decided to take a fling with this guy at an attractive price. Got it from a
guy who wanted ALL the bells and whistles, who was replacing it with a
Oneway. Not sure how he's doing with it, but I know the one I got from him
turned a lot better after I aligned and snugged things in accordance with
the directions. Bet he still thinks he sold me a dog! Paid off the
purchase price at the first show where I was able to offer 15"+ salad bowls
at premium prices.