Wood Lathes Online

The Powermatic 3520B has a lot of features that any woodturner wood love to have in a lathe. And really there’s not a lot to dislike. Here’s the nitty gritty on this lathe:

This is a big, powerful and feature rich lathe that will get the job done. It comes with a 2 HP 220 volt motor, that will happily turn even big stubborn pieces of wood. The motor is capable of operating in 3 phase or 1 phase mode for added torque. With a 20 inch swing and 34 1/2 inches between centers there’s lots of room for big pieces. It weighs in at almost 700 pounds, with a fully cast iron body that damps vibrations effectively. This is a serious piece of machinery that is very capable of tackling big jobs.

The 3520B Wood Lathe from Powermatic

The powermatic 3520B is a great choice if you plan on doing a lot of bowl turning. It’s easy to set up for outboard turning, and allows you to turn large heavy blanks with no trouble. With a lathe this heavy and powerful even large uneven blanks become manageable. The outboard turning really opens up a lot of possibilities in terms of what projects you can attempt.

A couple of other nice features are the electronic variable speed control, which is always much nicer than having to mess around with belts and pulleys and the digital RPM monitor that lets you know exactly how fast you’re going.

This is a pretty pricey lathe, but well worth it for what you’re getting. I suggest Amazon.com if you’re looking to buy online, as they provide free shipping right to your door. Be aware that there is some assembly required with this lathe and you should be prepared to move around some heavy pieces.

Click here to view the listing on Amazon

What people are saying:

I received my new 3520b Powermatic lathe about 6 weeks ago and have used it several hours at this point. The lathe is substantial and heavy. It is very smooth, quiet and well-made. The electronic speed control works well and makes multiple speed changes while turning a breeze. Also, the moveable headstock is handy if you want to turn very large bowls although the normal swing is 20 inches which accomodates the Oneway Stronghold chuck and mega jumbo jaw set up…

A. Huston – Amazon.com

It is built like a tank, with the stoutest tailstock and the beefiest tool-rest base. This lathe also has plenty of power. Originally designed with the help of a legendary wood turner, the late Rude Osolnik, the 3520A was a good lathe with a few faults. The 3520B, designed with the help of Ernie Conover, did everything right…

Andy Barnum – FineWoodWorking.com

I have the Powermatic 3520B and am very happy with it. Like many others I have had several lathes on the way to this one and could have saved a ton of money by just getting the Powermatic in the first place.The capacity is nice because turning projects always get bigger for some reason, part of the turning disease I suspect. I also love having the bed extension mounted off the end and the huge capacity that gives you, plus it is so much easier to turn bowls and platters in that position.

Everything else about the 3520B is nice, the power, how smooth it is, variable speed and the sheer bulk of this machine. Very impressive and built to be the last lathe I will ever need.

I have the Powermatic 3520B and am very happy with it. Like many others I have had several lathes on the way to this one and could have saved a ton of money by just getting the Powermatic in the first place.

The capacity is nice because turning projects always get bigger for some reason, part of the turning disease I suspect. I also love having the bed extension mounted off the end and the huge capacity that gives you, plus it is so much easier to turn bowls and platters in that position.

Everything else about the 3520B is nice, the power, how smooth it is, variable speed and the sheer bulk of this machine. Very impressive and built to be the last lathe I will ever need…

Tom Hinks – NewWoodWorker.com

The only complaint I’ve encountered regarding this lathe is the distance center to center not being quite the 35 inches advertised, but that is pretty satndard for wood lathes, though i’m not quite sure why.

What people are saying:

I received my new 3520b Powermatic lathe about 6 weeks ago and have used it several hours at this point. The lathe is substantial and heavy. It is very smooth, quiet and well-made. The electronic speed control works well and makes multiple speed changes while turning a breeze. Also, the moveable headstock is handy if you want to turn very large bowls although the normal swing is 20 inches which accomodates the Oneway Stronghold chuck and mega jumbo jaw set up…

A. Huston – Amazon.com

It is built like a tank, with the stoutest tailstock and the beefiest tool-rest base. This lathe also has plenty of power. Originally designed with the help of a legendary wood turner, the late Rude Osolnik, the 3520A was a good lathe with a few faults. The 3520B, designed with the help of Ernie Conover, did everything right…

Andy Barnum – FineWoodWorking.com

I have the Powermatic 3520B and am very happy with it. Like many others I have had several lathes on the way to this one and could have saved a ton of money by just getting the Powermatic in the first place.

