Not a huge story. I don't recall there was any planning, and I don't really remember why they asked me, or why Rude or Nick weren't there. I had offered when they were building it to come down and give input. They should have taken me up on it, as there were a number of issues with what should have been a really good lathe-all things that would have been apparent to someone with a little knowledge. I don't think they ever had a woodturner involved beyond the original concept, and there were no woodturners at all at Powermatic. The engineers were Know-it-alls. The lathe wouldn't hold a small bowl blank of green boxelder between centers without the tailstock/headstock slipping.
So the demo was a bit of an embarrassment. As I recall, there were dealers from all over.
There were several things like that, and their customer service was terrible as they sold the first lathes. I don't remember exactly when the company was sold, but the lathes were improved after they started making them in Taiwan, and the price went down. I think they are a good lathe and a very good value these days.
That wasn't that entertaining now, was it?
I hadn't thought about that in years until this thread. As John said, they gave us a good tour (if it was the same trip). There was an old guy who had been there his whole adult life, and knew EVERYTHING about making all the great tools Powermatic was known for-pretty cool.
John