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Oneway 2436 24 year review.

This is very useful information. Having zero issues in 24 years is impressive, especially in contrast to having several issues with my 3520c in just 2 years. It was already likely to be my next lathe but this is just another point for getting one. Also being 35 currently, it would be nice to buy something for the long haul.
 
The Oneways are very solid, reliable lathes with excellent customer service. The only drawbacks I see are a lack of innovation and flexibility (when they say Oneway they mean it). Their designs haven't changed in years, so don't expect to see a sliding or pivoting headstock in cream color. I think they limit their sales by refusing to offer a 1 1/4"-8 spindle. If it works, don't fix it, right? When I swapped out my headstock bearings the highly experienced industrial mechanic who helped me was impressed at the design and machining quality.
 
Kevin Jenness said:
The Oneways are very solid, reliable lathes with excellent customer service. The only drawbacks I see are a lack of innovation and flexibility (when they say Oneway they mean it). Their designs haven't changed in years, so don't expect to see a sliding or pivoting headstock in cream color. I think they limit their sales by refusing to offer a 1 1/4"-8 spindle. If it works, don't fix it, right? When I swapped out my headstock bearings the highly experienced industrial mechanic who helped me was impressed at the design and machining quality.
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They don't produce a machine that is universally accepted by all turners, I don't think anyone does. They have been making a modern lathe for the longest period of time in North America. Must be okay with a pretty broad group of turners. It is the perfect machine for me. I don't want a sliding or pivoting head, and since I upgraded from a 1"-8 lathe, I had no concerns about the 33mm.
 
Richard Coers said:
I don't want a sliding or pivoting head
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I understand this thought process very much. On the other hand these features will be required on my next lathe. I'm in a wheelchair and even without using these features I know they will assist me in turning many things. An upgrade for me is at least a year away, so I'll have plenty of time researching the right machine.
 
My Nova DVR 3000 is 23 years old and I have been able to upgrade it to all the improvements they have made, my Powermatic 3520b is 20 years old and problem free, my little Vicmarc VL100 is my oldest lathe and two years ago I did replace the main board that the company that made it still exists and was able to get the same board (The lathe was imported and sold by Craft Supplies). Whoa wait how cam I forget my Nova Mercury lathe with bed extension and outboard turning unit that my Daughter wanted and I took down to her a few months ago, that was the oldest for sure. I surely cannot complain about the lathes that I've had over the last 25 years of turning as they were pretty much problem free.
 
You know as we would say, DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, you do not have to "upgrade" later, and yes you can always make it cheaper if that is what you like.
Some large lumps of cheap cast Iron lathes are available that cost less and are quite popular {for the price}, just look at the problem write ups that come up regularly, time and again with problems.
Oneway has the best banjo, these are also bought for these popular lathes.
Using metric is what the whole world uses but for some people in the "One Holdout" (usa) maybe it is time for those to change, rather than the rest of the world having to accommodate these few people.
Oneway designs and manufactures other products for the wood turners and they are also top quality, like I said before, do it right the first time !!
.
 
Gregory Hickman said:
I understand this thought process very much. On the other hand these features will be required on my next lathe. I'm in a wheelchair and even without using these features I know they will assist me in turning many things. An upgrade for me is at least a year away, so I'll have plenty of time researching the right machine.
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Greg Oneway does make a so called sit down lathe for turners that are unable to stand at the lathe, same high quality product.
Oneway 1236SD wood lathe.SitDownLathe.jpg
 
Leo Van Der Loo said:
Greg Oneway does make a so called sit down lathe for turners that are unable to stand at the lathe, same high quality product.
Oneway 1236SD wood lathe.View attachment 70795
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That is an impressive machine. I also looked at the Robust Scout. The issue is have with these lathes is the cost. At $3500 for the Oneway and $6500 for the Scout they are way out of my budget. I'm on a fixed disability income and would have to save for many years to afford them.

Getting something like the Nova Neptune and building a rotateable stand is much more feasible. The Neptune has a sliding and rotating head, feature that will be helpful. Add a rotating stand modeled like the Scouts and it could be a perfect lathe. I don't envision turning anything larger than the Neptune can handle, 15 inch, as manipulating blanks over that size will be difficult. Food for Thought.

