General 260 or Powermatic 90 ? Which one??

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

Both are priced around $500 and both appear to be in good condition. The General has a 220v 1.5 hp motor, and I'm not sure which motor the PM has, other than it is 220v.

a couple questions -

Which are known to be better machines?

Which (if either) would be easier to modify to run with a vfd, as I want to be able to reduce the speed to 100rpm or so? Both currently have 220v motors.

If it is a tossup, then what would be your tie-breaker as far as other characteristics? Condition? Previous maint? How hard it was run?

Thanks!

[MichaelS]

They are practically identical from what I've seen, though admittedly I've only ever owned the PM90 and looked closely at the General as a member of a club that had one. Given that General is still in business, has parts, and is a great company - I'd choose the general if they are identical in every other way. I liked my PM90, but as they are basically the same (neither is better/worse.)

Bearings / condition, accessories may influence it - but otherwise, both were made by great companies as high quality machines meant to take a LOT of abuse as production lathes (note, these were often commercial units run for many hours a day, several days a week.) Different class than most Jet, Delta, or other lathes of the day. They also cost quite a bit more too... The General was something like $3500 when I had looked it up 8-9 years back when I had my PM90.

Michael