I received my Powermatic 3520C

[Fadi Zeidan]

Price of lathe and swing away: $4800
Additional Gift Cards used on other toys: $600
Look on my wife’s face when comes home and finds out I spent $5000: Priceless

Supper excited! Still in the process of putting it together, this thing is HEAVY! Waiting for additional set of hands to put it together and then will post pictures.

 

[Hy Tran]

Congratulations, enjoy the tools!

 

[hockenbery]

Supper excited! Still in the process of putting it together, this thing is HEAVY! Waiting for additional set of hands to put it together and then will post pictures.

Enjoy!
A hydraulic table can turn it into a single person job
But it can be more fun to get envious turners to help.

 

[robo hippy]

I remember some where that a turner assembled it up side down, then tipped it up. That may help...

So, what is your wife going to buy for herself???

robo hippy

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

Yeah waiting for my step son to come from work to help me lift it and on its feet. It is an amazing

I remember some where that a turner assembled it up side down, then tipped it up. That may help...

So, what is your wife going to buy for herself???

robo hippy

That is what I did, but I cannot lift it back up. I need to get back into the gym

I have a wonderful wife. She will just give me this “ok” look and move on.

 

[john lucas]

We assembled one upside down. It was really hard to tilt it up into the correct position. My friend had some saw horses that were just a little short. set the bed on that. Then picked up one end while we put the leg under it. Screwed that leg on and then picked up the other end a slide that leg under. That was easier for us. I have a chain hoist now. I would rig that up to my ceiling and then do any lifting with it. I know you will have lots of fun with that lathe.

 

[Glenn Lefley]

Price of lathe and swing away: $4800
Additional Gift Cards used on other toys: $600
Look on my wife’s face when comes home and finds out I spent $5000: Priceless

Supper excited! Still in the process of putting it together, this thing is HEAVY! Waiting for additional set of hands to put it together and then will post pictures.

Your such a brave man, your my hero.

 

[Lamar Wright]

When my new Jet 1640 arrived, I went to the local HF and bought a 4 ton block and tackle chain winch. It worked like a charm picking the lathe (with legs installed) up off the floor setting it upright. I also lifted the head system up and I slid the head onto the lathe bedway with no problems at all.

 

[John Turpin]

When I bought my PM2020 a few months ago, my tool dealer asked if I wanted them to assemble and deliver it to me (20 miles or so). They said that they'd have to charge $10 for all that. That was ten dollars well spent, I think.

 

[Bruce Schoenleber]

Similar to Lamar, I bought the HF 1 ton engine hoist. Made it a one man job and has come in handy for a variety of other chores.
Buy one for your wife...

 

[Bill Bulloch]

I could sent my Son-in-law over. He assembled my 3520 by himself. He did it upside down, flipped that thing over and attached the headstock, tailstock and banjo then moved it to it's final resting place. Took him about 30 minutes.

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

When my new Jet 1640 arrived, I went to the local HF and bought a 4 ton block and tackle chain winch. It worked like a charm picking the lathe (with legs installed) up off the floor setting it upright. I also lifted the head system up and I slid the head onto the lathe bedway with no problems at all.

I watched a video of a guy assembling it himself upside down. then his wife helped him bring it up. I figured, I’m young... used to work out... how difficult can it be? Now it is sitting on its side. My step son works out, he can help but he went out all day Yesterday, we will try together.

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

Similar to Lamar, I bought the HF 1 ton engine hoist. Made it a one man job and has come in handy for a variety of other chores.
Buy one for your wife...

Should it be her Birthday or anniversity present?

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

I could sent my Son-in-law over. He assembled my 3520 by himself. He did it upside down, flipped that thing over and attached the headstock, tailstock and banjo then moved it to it's final resting place. Took him about 30 minutes.

That is one strong son in law! This thing is two man job easy

 

[Mike Johnson]

If you plan ahead one person can assemble the legs onto the bed of the lathe upside down and lift it right side up. This sounds like a major amount of lifting but in reality if you know how to move equipment using leverage it is simple. You want to start by placing the bed on several 2x4's so you can get under it after you have bolted the legs to the lathe. Once the legs are attached to the bed you tip the bed and legs so it is laying on its side while still on the 2x4's. You can then use a lever like a steel bar or wood 2x4 to pry the bed up several inches and place a block under the bed. Repeating this step several times you continue to raise the bed until the bed is reaching a balance point on the legs you can then proceed to finish rotating the bed and legs to stand on the legs upright. You will want to place some pieces of plywood or several layers of cardboard on the floor to cushion the weight of the legs when they come in contact with the floor depending on the size of the lathe.