Gregory
 
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Leo Van Der Loo said:
Using metric is what the whole world uses but for some people in the "One Holdout" (usa) maybe it is time for those to change, rather than the rest of the world having to accommodate these few people.
Oneway designs and manufactures other products for the wood turners and they are also top quality, like I said before, do it right the first time !!
.
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Sure the metric system makes sense in general, but Oneway does itself no favors by refusing to put the common 1 1/4"-8 thread on its large lathes. Having to swap out or adapt one's existing faceplates, chucks, etc. is a real, though perhaps minor, disincentive to buy a Oneway. It's certainly not an issue of strength as 33mm is only minimally larger than 1 1/4". It's not an absolute aversion to the Imperial system either, as the 1224 spindle is threaded 1"-8 inboard and 3/4"-16 outboard, plus they make faceplates and adapters to Imperial specs. It just seems to be "Oneway or the highway". I really like my 2436 but I can't quite understand their position on this issue especially when their closest competitors, Vicmarc and Robust, offer spindle options.
 
Leo Van Der Loo said:
Using metric is what the whole world uses but for some people in the "One Holdout" (usa) maybe it is time for those to change, rather than the rest of the world having to accommodate these few people.
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Ain’t happenin’ anytime soon. Been hearing this since the 60’s…not exactly a few people, either, as the population of the US is ~320,000,000.

Oneway wont get my $ for a lathe for this reason. Their chucks/jaws are my favorite. Doesnt make sense that they refuse to offer 1-1/4”x8 spindles (I spent 42 years in mfg, engineering/technical areas).
 
Lots of American industries have switched to metrics, automobiles for instance, aerospace and chemical industries and electronic and computers, .
Like I said just a few holdouts, and not all the woodworking industries,
just the European population is 750 000 000, add Asia (China) and South America and Africa plus the Middle East and you have more than triple that, against a few US holdouts.
Oneway has been building lathes and the other pieces for about 45 years, I think it is not wise to bet against them, just time will pass those holdouts by, time is on Oneway's side imo.
 
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No one cared about metric threads when Oneway came out with their amazing lathes. You had to wait about 6-8 months to get one. I guess people got more opinionated and picky once Robust and Chinese companies decided to make big lathes years after Oneway developed a market for that class of machine.
 
Richard Coers said:
No one cared about metric threads when Oneway came out with their amazing lathes. You had to wait about 6-8 months to get one. I guess people got more opinionated and picky once Robust and Chinese companies decided to make big lathes years after Oneway developed a market for that class of machine.
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Yeah well, its called competition, regardless where its made. Can’t just sit on your past laurels.
 
The claim to fame of the metric system is: “With the metric system I don’t have to use fractions”.
Excellent point! Have you tried to divide a Pizza using the metric system?
 
Really! So you divide by
5 (1/5) then by 2 (1/2) Sure looks like fractions to me. I’m not too bright but I know that 25mm does not equal 1 inch and that 1/2” does not equal 13 mm. no matter how many times it is stated as true in tutorials. Most pizzas are round and are divided into segments by degrees. But however you divide your pizza you always end up with a fraction of the whole.
 
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Well you divide by 20% to get five segments, then you divide them by 50% to arrive at 10 equal segments.

25mm is 63/64ths (to two places). While ½ an inch is 12.7mm.

I grew up with an imperial system that originated from England in Australia, then in 1965 we started metrication seriously with the building industry adopting millimetres as the standard measure for everything. The idea was to use computational devices (computers), which have issues with fractions, to speed up and reduce overall costs in a big way. It did work and was so spectacular that engineering and the automotive industry did the same and reaped the benefits.

I very quickly switched to metric starting in the late 1960's and by around 1974 I no longer had anything that could measure in inches. At one stage I was in the printing industry for 15 years and learnt about Ens, Ems, Picas and so on. But the really funny thing was that the printing industry in Australia sort of adjusted things to metric, but still used Ens, Ems and so on.

One of my nephews, now very middle aged, was on a rotating 24 hour three shifts per day doing the engineering designs for General Motors. One shift in Australia, which then switched to Germany, which then switched to the USA. This was around 30-35 years ago and everything was metric.

Interesting topic, but maybe we should get back on topic.
 
Mick Fagan said:
Well you divide by 20% to get five segments, then you divide them by 50% to arrive at 10 equal segments.

25mm is 63/64ths (to two places). While ½ an inch is 12.7mm.

