The "Mustard Monster" has arrived to join my shop! Mayonnaise not required.

[SittingElf]

The "Mustard Monster" has arrived to join the other new machine delivered this week in my shop (Hammer A3-41) [thumbs up]

The Powermatic 3520B is part of my "LifeLong Tools" woodshop refurb odyssey.  I have not turned since Middle School, but remember how much I enjoyed it, so this is a permanent addition to the shop, and I'm looking forward to many hours making wood chips fly.

Some of you may know I was planning to buy the new Laguna 24-36 REVO lathe which was essentially the same price as the Powermatic.  I was intrigued by Laguna's 3HP DC motor on their lathe. Then lo and behold, I got an email from my rep at Laguna to state that they had dropped the DC motor for unknown reasons and gone back to a VAC motor.  I asked him to let me think on that for a few days. Hallelujah!  While I was "thinking", Powermatic held a three-day Black Friday Sale with 15% off machines and 20% off accessories.  Since the 3520B had always been the other choice, it became a no-brainer at $600.00 off the lathe alone and free shipping. [drooling]

The lathe arrived today, and I am incredibly impressed by the way it was packaged from Taiwan. Very, very well done and secure.  The next thing I loved was that every single bolt that had to be installed was the same size!! (8mm hex). No having to sort through a mixed bunch of nuts and bolts looking for the right one!  [smile] The machine is HEAVY (630 Lbs), and most of that in the bed, so I was able to get the legs on myself, but waited a couple of hours for my neighbor, a retired Marine, to come help me lift it upright. No problem. Finished installing components and the extension and all done except for electrical connect. (I will not be putting in 220V service until my next return from my work tour in Nigeria.)  Nonetheless, the operators manual, packing, install and everything was first class. Bravo Powermatic (My first from them).  Highly recommended, and this IS the standard for this size lathe.  [tongue]

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I broke down with Laguna and ordered their Revo Mini-Lathe for little stuff. Should be here in a day or two! [embarassed]

 

[Slappy]

that calls for a BIG Hot Dog  .  .  .  .    J K

 

[SittingElf]

Getting down to it [big grin]

All I have left besides thousands of dollars to be spent on Festool are, Jet 22-44 Oscillating Drum Sander, Laguna 6" Belt Sander, and upgrading my Sawstop 3HP PCS Table Saw to the 5HP Industrial model while separating a new router table  from the Table Saw with Incra fences and on both.  Everything else in heavy machinery is done! [thumbs up]

Next up from Festool is the Kapex, RO 90, both Domino's, three Routers, ASA 5000 Boom Arm (NAINA) with energy/air box, TS55REQ and TS75 track saws, two MFT/3 tables (one to be pretty much dedicated to my existing NAINA Festool Vacu-Clamp system, and a Kapex MFT, Midi Dust Extractor for the Kapex, a number of accessories, 18V drill (waiting for the Protool conversions to decide), and then I'm pretty much DONE!

After all that, I can start working on reducing my mortgages in a hurry! [drooling] (I'd love to be free and clear by the time I am forced to retire from flying in eight years)

Hope I live long enough to take advantage of it all! [eek]

Don't even want to talk about the mega $$$ I have invested in photography equipment! [scared]

Cheers,

Frank

 

[copcarcollector]

WOW!  That IS a monster! How does the bed extension work, is there a crank for up and down or...? I have seen other brands with a swing away or hinge mechanism, I have not seen the Powermatic before.

Ref the Jet drum sander on your list, have you considered a Woodmaster? Just curious. A friend of mine has their 2675 and convinced me that I needed one too - mine has had zero use so far though....

What an amazing shop you are assembling. Congrats and hope you have a blast!

 

[SittingElf]

WOW!  That IS a monster! How does the bed extension work, is there a crank for up and down or...? I have seen other brands with a swing away or hinge mechanism, I have not seen the Powermatic before.

The extension has two available positions. In line with the main bed which extends the usable spindle length by 18", or as I have installed it, a lower tool rest for outboard turning of bowls.  No crank.

Thanks for your comments. I'm just focused on building my shop to a level that will satisfy me until I'm on my death bed without further upgrades. (Hopefully that will be another 50-70 years if the darn stem cell companies I have investments in would get off their backsides an hurry up with approved treatments!!) [tongue]

There is a Swing-Away Modification available for the machine. I'm thinking about it. The tail stock weighs about 67 lbs, and I'm still capable of lifting that without strain, but time will tell. I may add the swing-away for convenience later.