The capacity is nice because turning projects always get bigger for some reason, part of the turning disease I suspect. I also love having the bed extension mounted off the end and the huge capacity that gives you, plus it is so much easier to turn bowls and platters in that position.

Everything else about the 3520B is nice, the power, how smooth it is, variable speed and the sheer bulk of this machine. Very impressive and built to be the last lathe I will ever need…

Tom Hinks – NewWoodWorker.com

The only complaint I’ve encountered regarding this lathe is the distance center to center not being quite the 35 inches advertised, but that is pretty satndard for wood lathes, though I’m not quite sure why.

Click here to take a look at the 3520B on Amazon to take advantage of their free shipping offer.

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In order to get the most out of your lathe you will need sharp, well maintained tools. Wood lathe tools take a lot of abuse, much more so that most of the other equipment in your toolbox. This is simply as a result of the amount of wood they can go through in a short amount of time. Carving a large piece of wood that is turning at high velocity is enough to dull even the best chisel.

So what can you do to keep your tools sharp? The first and one of the most important things you should be doing is cleaning your chisels after each use. This small step will go a along way towards prolonging the lifetime of your tools and keeping them sharp. Taking good care of your chisel set with regular cleaning will result having to sharpen them less often and better results from your carving.

You want to keep your tools as sharp as possible, but you don’t want to sharpen them too much. Each time you sharpen your wood lathe tools you are grinding a little bit of them away, and over the lifetime of your tools this will wear them down until they are little more than wood handles with little metal stubs on them. You might not have seen this happen, but believe me it does!

That said, all the cleaning in the world won’t stop your tools from dulling if you use them frequently, at some point they will need to be sharpened. The process of sharpening a chisel is a fairly precise art, and the best thing to do is have an experienced wood turner show you how to do it. Failing that I would recommend watching a video of wood lathe tools being sharpened, as there’s really no substitute for seeing it done.

With all that said I will give a quick overview of the steps needed to sharpen a chisel. First off you will need a tool grinder, preferably one that runs over three thousand RPM and for your wheel you will want aluminum oxide with something like sixty grit.

You should always wet your wheel with a little bit of water before sharpening, to prevent sparks and keep your tools from catching. Depending on the specific chisel or gouge you want to sharpen you will need to use different angles of attack and pressures to achieve the desired result. Tools should be applied to the wheel, with a light pressure, taking care not to force them as this can result in nicks and scratches, and it can be very dangerous if your tool catches at 3000 RPM.

With regular cleaning and sharpening you will keep your wood lathe tools at their best and your wood turning projects will never suffer because of inferior tools. There’s nothing worse than working on a project for weeks only to have a gouge with a nick in it catch your spindle and snap it in two.

Happy Turning

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The Jet JWL 1220 is one of the most popular wood lathes on the market, and for good reason. It’s powerful and heavy enough to provide smooth turning, even on large pieces, but not so big that it’s unwieldy for smaller projects. This wood lathe is great for a variety of tasks and has a very nice feature set.

Typical of Jet, this lathe is well finished and the workmanship and parts are very good. This lathe is very versatile. With a 12 inch swing and 20 inches center to center, I would classify it as a midi lathe, however, the Jet 1220 can also be outfitted with a 28 inch extension bed, bringing the total distance between centers to 48 inches. Add on the available stand and you find yourself with a very affordable full sized lathe. The 1220 has a powerful 3/4 horsepower engine and weighs in around 100 pounds, so you’ll have no trouble with larger pieces.

The JWL 1220 from Jet

The JWL 1220 has 6 speeds, adjustable with a belt system. The motor is quite powerful for a lathe of this size, and the net result is very smooth and fluid turning when working on small projects, with minimal vibration. It’s a nice step up from the 1014 series in terms of power and size, and well suited to both small and large projects.

The headstock, tailstock and tool rest are all adjustable tool free, which is very nice when you have to make regular changes to your setup. It saves a lot of hassle. The attached light is also a very helpful bonus if your shop isn’t as well lit as it should be, and can come in very handy for fine detail work.

The 1220 comes with 6 and 10 inch tool rests, faceplate, drift rod, live and spur centers, goggles,  tool caddy, work lamp, and the required hex wrenches.

All in all I believe this is one of the best buys out there today, as evidenced by it’s incredible popularity and wide appeal. Currently Amazon.com is offering this lathe at very good price and free shipping is available as well.

Click here for the listing

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