Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Having had this lathe for only 2 weeks, I am somewhat hesitant to write a review. However, I want to point out some issues I've had with this lathe while they are still fresh in my mind. Full disclosure, I only bought this lathe because Amazon had it as a Warehouse deal for $300. It's not the lathe I wanted as I'm not impressed with the quality of Nova lathes. But my wife, who is sick of me shopping for lathes told me to take a chance on it. The listing description was for a used lathe in "acceptable" condition. The listing claimed that the defects of the lathe were cosmetic only and that the lathe was functional. I figured what the hell, if I get it and it's junk, I'll return it on Amazon's dime. I ordered the lathe on the 19th of May, it arrives on the 23rd. The package is in excellent condition which surprised me since it weighed in about 85 pounds. I open the box slowly, prepared to see a mess. However, I am pleasantly surprised as the lathe is in it's original box. Turns out the lathe was actually double boxed, and the lathe is well protected in heavy Styrofoam. I manage to pull the Styrofoam and the lathe out of the box together. I hold my breath as I separate the foam to remove the lathe. I am surprised again to see what appears to be a brand new lathe. The lathe was in its original plastic bag and still has the shipping grease on it. It looked like to me that if the lathe had a previous owner, they never took the lathe out of the box. So I finish removing the lathe, do a quick inventory of the parts, everything is there in new condition. I clean the grease off the lathe and other parts, assemble the lathe, check the centers, and begin the motor break-in procedure. THIS IS A CRITICAL PROCEDURE! The motor is a DC brushed motor. The brushes need to be run in so that they wear correctly with the commutator. Failure to perform the break-in procedure can damage the motor and may cause it to fail prematurely. OK, so I finish the motor break-in procedure, and I'm very pleased with how quiet the lathe runs. The variable speed works great, the belt changes are super easy, barely and inconvenience, and the reverse function works perfectly. So far, I'm ecstatic that this "used, acceptable condition" lathe is performing like brand new. But I soon discover some stupid little machining mistakes that I can't believe passed QC. 1. The tail stock quill was very rough and jerky with extending or retracting the quill. I took the tail stock apart and found that the quill bolt threads were never cleaned after it was threaded. There was some little metal filings and other junk in the threads that made it hard to turn. I cleaned the threads with a wire brush, and then scrubbed the quill and the inside of tail stock with an old toothbrush to remove any gunk. I wiped the quill clean, gave it a coat of paste wax, and then put a thin layer of grease on the quill bolt. The quill now extends and retracts as smooth as butter. 2. The hand wheel for the tail stock had some bunged up threads where the crank screws in. I ended up having to swap the crank and screw from my Harbor Freight 10x18 to get it to work properly. Luckily they were the same thread screws and the Harbor Freight screw seemed to resist being galled by the shoddy threads in the Nova's hand wheel better than the original screw. 3. The centers line up well, for the most part. I do have to nudge the tail stock towards the back of the lathe to get them to line up exactly, but that's not a deal breaker. The problem is that the quill kind of sags a little until you tighten the quill lock screw. Not a big deal when you are turning between centers, but if you use your tail stock to drill ( as I do ), it causes your drilled holes to be slightly off center. Not a big deal if you're turning tea light holders or whatever, but if it's a jig or other fixture that needs to be dead on the centers, it becomes a problem. 4. The banjo and the tool rest lock screw. How do you screw this up? First off, the banjo would not stay locked in place. Turns out the problem was two-fold. For starters,the washer that locks the banjo to the lathe bed was machined unevenly. It had a wedge like taper from one side to the other. To fix this I marked the low spot of the washer with a paint pen for a reference, and then using a slow-speed grinder, I tried to grind the washer down evenly. It worked well enough that the banjo could be locked down to where it didn't move while I was turning. Secondly, the bottom of the banjo didn't appear to have made it to the final stage of machining. There were deep ridges in the bottom of the casting that caused the banjo to hang up when being slid along the bed. To remedy this, I ran the banjo back and forth across sand paper that was glued to a dead flat surface. After many eons of sanding, the ridges were gone and I was left with a smooth, almost polished surface. I waxed it before I replaced it on the lathe and now it slides like it's on ice. I also had to grind the end of the tool rest lock screw because it caused the tool rest to pivot when tightened. Turns out there was an errant thread on the very end of the screw that was causing this problem, so I ground it to a bevel on the grinder, careful not to damage any of the threads. It works a little better now, the tool rest still wants to pivot some, but just keeping light pressure on it while tightening keeps it where I want it. The tool rest itself seems to be fairly soft metal and the post is rough and does not slide easily in the banjo. I will probably end up lightly sanding the post and waxing it to remedy this problem. 