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Lyn J. Mangiameli
 
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Bill Rubenstein wrote:
snip
Maybe it is worth getting a test drive on a lathe which might be out of your price range.
That will give you a point of comparison and you will have a much better idea of what you are
giving up by buying the less expensive and less capable machine.

snip

To the extent this is pratically feasible, I think this is an excellent
proposal, not only with lathes but many woodturning items (not to
mention nonwoodturning devices).

So often I read some folks dismiss a product that they have little or no
experience with (the Tormek being one prominent example), and thus
little pragmatic basis for comparison. It is one of the reasons I much
prefer doing comparative reviews, rather then single product focus
articles. Virtually every product design is a compromise, sometimes due
to price, sometimes size, sometimes complexity, sometimes realiability,
etc. etc. I believe one can best determine which constellation of
compromises is desirable for oneself if one is aware of what can be
accomplished without the particular compromise.

Chris Stott made an obervation that I have always found instructive.
Chris has long been associated closely with Poolewood. He has been able
to use and own the excellent lathes at the top of their line. Despite
greatly appreciating the outstanding capabilities of his high high end
lathe, he later obtained one of their smaller lathes as well. His
reasoning: Chris mostly makes small boxes. This involves lots of small
positionings of the tailstock and banjo. He simply found the massiveness
of the banjo and tailstock of his big lathe to be unnecessarily
fatiguing and more awkward to obtain fine changes in positioning, than a
quality lathe with smaller lighter components. To me this illustrates
that compromise is inherent in all products (granted more expensive
products often can have fewer compromises--except for price, of course)
and which set of compromises is best for a individual can be better
discerned by both experience with what is possible and understanding of
one's own needs.

Lyn