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[email protected] russellseaton1@yahoo.com is offline
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Default blount vega oliver and more

On Friday, February 9, 2018 at 4:47:16 PM UTC-6, Electric Comet wrote:
On Fri, 9 Feb 2018 09:24:46 -0700
graham wrote:

General was a great company making superb woodworking machinery at
their foundry in Drummondville, Quebec. The only N.American
competitor on quality in those days was Powermatic - Delta was almost
as good. Now General is no more and the Powermatic foundry has also
closed (AIUI).


i recall your previous comments about general here

did not look closely at this one but from what you are seeing this is
a real good buy


The General 160 lathe for $600 is probably a great buy. Value wise. BUT, its still a 12" swing lathe. Is 36" between centers. Pulley speed changes.. Maybe Reeves drive to get variable speed. Not sure. You can get the exact same specs today by buying a new mini lathe and an extension. For less than $600. Maybe even get variable speed on the mini lathe. The General is a good lathe. But technology has changed a bit in the last 30 years. I would love to have this General. But you can get the same capabilities for less today. The $600 is probably based on the fact the lathe cost $1500+ brand new 30 years ago. The seller thinks its still worth 40% of retail back then. Probably true. But retail prices of lathes has come down since then. Maybe quality too compared to this fine Canadian General.