Laguna or Powermatic Lathe?

[tbrad]

I’m upgrading from my Rikon 70-1420VSR midi lathe to get more capacity and better stability with large and odd shaped pieces of wood. I’m looking at both the Laguna Revo 24|36 and the Powermatic 3520C. Most of the specs are similar and the prices will be close when the Powermatic is on sale at Woodcraft in a couple of weeks. The major differences I see are in weight, motor HP and warranty.

Laguna - 532 pounds, 3 HP motor and 1 year warranty.
Powermatic - 726 pounds, 2 HP motor and 5 year warranty.

I think I’m leaning towards the Powermatic for the additional 200 pounds of weight and longer warranty. I’m not sure how much difference the Laguna’s larger motor makes in real life use? On the other hand, how important is the extra 200 pounds for the Powermatic if I can get a larger motor on the Laguna?

Help a guy out here. Thoughts and opinions?

 

[Charlie]

Tim, I have had the PM 3520C for 4 years. I had the 3520 B for 12 years prior.
IMO there is no comparison between PM and Laguna. If you could see the two side by side you would see where the extra 200# on the PM are.
It's in the bed.
I live south of Raleigh near Lake Wheeler if you would like to do a test drive.
I you are interested please call me @ 919-744-1444.
I will respond quicker than by NCWW.

Thanks, Charlie

 

[tbrad]

Tim, I have had the PM 3520C for 4 years. I had the 3520 B for 12 years prior.
IMO there is no comparison between PM and Laguna. If you could see the two side by side you would see where the extra 200# on the PM are.
It's in the bed.
I live south of Raleigh near Lake Wheeler if you would like to do a test drive.
I you are interested please call me @ 919-744-1444.
I will respond quicker than by NCWW.

Thanks, Charlie

Thanks for the offer Charlie. I have actually used a 3520B at the turning club I belong to so I am familiar with the PMs.

Have you had any issues with the PM VFD? Someone told me they are a common problem but I haven’t really been able to find any evidence of that online.

 

[Douglas Robinson]

IMHO Powermatic has better Quality Control.

 

[NCPAPAOF2]

I am in no way a lathe expert, but I saw a lady demo her Rikon 70 3040 lathe on you tube. Especially liked the power bed extender.

 

[Michael Mathews]

Tim, just to throw another option in, I have a Oneway 2436. This thing weighs in around 900 pounds and comes with a 3HP motor. I live in Chapel Hill if you'd like to come look it over or take it for a spin.

 

[Charlie]

Thanks for the offer Charlie. I have actually used a 3520B at the turning club I belong to so I am familiar with the PMs.

Have you had any issues with the PM VFD? Someone told me they are a common problem but I haven’t really been able to find any evidence of that online.

None so far.

 

[Ricksmi]

I am in no way a lathe expert, but I saw a lady demo her Rikon 70 3040 lathe on you tube. Especially liked the power bed extender.

The Rikon 703040 is rock solid to work on and Rikon has excellent customer service.

 

[Craptastic]

After seeing Charlies work over these years that's an opinion I would value very much in my lathe decision.

Just saying.

 

[Echd]

I have a 3520c. I bought it almost unused from a Turner who suffered from a rapidly progressing degenerative illness. Very sad. I paid very little for it- at his insistence- and he noted one issue with it- the readout (and therefore the spindle indexer) does not work. Everything else works and speed varies with the encoder wheel as expected. I don't personally view a lack of a working tachometer to be all that important although the lack of precision when indexing is unfortunate, although I essentially never do that.

However, in the interest of just wanting it to be 100%, I called powermatic to see about buying replacement parts. The failure is apparently extremely common and well documented on the 3520c, which made the following more grating. I didn't expect them for free but they wanted over $300 for a small pcb board and a rat's nest of wires. Wowza. That's absurd for a machine that costs 'only' $4400 or so. Here is the part in question:

https://jettools.com/spindle-encoder-pcb-assembly-3520c-123

One day i'll take mine apart and see if a connection is loose or something. That said it's a pain to get to it and I really just don't care all that much.

However, the lathe itself is super sturdy and hefty. It feels well made. It runs smooth and true. I doubt I will ever need to upgrade. I have the light (which is awesome!) And the swingaway for the tailstock (also awesome). The swingaway also buys you a tiny bit more capacity if you want to turn very long spindles. I've never done outboard turning on it but it's quite readily capable of it, if you ever turn anything that big. I guess some people like hollowing outboard anyway?

So, while i'm not really thrilled with after sales support- as I expect any other purchaser also expects to be outside of the warranty period someday- I will say that laguna has a pretty poor history of after sales support as well. There are quite a few horror stories online of many problems with the laguna lathes, mainly relating to the readout and vfd. I haven't generally been thrilled with them for smaller matters on other laguna products I own.

The PM is advertised as a 2 horse motor and the Laguna 3 horse. In reality, I have no idea if that distinction actually amounts to any real difference or not.

 

[Charlie]

If you plan to turn vases and bowls as I do, I recommend a lathe with a sliding head stock. When turning the inside of vases/bowls, I remove the tailstock and slide the headstock down the bed so I am standing at the end of the lathe, not having to bend and reach over the bed. Trust me, your back and arms will thank you!

 

[Douglas Robinson]

None so far.

