SHOP FOX W1704 1/3-Horsepower Benchtop Lathe
List Price: $209.00 Our Price: $135.72 You Save: $73.28 (35.1%) | Availability: | Usually ships in 2 to 5 weeks (as of 8:29 AM CT - detail) |
Variable speed motor8-Inch swing over bedWeighs 45-PoundsCast iron construction and infinitely variable speed controlSafety paddle switch
Product Description
All cast iron construction and a 1/2 hp motor
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
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Summary:
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Pleasantly surprised with this unit.
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Comment:
The price for this unit was way less then other lathes with the same features like the variable speed so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was surprised by the quality of construction and how well everything lined up. I bought it for small projects like pens or small bowls and it works great. If you stay within the limits of the machine it works fine but would be under powered for large projects where you need to remove large amounts of wood. I am very happy and would buy again.
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Summary:
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A bargain if you know your lathes
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Comment:
What a shock; free shipping arrived almost overnight! I unpacked this lathe, wiped off the shipping grease, waxed everything down, and evaluated how to make this lathe work well. The tool posts have a cast and painted surface; that would work, but a flattened and polished surface would work smoother, so I filed down and waxed the toolrests. Tested sliding a tool across it and it was smooth as butter. Now it was time to try turning a few pens. Lots of chatter and my mandrel kept behaving very strange. Looking again, I realized that I'd dialed the faceplate (less than 0.06 runout) but that I hadn't checked headstock to tailstock alignment. Height was good (the headstock and tailstock center heights matched) but the headstock was about a degree off. Removed the motor and controller, loosened the allens holding the headstock in place, and banged the headstock with a soft faced hammer until it lined up. Luckily there was enough play in the castings to bring it back to true. Tightened down the headstock, reassembled everything, and tried a few more pens. Perfect. Quiet, nice cuts, and the variable speed control works very well.
So if you have never worked with a lathe before you may have better luck with a more expensive machine, one with better QC at the factory. However, if you know the nitty gritty of lathes and can tweak it yourself, this is an excellent value. I would give it 5 stars if I knew everyone out there would be happy with it out of the box but I've removed one star for the headstock misalignment. Once that was repaired I had a solid, well-built lathe for about a third the cost of most comparably sized models.
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Summary:
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Shopfox W1704 Great Deal EXCEPT IF YOU NEED PARTS!!!
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Comment:
Compare this midi lathe to the PSI Turncrafter Plus, Wilton 99177, Harbor Freight 95607. It has more horsepower 1/3 vs 1/4 and metal parts vs plastic and a two year warranty. The instruction manual is well written and 30 pages long. The unit came well packaged and with no damage. The alignment was right on and the unit runs smoothly. Comes with 2 tool rests and and a face plate. I am using it for pen turning and feel it is the best buy out there for $126 and free shipping.
9/19/09 Update on my previous review. I have been waiting on a part from Shopfox for this lathe since April and they have told me it is now due in October. If anyone thinks this kind of support is acceptable then buy this product, otherwise look elsewhere that's what I will do next time.
/09
Comment:
Very nice lathe at a fair price. It runs smoothly with no vibration. The variable speed control is an excellent extra feature.
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