Wood Carving Lathe Discount

Reviews

I bought this lathe because most of the reviews were good, and it looked solid. Today, only after a few hours of use, maybe three or four, the motor refused to start. Flicking the switch a few times sometimes gets it going, but otherwise it's an 88 pound paper weight. While it was working I was unimpressed, the motor bogged down with little effort on any stock that was larger than a few inches in diameter. I've emailed PSI, and I'm waiting for a response to see if they can get it going again. I'll update this review when they get back to me. Edit: We took apart the VS unit today, and the switch was full of sawdust, so we cleaned it and it works again. My recommendation is to locate it somewhere it won't have sawdust falling in it, and maybe so that the switch isn't on the top. I can't really comment on the customer service from PSI because there hasn't been much time for them to resolve the issue, but I did get an email response from the customer service guy. Bumped it up to three stars because we have used it all afternoon, and it's working fine.

I'm very pleased with the lathe.just got it today and set it up as fast as i could get the box open.to my surprise nothing was broken and set-up went smooth,just had one part extra,I'm sure I'll find a use for the extra part later(chrome piece with a screw going through it 3in. long?).a few paint chips but nothing was bent or broken and all my adjustment knobs where alright as the other reviews had said their adjustment knobs where broken.one surprise was they sent a set of goggles, i was not expecting them at all,but a nice surprise.over all i am very pleased with this lathe as it is my first lathe and i hope to use the heck out of it. i bought it with the extension,i haven't put that on yet, maybe day 2 I'll put it on.the lathe has some weight to it,shipping was a 81 lbs.,and yes it did take two people to move it around.shipping was right on,i ordered it Saturday and got the extension first Wednesday and the rest of the order Thursday and the extension was a back order but i got it first? less then a week and i got my lathe,I'm real happy now

I'm not too easy to please - and I'll return anything that isn't exactly right for me (one reason I like dealing with Amazon) This lathe has passed the test as a 'keeper' -- I've had it about a month, turned about 10 different things - mostly smallish diameter (pens, handles, etc) but the power, the speed adjustability, smoothness of operation are all great. I'm just back to order the extension table so I can do even more with it. Quite a good value, I'd say.

I bought this lathe to learn the basics of turning, and to make some small projects. At first it performed fairly admirably considering the price. I turned a bunch of soup stirrers and some small spindles for various projects. The lathe worked smoothly. I had to do a small amount of filing to get the extension bed to fit to the main body, and more filing and sanding to get the tailstock to actually slide onto the extension. So the machining left something to be desired. Still, I felt I was getting a good deal for the price I paid. However, after about 2 years of very occasional light use, I was turning my first larger project. I mounted a 6" diameter 10" long maple log between centers and the lathe shook all over the place. I was able to eventually turn down to a cylinder and things smoothed out a bit. I began to turn a goblet, but as I was applying finish with light to medium pressure (enough to melt the wax but not overload the motor) the motor up and quit. Of course, I am turning this goblet for my wedding which is less than 2 weeks away so the timing isn't so convenient! I would say I put less than 50 hours working time into the motor, so that's a pretty poor performance in my book. I plan to contact the company to see if they will honor their 3 year warranty and I will post an addendum to this review. Overall advice: look elsewhere. You may think you're getting a bargain, but you'll probably end up buying another lathe sooner than you planned.

My lathe arrived with holes in its box, lots of tape holding the box together and the packing styrofoam in lots of pieces, so that I was concerned about it's condition. Fortunately, its sturdy construction survived the shipper's handling (except for one mounting foot that I had to straighten)- I'm looking forward to many hours of turning with this machine.