: As for worth, they are all cast iron (right down to the
: A-frame legs) and Reeves drives and good motors tend to
: drive prices up a wee bit. Frankly my question would be
: "why are the current crop of lathes (Stubby/Oneway/etc.)
: worth what they are worth?". Don't get me wrong, they are
: indeed some of the best lathes this world has seen but...
: Not meant to incite, just thinking that a collection of
: steel all welded together might come in a little less
: expensive than somewhere in the multiple-thousand dollar
: range.
Fair question -- I haven't turned on anything like a Stubby or Oneway.
The Stubby has a whole lotta cast iron, and a really
clever reconfigurable bed, which is pretty cool. People who turn on
them and the other big $$ lathes say they're worth it, but I've seen
a lot of turners lust for one just because they're expensive and have a
high-end reputation.
I have a Nova, with heavy cast iron legs, 1.5 HP variable speed
motor, and I think it's a great lathe. Lots of Nova turners want
to upgrade to the DVR, and some DVR owners want to upgrade to a Stubby
or Oneway ... If I were turning 30" diameter bowls, I'd get me one of
them, but I have no reason to turn anything that big (nor do I have easy
access to wood that big, being in the middle of the Sonoran Desert).\
I was wrong on the pricing -- just looked it up, and the smallr stubby
goes for close to five grand, sans shipping. I imagine the big
increase in the cost of cast iron has driven up the price. The cast iron
legs for the Nova 1000 are no longer being made, as their manufacturing
cost more than doubled.
-- Andy Barss