Another option is to place the bed of the lathe on wood 2x4's so the bed is facing upright. You use a lever or hydraulic jack to raise each end of the bed and place blocks under each side until it is at a height that you can attach the legs to the lathe. Once the legs are attached to the lathe you raise one side and remove the blocks and raise the other side and remove the blocks. Using this method you can use concrete blocks to support the bed as you raise it off the floor as the width of the blocks provide good stability for the weight of the bed. This method is usually used for assembling large heavy metal lathes.

 

[Bruce Schoenleber]

"Should it be her Birthday or anniversity present?"

Depending on her sense of humor, a going away present?

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

"Should it be her Birthday or anniversity present?"

Depending on her sense of humor, a going away present?

LOL

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

Ok got it all setup, my contractor showed up to finish the electric wiring and helped me lift it up. It definitely needs 2 people. I will wait for the lift n lock system to move it around.

Next is to insulate the bay from the rest of the garage. I purchased 3.5mm plastic covering, going to make semi-tent around it to protect the overhead storage, garage door, softener, and cars.

 

[hockenbery]

Cool!

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Enjoy

 

[Ronald Plumley]

When I got my 3520B that was what we did too. Assembling and flipping it was no where near as nasty a job as getting the darned thing down the stairway to the basement. When I finally build a woodshop, I'm hiring out having all of the stuff in my basement moved to the new shop.

 

[Mike Johnson]

The stairs are always a challenge be happy you had gravity working to your advantage. The trip going back up the stairs gets to be more like work. A moving cart and two people is your best bet going back up the stairs. A couple of 2x4's running the length of the stairs and a rope tied around the box or crate can allow you to slide the load down the 2x4's while using the rope to control the descent. i have also used a sheet of cardboard under a crate to allow the crate to slide over carpeting on the stair steps.

 

[Paul Grenier]

Let us know your thoughts on how it is after you've used it for a couple of weeks

 

[Paul Grenier]

The stairs are always a challenge be happy you had gravity working to your advantage. The trip going back up the stairs gets to be more like work. A moving cart and two people is your best bet going back up the stairs. A couple of 2x4's running the length of the stairs and a rope tied around the box or crate can allow you to slide the load down the 2x4's while using the rope to control the descent. i have also used a sheet of cardboard under a crate to allow the crate to slide over carpeting on the stair steps.

I had the assistance of my 2 son-in-laws when it was delivered. I have a 1,000 pound capacity hand truck with 12" pneumatic wheels so it was easy for them to the the individual pieces into my basement and near to the area where I wanted my lathe set up. When I move, we'll simply reverse this process by dis-assembling the lathe into it's 5 major pieces and taking them up the stairs. I have a 700 pound PM jointer and a 600 pound planner that are going to be problems getting out of the basement when the time comes.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Paul,
That is usually why the house is sold with the free equipment still in the basement.

 

[Lamar Wright]

When I got my 3520B that was what we did too. Assembling and flipping it was no where near as nasty a job as getting the darned thing down the stairway to the basement. When I finally build a woodshop, I'm hiring out having all of the stuff in my basement moved to the new shop.

I'm hiring out having all of the stuff in my basement moved to the new shop.

Smart idea Ron!

 

[Paul Grenier]

Paul,
That is usually why the house is sold with the free equipment still in the basement.

If a woodworker wants to buy my house, I'd give him a great deal on my PM jointer and my Delta planner, because otherwise it's going to be a pain getting them out as they are worth too much to leave behind when we do move. Current combined value is around $2,800.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Paul,

Most of us have that same day coming down the road that we have to deal with. I am considering an elevator from the basement to the main level for one of my next projects.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Had a friend help me set up my 3520B. We stood the legs up w/o levelers and sat the ways on top . Bolted that together . I happen to have a table on wheel the same height as the ways so put the headstock on it rolled it up to lathe and slipped it on . Could not even imagine doing lifting the other way. The hard part was getting the extension to level with the ways. Think we put it on 3 times to do that.

 

[Mike Johnson]

The bigger lathes surely justify a trolley rail and hoist mounted on the ceiling above the lathe.
They even make trolley wheels that mount on uni-strut channel which would work for the average turner.
Lag bolt a 10 foot piece of strut channel to the bottom of the floor joists over your lathe and the rest is easy.