Tim, just to throw another option in, I have a Oneway 2436. This thing weighs in around 900 pounds and comes with a 3HP motor. I live in Chapel Hill if you'd like to come look it over or take it for a spin.Tim: Mike's Oneway i

Tim, just to throw another option in, I have a Oneway 2436. This thing weighs in around 900 pounds and comes with a 3HP motor. I live in Chapel Hill if you'd like to come look it over or take it for a spin.

This is one of the best lathes anywhere IMHO! Oneway and Robust American Beauty lathes are my personal favorites. The Oneway requires special attachments to move.

 

[Stuart Kent]

I have a 3520B, bought it new in 2006 or 07 (can't remember). Have turned literally thousands of pieces on this machine, never the first issue until recently the bearings started ticking. I am dealing with it for now but will replace them soon. The VFD has been trouble free on it and on the Jet 1642 (little brother to the PM) that I got new in 2011, shipped to Costa Rica, lived outdoors under shelter for 18 months, shipped back home, and I have now turned on it since as have nearly 13 years of students at the Furniture School.

I have also had 2 Rikon 70-3040 machines at the school since 2019. Both working 100%, no issues. My students love them.

 

[JRedding]

Before my current lathe (Robust American Beauty) I had the Powermatic 3520b and liked it very much. Doc Green’s website has a number of articles on dealing with known VFD issues, which I never had but were known to occur on the 3520b for some. I don’t know if they’ve been addressed in the “c” version.

Between the 2, both get good marks depending on who you talk to, so the real question is what sort of swing you want over the bed (also look at swing over the banjo). The Laguna gives you 24” while the PM gives 20”. While I don’t often turn larger than 18”, I do sometimes get up to 24. Also, if you want to go larger, the sliding headstock is nice to have and PM has a good swing away for the tailstock. I assume Laguna has one, but don’t know since I’ve not used one. If not, that would be a big deal for me.

As for power, I don’t think that really matters at that size. My AB has a 3 hp motor but I never had any issue with the 2 hp motor on the PM.

And when it comes to weight, you can deal with that a couple ways if you’re concerned about stabilitiy with larger off-center pieces. Place some 2x4s in the base lengthwise and put some cross members between, then overlay with a piece of plywood. Pile bags of concrete on it and you’ll make up the 200 lbs quickly. You could also bolt either one to the floor.

I’m not suggesting one over the other since I’ve not turned on a Laguna, just saying that I’d focus on the largest size of pieces you think you want to turn and go with the one that does the job (as long as both have a swing away option). Lastly, I have Laguna machines in the shop - 12” jointer and 16” planer - and have not had any issues with customer service. I’ve needed them twice and both times it was a good experience. That said, I know others have had issues.

 

[yuenglingman]

I’m upgrading from my Rikon 70-1420VSR midi lathe to get more capacity and better stability with large and odd shaped pieces of wood. I’m looking at both the Laguna Revo 24|36 and the Powermatic 3520C. Most of the specs are similar and the prices will be close when the Powermatic is on sale at Woodcraft in a couple of weeks. The major differences I see are in weight, motor HP and warranty.

Laguna - 532 pounds, 3 HP motor and 1 year warranty.
Powermatic - 726 pounds, 2 HP motor and 5 year warranty.

I think I’m leaning towards the Powermatic for the additional 200 pounds of weight and longer warranty. I’m not sure how much difference the Laguna’s larger motor makes in real life use? On the other hand, how important is the extra 200 pounds for the Powermatic if I can get a larger motor on the Laguna?

Help a guy out here. Thoughts and opinions?

PM all the way. to much china in laguna

 

[Phil S]

Powermatic for sure Mine is going on ten years with zero issues

 

[tvrgeek]

Where does Harvey fall in this discussion? I am not sure if I have the turning bug, having done only a dozen bowls and still feel intimidated, but I am seeing the short comings of my entry HF. If I get serious, I would also want a serious lathe.

FWIW, I believe tool quality is more important than country of origin. Besides, PM is owned by Jet and is probably made in China. But to their spec. There are actually very few OEMs. I also have concluded that weight is the tie-breaker for otherwise similar tools. It is also hard to trust history when OEMs swap around, What was tops 10 years ago, may have moved sources and not so now. Or the brand does maintain control and upholds their reputation. Hard to really know.

 

[SabertoothBunny]

PM over Laguna all day without question. Laguna are nice looking machines and work well, but they have a lot of quirks that make other brands superior to them in most ways.

 

[Rushton]

...Besides, PM is owned by Jet and is probably made in China. But to their spec. There are actually very few OEMs. I also have concluded that weight is the tie-breaker for otherwise similar tools. It is also hard to trust history when OEMs swap around, What was tops 10 years ago, may have moved sources and not so now. Or the brand does maintain control and upholds their reputation. Hard to really know.

Actually, both Powermatic and Jet are owned by JPW Industries, Inc., headquartered in La Vergne, Tennessee, USA, the longtime home of Powermatic which was founded in 1921. Powermatic used to do all of their assembly in La Vergne, now that is just corporate, distribution, parts, and tech support. The more substantial Powermatic tools are built in Taiwan, and still to a good standard from what I've seen: the large table saws, lathe, bandsaws, jointers. But some other tools, like the drill presses, are now built in mainland China and seem to have a lower standard of tolerances. Other brands also owned by JPW Industries include Baileigh, Wilton and Axiom.

 

[chris_goris]

Another vote for the 3520C! Had mine for about 15 yrs now, zero issues.