I’m shopping for a used lathe and have narrowed the field to 2 models. The Delta 46-545 and the Powermatic 90. Both seem like fairly hefty machines. Of the ones I’m courting, the Delta is old, but allegedly unused. The Powermatic is from a school but looks to have seen little use. My use is to turn banjo parts and the occasional spindle. To turn the main part of the banjo, I only need 12″ swing, but the resonator part requires 14″. On either lathe, the gap bed will give me the capacity I need. Given my druthers, I’d have an Oneway 1640, but new ones are costly, and used ones are non-existent. The Oneway 1224 is more approachable, but lacks the gap bed. So, I think that puts me back to the Powermatic vs Delta debate. Any opinions or other suggestions?
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Replies
With old iron, condition matters. A high-quality lathe that's been trashed will underperform a lesser one in mint condition. Look for missing parts, breaks, and severe wear. Make sure the variable speed on the PM90 works, or factor in what it takes to fix it. Do both come with a tailstock? If not, what will it take to find one? You get the idea.
Pete
I've used a PM 90 and thought it was a nice lathe if it has a variable speed feature and is in decent condition that would be my choice. Make sure it does not have a 3 phase motor unless of course you have three phase power.
Good luck
Troy
The Powermatic actually does have a 3 phase motor. I expect to have to replace it and I'm factoring that into the price.
If the Powermatic has a three phase motor that is a plus. Instead of switching out the motor you can install an electronic control box called a variable frequency drive (VFD) for around the same price as a replacement motor, and the installation of the VFD will be no more complicated than switching the motor. Actually switching the motor on a lathe with a mechanical variable speed drive can be a major project and might require an oddball motor that can be expensive and somewhere between hard to near impossible, to find. Just servicing a mechanical drive can be a royal pain, make sure the Powermatic's drive is working before you buy it.The electronic VFD will make three phase power out of your single phase and will give you much better speed control than any mechanical drive, along with all sorts of other features like braking, reverse, and a digital read out. All of the modern lathes with speed controls now use VFD's, the mechanical drives are obsolete.The Powermatic has what I presume is a mechanical variable speed drive already. If you install a VFD you will in most cases just leave the mechanical drive set at some midrange point and do all of the speed control with the VFD. If you set the mechanical drive to the low range and turn the VFD to slow you will probably be able to get down to something like 1 RPM. At the other end of the mechanical and VFD settings you will be able to dial up warp speed. John White
Shop Manager for FWW Magazine, 1998 to 2007
Edited 10/15/2009 4:06 pm ET by JohnWW
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