Advice on secondhand Nutool lathe

[GeordieTurner]

Hi Everyone, this is my first post, I have a little experience of woodturning in the past but now I am retired I want to learn more. I have been offered a secondhand Nutool NWL900 lathe. I am not familiar with this model and would appreciate any advice on reputation, build quality and reliability. The lathe seems in very good condition for it's age and I am told the same lathe is also badged under Axminster, Charnwood and Record, any help with that info? It has had a replacement belt for drive/speed adjustment pulleys is that normal for this type of machine or is it a weakness? Finally it has a headstock spindle thread of 3/4" x 16 UNF, is this still available in chucks and what chuck would members recommend as it comes without attachments? Thanks for any help, I really enjoy reading posts on this forum

[Wood spinner]

Cheap mass produced lathe , Not keen on the speed control that is done by a lever , You can only change speeds with the lathe running and BOY O BOY dont forget to reduce the speed with this leaver or all hell will break loose if you turn it on when it on fast speed , You will be running for cover and see the lathe jumping around in your workshop . It may be ok for a start , better are available second hand

[Paul Hannaby]

3/4" x 16 accessories should be easy to get hold of and as long as you are aware of the limitations of the machine and what you want to achieve with it, there's no reason it couldn't be a first lathe. After you have used it for a while you will have a better idea of what you want to do and can upgrade to something else.

I spent my first three years turning on a second hand Nutool lathe which was sheet metal construction, had a tailstock that never lined up in the same place twice and had a 3/4" x 10tpi spindle just to complicate things! I broke the cheap cast iron banjo twice and had a new one made from good steel, replaced the NVR switch and had the toolrest welded on to the post because it wouldn't lock down properly! After three years it was only fit for the scrap heap but I knew where I wanted to go next and bought something bigger and better.

[Derwent Woodturning club]

Cheap mass produced lathe , Not keen on the speed control that is done by a lever , You can only change speeds with the lathe running and BOY O BOY dont forget to reduce the speed with this leaver or all hell will break loose if you turn it on when it on fast speed , You will be running for cover and see the lathe jumping around in your workshop . It may be ok for a start , better are available second hand

It's not a problem if you forget to reduce the speed before turning off the motor. Before turning on again, just rotate the work piece by hand as you move the  lever back to the slowest speed. And if the work is a small piece, even this is unnecessary.

Problems DO occur if the user doesn't lubricate the shafts that the cone pulleys run on but that's easy to do, and I recommend to my students that they do this at the 'annual' service.

One advantage of these lathes is that they have a swivel head, which makes many projects much easier to turn.