Well, one question to ask is long bed lathe or short bed lathe. Long bed lathes are great for spindles, but not so good for bowls. The reason being that for turning a lot of bowls, you have to lean over, or extend your arms out away from your body, Stuart Batty way. For short bed lathes, you have choices of pivoting and/or sliding headstocks, both of which work and allow you to stand up straight which is a huge back saver. I would want 2 hp and 220 volt for lots of bowl turning, and 3 speed ranges are my preference. I believe the Oneway, and for sure the Vicmark are all 3 speed. According to Brent English, owner of Robust, the electronics are so good on modern motors that they could easily get away with one pulley. Stubborn old me would have to try it to see. The Nova DVR motors really surprised me with how much torque they have for what appears to be such a small motor, and they operate on 110. I didn't like their old lathes that had set speeds, and the ramp up/down was painfully slow for a production turner like me. I have had sliding headstock lathes since the first 3520 PM lathes came out. I would never go back, it really is that much of a back saver. That little Coronet lathe from Record appears to be really nice, but I have no experience with it. The set up for the banjo when the headstock is rotated 90 degrees looks to have addressed the issue of keeping the standard banjo useable in all positions. The first pivoting headstocks were pretty bad, but with time and experimenting, they seemed to have solved most issues.
There are claims that the sliding headstocks create vibration issues. Among the arguments are bounce from being in the middle of the lathe, and they just won't lock down as tight as a fixed headstock lathe. I think there could be a tiny bit of that applying, but think there are other issues that contribute to vibration issues. One is headstock design. Some thing that has become increasingly popular for reasons I don't understand, are 'extensions/bell housings' on the lathes to allow for 'access to the back side of the bowl'. I notices a big difference with vibration issues when demonstrating on the 3520B, after years of turning on the 3520A. That extension was the issue as far as I was concerned. The farther a piece mounts away from the headstock tower, the more vibration issues there will be. This is part of the reason steady rests are used on hollow forms. Another contributing issue is the pressure plate on the headstock. My American Beauty has a pressure plate that is the same size as the headstock base. Good idea. My 3520A had one that was about 4 by 6 inches long. Pretty good. A friend bought a Shop Fox, and they used the same pressure plate for the tailstock, banjo, and headstock. Very bad idea. My Vicmark has the spindle mount right on the headstock tower, and the mounting place where my chuck seats is about 1 3/4 inches closer than on my American Beauty. I consider that an advantage. One thing the AB can do that the Vic can't do is if the headstock spindle bearings need to be replaced, then the whole spindle mount can be removed rather than taking the whole headstock assembly off. Oneway, I am pretty sure is the same design. How often do you need to change your headstock bearings? I did change out the ones on my PM once. I turned a lot of bowls on it and I did not use the tailstock. If the tailstock is used, all vibration issues go away.
As for the exploding bowl up above, if you stop the video and enlarge it, at about 1:10, there are obvious cracks in it. I would never have put that piece on the lathe. I know better. As for a remote switch, I still keep mine on the headstock. Just where it always has been. If I need to stop the lathe in a hurry, I would have to switch the gouge from my right hand to my left and then reach across. The red bar on the Vicmark lathes makes for a nice emergency stop if you need one. A similar button like on the Saw Stop table saws could work well also.
robo hippy
with extension bed and shipping.