On 7 Jan 2004 12:25:21 -0700, (Mike Paulson)
wrote:

[snip]

Plan 3: Bite the bullet and spend a ton of money for a lathe you won't
outgrow. The risk here is that you don't know at this point what aspect
of turning will become your main passion in years to come. Even the best
lathes have their pro's and con's, so you may end up with one that is
really not well suited for your purpose.

[snip]

Art and I
both have 2 hp Powermatic 3520's, which is the cheapest lathe I have seen
with excellent electonic variable speed.

I went through about the same analysis and decided on the 3520 for
myself as a first lathe. Ordered it from osolnikmachinery.com for a
great price and no freight charge (except liftgate add-on by trucker).

Well, it came yesterday in a blinding white-out; the driver missed my
driveway and nearly got his semi stuck going over the hill and the
dispatcher called me to say he wasn't going to risk it again. I wound
up going down to the village to meet him and brought it back myself on
my pickup. A neighbor with a Bobcat came down this morning and we got
it off my truck and down on a dolly on the barn floor without further
adventures. I'll have to disassemble it to get it into the shop and
up on the 6x6 risers needed to get the spindle height up to my elbow
level (I'm 6'5"}, but that's no big deal--the headstock, tailstock,
and tool rest all come off easily.

And I saved the $69 those thieves were going to charge for five
minutes' use of the liftgate...

John Wadsworth, in Delhi, NY