 

[Glenn Lefley]

So how does it feel, doing Christmas in March?

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

So how does it feel, doing Christmas in March?

I am still setting up the space, and I only turn on Saturdays and can’t wait for the weekend. So far really excited to have some real lathe that can handle big work, I like to do big pieces and I can finally get it done.

 

[hockenbery]

I am still setting up the space, and I only turn on Saturdays and can’t wait for the weekend. So far really excited to have some real lathe that can handle big work, I like to do big pieces and I can finally get it done.

I know you are anxious. I encourage people to work up to big pieces in steps

If you want to turn an 18” bowl
Do five 12” bowls
Three 14” bowls
Three 16” bowls
Then the 18”

Also if you have trouble on a particular size keep at it until your procedure and techniques imorove to repeated success before moving up.

A couple of things you will realize on the 16”bowls are that 10” bowls are really easy
Harder to get a good curve on a 16” bowl
Bigger differential between rim speed and near center speed
Longer body movements
Longer reach over the tool rest
time to make a bigger bowl sort of goes up by the square of the size. If it take you 20 minutes to rough and 8” bowl figure on 1.5 hours to do a 16” bowl

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

Great advice Al, when I say big, I mean 10” to 12”. I don’t have large blanks

I turned few of 10” to 11” on my midi, but had too much vibration and took forever to bring them to round. I had to lean against the lathe, step on it, chase it down the drive way and bring it back to its spot, etc.

After taking a class with David Ellsworth, I am intrigued with hollowing free hand (no jig) and will turn few small hollow forms for a bit too. May also do a handle or two Ellsworth style.

 

[hockenbery]

After taking a class with David Ellsworth, I am intrigued with hollowing free hand (no jig) and will turn few small hollow forms for a bit too. May also do a handle or two Ellsworth style.

David is one of the best teachers around. Took a class with David in 1995.
Certainly had a profound impact on my turning.
Me in class turning my 2nd or 3rd HF David explaining

I used David’s tools for a while. Then transitioned to the Dennis Stewart tools with the arm brace
Then the jamieson handle with a laser. Recently added the Bosch visualizer and now use the Simon Hope system.

I think learning to hollow by hand gave me an understanding of what can be done and how the tools work.
The stabilised systems give me more control in doing what I want to accomplish

I still have David’s tools and they get used every couple of years for something.

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

David is one of the best teachers around. Took a class with David in 1995.
Certainly had a profound impact on my turning.
Me in class turning my 2nd or 3rd HFView attachment 24865 David explaining View attachment 24866

I used David’s tools for a while. Then transitioned to the Dennis Stewart tools with the arm brace
Then the jamieson handle with a laser. Recently added the Bosch visualizer and now use the Simon Hope system.

I think learning to hollow by hand gave me an understanding of what can be done and how the tools work.
The stabilised systems give me more control in doing what I want to accomplish

I still have David’s tools and they get used every couple of years for something.

I really enjoyed the class and learned so much. I want to go again, may do his 5 day class at Anderson Ranch next year.

I have the hope system and hollowed few forms with it, but when I did it free hand, I appreciated the process more. I felt I was creating something not just guiding a tool. I want to experiment more with that when I have a chance.

I went through one of the sides of what I was hollowing and David took it to the bandsaw and cut it in half to see the inside form and discussed it. He is such a great teacher.

He sent me his demo bowl, I kept it as is, not sanded or finished on display in my house. I want to find a finish to preserve the wood without changing it much.

 

[William Rogers]

congrats, great lathe

 

[Raul McCai]

this thing is HEAVY!

I used the oldest method in the world. I got the head up by lifting it myself, but only lifting it a little bit at a time. Finally I got it to the height of the lathe bed picked it up an inch or so against my hips and rotated around to set it on the lathe.

I probably should have used a block and tackle from overhead.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Price of lathe and swing away: $4800
Additional Gift Cards used on other toys: $600
Look on my wife’s face when comes home and finds out I spent $5000: Priceless

Supper excited! Still in the process of putting it together, this thing is HEAVY! Waiting for additional set of hands to put it together and then will post pictures.

I'm sure she will enjoy her alone time when you are all those hours in the shop, lol My wife says my lathes are my other girls....

 

[Odie]

Is the banjo tool rest lock reversible on the 3520c?