Nova Nebula in or near Seattle?

[John Snow]

The Nova Nebula ticks the boxes for me, but I'd like to see one in the flesh before I lay out $3400 bucks (plus tax and ). Rockler in Seattle doesn't have one set up, and Grizzly in Bellingham doesn't, either, although they do have one in stock, per their website.

Does anyone in the general Seattle area have one that I could come over and look at? I live in Woodinville, so it's not a big deal to go anywhere around Seattle. Appreciate it if you can help!

john

 

[hockenbery]

You might try contacting the local AAW chapter.
An email to their officers might bear fruit

Events - Seattle Woodturners

www.seattlewoodturners.org

 

[Kevin Jesequel]

you mentioned Rockler, but have you checked the woodcraft up there? The one down here in Portland had one on the floor until they closed the store in May.

 

[John Snow]

From what I understand, Woodcraft stopped carrying Nova lathes. Maybe Woodcraft is generally in trouble, if they closed the Portland store. At any rate, the Seattle store doesn't carry them.

 

[Kevin Jesequel]

It was the franchisee that closed the store here. Rent was going up and they didn’t think they could make profit with the new terms, or something like that. Woodcraft is doing fine AFAIK. I don’t know the situation with Woodcraft and Nova, but there was one here for sure. (And someone got it 20%off!)

 

[robo hippy]

The Woodcraft here in Eugene, well Springfield actually, They bought their store. I think they have switched to the Laguna lathes, but not sure. I did get a Rikon mini lathe from the store here, but traded it away for a Jet. I think the store here is in one of the smallest retail areas of most or all of the Woodcraft Stores. They seem to be steady.

I did pick up a kit for a Moxon vice and it was a really old one, at least 2 years old. They probably don't sell many of those. Ended up getting the kit from Rob Cosman.

robo hippy

 

[William Moschler]

I bought my Nova from the local Woodcraft in Knoxville quite a few years ago but they do not carry Nova lathes in the store here now. A search of the Woodcraft website returned 2 models of Nova lathes but not a Nebula

 

[Bryan Field]

I have a Nebula and love it. If you have any questions about it feel free to PM me. (I bought mine through Acme Tools)

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

From what I understand, Woodcraft stopped carrying Nova lathes. Maybe Woodcraft is generally in trouble, if they closed the Portland store. At any rate, the Seattle store doesn't carry them.

There can be all sorts of reasons why stores decide to carry or not to carry certain items. Sometimes manufacturers put demands on stores like requiring the store to maintain a certain level of in stock inventory. You don't see high end lathes like Robust at Woodcraft or Rockler, probably because there isn't room for the manufacturer to give the usual wholesale discounts.

The Seattle Woodcraft franchise store has announced it'll be closing unless the current owners find a buyer. The husband/wife owners are approaching 80. The store was rated highest in sales of all Woodcraft franchise stores in the recent year and always in the top three. A huge store with a huge inventory. It's hard to imagine it can be profitable carrying that level of inventory and leasing their prime retail space. You could put both Seattle area Rockler stores inside this Woodcraft and still have room to spare.

There's what was an independent woodworking store south of Seattle for years and recently appears have become a Rockler franchise out of desperation. Not a pleasant store to visit anymore with the store clerks almost begging you to make a purchase.

Makes me wonder if we may be seeing the end of walk in woodworking stores.

 

[John Ames]

Makes me wonder if we may be seeing the end of walk in woodworking stores.

The short answer is yes… in the last two years
In Southern California we’ve lost the Pasadena Rockler, the Torrance Rockler, the Ventura Woodcraft, and the Fountain Valley Woodcraft.

Not to mention Woodworkers Emporium in Las Vegas which was a “must stop” when heading over there. They are online only now.

Amazon, Temu, AliExpress, and the like have replaced the in person experience for our hobby.

Domestic and exotic Hardwood suppliers should survive for a while longer just because their product is tougher to ship…. Especially for free.