5. Not really a machining or QC problem but the tail stock quill is so short it's a joke. I knew it was a midi lathe when I ordered it, but the quill seems too short even for a midi. I don't know if the quill on my Harbor Freight lathe is any longer, but it seems to be better made and has held up to a lot of abuse over the years. 6. The foot print is too narrow. My Harbor Freight lathe has a 10" swing, and is rather light weight, but the base is nearly 7.5" in width. It's pretty stable without being bolted down. The Nova, however, is only about 5" or so wide at the base with a larger swing. It's not much heavier than the Harbor Freight lathe, but it is more top heavy and it's easier to tip over under certain circumstances. Such as when you're trying to lock down a banjo that has machining defects. It's less of a problem now since I've fixed the banjo but is something to keep in mind if you are going to use it as a bench top. But despite these issues it's not a terrible lathe, I'm trying to like it, although there are a couple things that make me question its longevity. For one the speed control box is open to wood shavings and dust. There are little vents in the top to allow heat to escape, and even though there appears to be a fine mesh under the vents, sanding dust will still find its way to the electronics. I plan to cover the vents with something breathable that will prevent dust from entering the electronics but still allow heat to escape. So far other than turning some test pieces, and ruining a couple of fixtures due to the slop in the tail stock when drilling, I've manage to turn a decent mallet for my nephew and a tea light holder for my niece, among other little odds and ends. I do like the electronic variable speed, I didn't mind changing the belts on my old Harbor Freight lathe, but I didn't realize how much time it added to a project until I had variable speed. The reverse function is great for sanding and luckily I have a reversible G3 chuck to take advantage of this feature. YOU MUST USE A REVERSIBLE CHUCK OR FACEPLATE TO USE THE REVERSE FEATURE. Fortunately the lathe comes with a face plate that has set screws. Just be sure to loosen the set screws fully before trying to remove the faceplate. I would imagine this is how some folks have broken the index tabs on the spindle. Also make sure you if you use the spindle lock to help remove the faceplate or chuck, don't run the lathe until you release the lock. Turning on the lathe with the spindle lock engaged can damage/ruin the lathe. After all my bitching you might be wondering why I just didn't return the lathe. Well for one, it's a heavy object to ship and once I realized I could fix the problems it had, I decided to keep it. I'm still on the fence of if I like or not, but I guess for the $300 I paid, I'll use it until I can afford a nicer and larger lathe. I'll probably sell it eventually though. I think $300 for this lathe is about the right price, although I see it listed on Amazon and Rockler new between $450 and $520. If I had paid that much for this exact same lathe I received, it would have been returned in a heartbeat. I think Nova has overpriced this lathe to give people the idea that it's a high quality lathe. While it might be a decent starter lathe, it's definitely not high quality. NOVA, fix the machining issues, bump the motor up to a one horsepower motor, add a second longer tool rest and a better live center and you might have a lathe that can compete with Jet, Rikon, Delta, etc. As it stands, this lathe is OK. Oh, and enough with the stickers. Of the two Comet 2 lathes I've seen in person, both had issues with the stickers on the bed crinkling up and coming off. Just leave the sticker off, it's unnecessary and it cheapens the look of the lathe even more than the hammered silver paint. UPDATE: The slop in the tail stock I mentioned in the original review caused the ruination of a brand new live center. I thought that by carefully positioning the tail stock and locking the quill the slop wouldn't be an issue. Apparently even after the quill is locked it is slightly canted at an angle which puts lateral pressure against the live center as it's turning. Since I primarily turn lidded boxes, vases, and other hollow forms, I didn't pick up on this right away. I have since lowered my rating to a single star given the constant issues I've had to deal with since purchasing this lathe. I have already had to replace the belt in addition to all the other issues I described in the original review. At this point I'm fed up with this POS and if someone stole it today I wouldn't blink an eye.