[Dave Paine]

Shame you cannot purchase the lathe from Woodcraft. They have the NOVA 1624 lathe for $900 until this Friday 26 Oct.

You should be able to sell the midi when the time comes, just not sure what the market price will be, or the price of the upgrade.

If the NOVA 1624 is the one you really want, I think it would make sense to get this now if possible.

 

[Dave Paine]

The difference with an internet lathe purchase is likely to be the shipping.

Purchasing from a local Woodcraft store does not charge shipping.

 

[Dave Paine]

We all make our own decisions on what we have to spend and what we will purchase.

I recently cleaned up a Craftsman Mono-tube lathe which a friend was giving to another friend. The original owner friend wanted to upgrade to a NOVA DVR lathe after decades of using the Craftsman.

Since I was cleaning up the machine, I was able to see the details of construction and handle the machine. The small handles would frustrate me.

The original owner said the lathe vibrated a lot. I think some of these was the pulley's having moved on the shafts. I removed then and re-set. The machine ran smoothly and without much noise. I did not try turning.

I have a new found respect for all the nice projects that have been created with the Craftsman Mono-tube lathes, but this is not a machine I would recommend.

There were a lot of the Craftsman Mono-tube lathes sold, so they do turn up on eBay and Craigs List. They are inexpensive.

I have seen videos of people using foot/human powered lathes. It is possible to make some really nice pieces on the crudest of equipment. It is just a personal decision on how much you want to spend for a desired feature set.

 

[Dave Paine]

T
Also, can you explain more about what a "Reeve's Drive" is and what is not good about it?

A Reeve's drive is a mechanical method of varying the speed of a lathe.

I found this YouTube video which may explain better than words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8ExzaUq5GI

Lot's of lathe's have Reeve's drive. One aspect of the design is that the speed can only be changed while the lathe is running.

So if you were turning at a high speed, and later mounted another piece which was out of balance and needed a slower speed, you would have to turn on the lathe at the high speed in order to adjust - not very safe. So you would need to start the lathe without the piece, adjust the speed and then mount the piece.