I grew up with an imperial system that originated from England in Australia, then in 1965 we started metrication seriously with the building industry adopting millimetres as the standard measure for everything. The idea was to use computational devices (computers), which have issues with fractions, to speed up and reduce overall costs in a big way. It did work and was so spectacular that engineering and the automotive industry did the same and reaped the benefits.

I very quickly switched to metric starting in the late 1960's and by around 1974 I no longer had anything that could measure in inches. At one stage I was in the printing industry for 15 years and learnt about Ens, Ems, Picas and so on. But the really funny thing was that the printing industry in Australia sort of adjusted things to metric, but still used Ens, Ems and so on.

One of my nephews, now very middle aged, was on a rotating 24 hour three shifts per day doing the engineering designs for General Motors. One shift in Australia, which then switched to Germany, which then switched to the USA. This was around 30-35 years ago and everything was metric.

Interesting topic, but maybe we should get back on topic.
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When I started elementary school in 1948 we used Meters and Kilometers, Centimeters and Millimeters, Liters and Milliliters or cc , Kilograms and Milligrams etc.

Start with the smallest and add a "0" to go to the next size, or place a "." one space back to go to the smaller size, add or subtract or divide is so much easier.

Going to work in our shop I had to learn the inch sizes, as most steel/iron pipe etc was still made in imperial sizes, I had to work with both imperial and metric, like bolds that then still came in both sizes, and whitworth was just not used and replaced with metric.
Luckily we did not have to use chain lengths or stone weight, like 14 pounds I seem to remember, bad enough I had to deal with feet for some length measurement, oh it's about 30 centimeter my Dad told me, sure did not make cense to me than, and still not now.
:rolleyes::D
T's like driving on the wrong side of the road rather than the right side ;)
 
It’s all about what you started with. I worked with both metric and imperial systems in high school, getting an engineering degree, and in industry - about 50 years. The metric system is easier to work with, but for one issue - reference.

I originally learned the imperial system from diapers up to 6th or 7th grade I think, then this metric system was introduced. I knew feet, lbs, gallons, etc. and the whole world was built upon that reference. To this day I do the conversions in my head to have a rough idea of what a metric measurement is. Millions upon millions of other Americans have the same reference issue, and that is why the USA has continued to use the imperial system.

Like it or not, America is the world’s 800 lb economic gorilla, and “sits where it wants” to coin a phrase. It ain’t changing anytime soon. No politician is willing to risk office by trying to force the metric system through our society.
 
Doug Freeman said:
Like it or not, America is the world’s 800 lb economic gorilla, and “sits where it wants” to coin a phrase. It ain’t changing anytime soon. No politician is willing to risk office by trying to force the metric system...
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Agreed. Industry, esp. those on the global scale, are quietly doing their part to convert to metric, though. I don't mind metric, but work in imperial. The common metric I come across I can closely approximate to imperial out of multiple exposures to it.
 
This metric vs imperial discussion is always interesting. Yes, metric is "smarter". Personally, I think in imperial, but easily convert to metric. Kind of like someone who is bi-lingual. Just to confuse you more, one of Robust's best dealers is in Japan. They order their spindles 1 1/4-8, but want the quill graduations in millimeters ! Almost all of the lathes we ship to Europe have both metric spindles and quill graduations. In the US, about the only time we ship a metric spindle is when we sell a lathe to a current or former Oneway owner. Brent
 
Is it possible you could offer custom spindles that fit Oneway?
 
Com’on Mick! I really don’t need instruction in use of or conversion of the metric system.
Read my original post! The objection most people have to the imperial system (feet and inches) is the fractions. You use percentages which are also a fractional part of the whole. No matter what system is used there will always be fractions,
When how to articles are written using metric measurements only the metric measurement is stated. That is fine with me. If I want to build it I will either use metric measurements or convert the metric measurements to imperial measurements (yes I am actually smart enough to do that.). What is somewhat bothersome to me is when plans are drawn in imperial measurements (feet and inches) the measurements are stated thusly 1” -25mm 1/2”-13mm as if the reader needs help in understanding the measurements. And on top of it all the stated measurements are not equal. Even you know that 1”=25.4mm and 1/2”=12.7mm. If I write an article in feet and inches and you only use metric then do the conversions your self.
Don’t interrupt the the flow of the vernacular with inaccurate metric conversions.
 
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