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Hi folks,
Thinking about buying a NOVA Comet II, already have a large lathe but would like to get a smaller one. Any thoughts, comments would be appreciated especially if you have one, good points/bad points. Thanks in advance.
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Location: IA
I think there is a few owners here and hope they help. I do not know anything about them, but hope the quality of Nova lathes are better then the last few years.
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification. Thank You Everyone.
It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
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I bought one for my daughter when they first came out (3-4 years ago).
The recall was because stickers were peeling up and the headstock/tailstock was not aligned.
I was glad to see the tacky stickers go and there are only four bolt to align the head/tail.
Those problems were corrected with the recall and in future production.
At about $530 for the lathe and G3 chuck now that is a good price IMHO.
The manual states 550 watts , IIRC the plate states 5.7 amp; that should be a true 3/4 HP. Some other popular lathes state 1 HP but list them at 6 amps. One has to be wrong, you can get 1 HP with 6 amps unless it can run at 108% efficiency. The normal DC runs at 80-90% efficiency.
She has never had a problem with it and it seems to do the job well.
The handwheel and locking rod for the banjo could have smoother edges but not a big deal.
The quill travel is only about 1 1/2 inch. I do not know if they have corrected this. Initially they stated 2.5" but the guide pin is set in 1";
I used a cross vice with my drill press and milled the slot longer (there is plenty of thickness there).
The motor sits pretty low even with the feet. I mounted it to 2 pieces of tube steel about 1.5 thick and a foot long. The length of the tube steel goes to the rear so the lathe is mounted to the tube and the ends of the tube mounted to the workbench. Seems to make it much more sturdy with a larger footprint.
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Thanks for the information
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02-28-2017, 08:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2017, 08:08 PM by n7bsn.)
One of my friend bought a new one this summer
I suspect they still have head-stock/tail-stock alignment issues as Teknatool is in the process of replacing or repairing this one
Making sawdust mostly, sometimes I get something else, but that's more accident then design.
