Shop Fox W1758 Wood Lathe With Cast Iron Legs And Digital Readout 43 Inch

Not top of the line...some issues with the banjo coming loose, and headstock..a bit noisy..

I have the distinct impression that my review may be the only actual review of the W1758 lathe because it is a brand new model not available for sale anywhere until a few weeks ago.I bought mine from Amazon. I don't think I would risk buying it anywhere else because nobody has customer support like Amazon's. It was a big step for me. It isn't cheap, so I had to buy it where I my trust lay, and that is with Amazon.I have other Shop Fox tools, and I'm very impressed with them - the reason I decided to buy this lathe.Now that I HAVE it, I'm even more impressed! I'm not exactly a beginner with lathes. I've used lathes on occasion since 1964.This lathe is solid, WELL built, and it does a great job of turning wood. It is HEAVY DUTY. It isn't hard to assemble when you get it, but you REALLY need to have a helper! It is HEAVY, period. Don't hurt yoursellf trying to do it without help. Take my word on that. It took us about 30 minutes to figure out how to assemble it. The instructions are not that great and are about as lacking in details as ever I have seen with the exception of Japanese electronics manuals. More, the instructions assume the headstock comes assembled on the bed. It does not, and there is nothing in the manual telling you how to mount theheadstock. Bummer!So... it took a bit less than an hour for assembly. Of that hour at least 40 minutes were spent trying to figure out how to put it together and maybe 10 to 15 minutes were spent actually assembling it. Why? The instructions were that bad. Sorry, but that's how it was. The major hurdle was the headstock, and there are exactly zero words of instruction for how to mount the headstock! You're on your own there!Use? Oh, yeah..... Smooth, solid and all business! This is one heck of a machine. It is WELL built. Sadly the chisels I bought were not cheap but they were rusty junk when I received them, but even with junk chisels it does a beautiful job. Efficient, effective and powerful are the words I choose to describe how it works.I was never able to get an answer from anyone, especially Shop Fox, about the speeds. So I'll tell you: Speed is VARIABLE. You can select any speed you want within the listed range. The control lever, a bit difficult to move, has detents for preset speeds, but you can set ANY speed within the range. The digitalspeed readout is NICE!In fact, everything about this lathe is not just nice, it is dang near perfect. So far. If I find any problems with it I will revisit my review, but for now? This is a top notch tool, well built, solid, and I suspect it will last a lifetime and longer.The pros?Quality, ease of use, massively solid construction, huge power, a solid tool rest, a great and solid tailstock.The cons:Well... I have yet to find a con..Perhaps you can tell: I'm SOLD on this machine! It was more than I wanted to spend, but BOY DID I GET A WINNER! I'm VERY glad I decided on the W1758, and very glad I got it at Amazon!You get what you pay for, and in this case I got everything I wanted. For what I got? I got a bargain!Afterthoughts... I just saw the review from the guy who said the W1758 lathe is only a slight step up from Harbor Freight. I'm a fan of Harbor Freight. Cheap prices, cheap tools, cheap quality. NONE of that applies to the Shop Fox W1758 Lathe! He can't be right. This is over 350 pounds of solid cast iron, FAR above the quality of anything Harbor Freight sells. This is NOT cheap junk.

Will not go as slow as advertised. Lock down levers on steady rest have striped out, have to use a wrench. The head does not always lock down square with the rails, tail stock is the same.

My first lathe was second hand and pretty inexpensive, bought mostly to see if I was going to want to take up turning as a hobby. I destroyed it within four months but decided I wanted to keep on turning, so I took my time looking around for a bigger tougher lathe that could handle a novice learning curve, and not break the bank for a part time hobbyist.Good: For the price, it's hard to find a better bargain on a mid range lathe. At less than a thousand just the weight of metal and HP of the motor is impressive. My shop floor isn't level, so vibration with the old lathe was a problem, limiting my turning to smaller symmetric pieces, but with this one weighing in at over 300 pounds that has not been an issue. Even before I weighed it down, she didn't vibrate at all when turning a couple of nonsymmetrical 5 inch vessels. If not for the sheer weight, assembly would have been a breeze: two cast iron legs, the bed and motor up, a couple of arm levers, and shebang ready to go.Not so Good: I thought when I bought it that it came in three semi-equally weighted pieces, not so much. The two legs are at a guess a bit over fifty pounds each; the rest comes all in one piece. You can get hurt trying to manhandle this thing by yourself; get a friend to help. I was a bit disappointed to see there were no vibration/ leveling feet in the package even though they are noted as an option in the manual. Just setting it up and light use has resulted in some paint chipping off.Bad: So far I have only noted only couple of caution points. First, as noted in a couple of the other reviews the tool rest arm design leaves play in the tool rest arm unless you really torque it down, I can see how it will strip out with out to much abuse. Second, the variable speed setup is a lever belt system, and I am unused to this kind of setup, but it feels like a weak link, gearing up or down must be done while the dive is engaged and it produces a mildly scary effect.Synopsis:Good: Great buy, Mostly Solid Construction, Very HeavyNot so Good: Very Heavy, No vibration feet, Paint already chipping offBad: Play in the tool rest arm

This lathe has the power and weight needed for most jobs. I researched and reviewed for months and I believe this is an exact copy, other than color, of a model sold by Grizzly except this one had free shipping thru Amazon. I couldn't justify the price of a comparable Jet. The only short comings that I have found is that you don't have a stop to keep the spindle from turning. The other problem is that this machine eats the belt up pretty fast. In my case the speed didn't seem to increase as others have complained but the belt was chewed to nothing within a couple of months. I found a replacement belt (same #)at the local auto parts store for 6 dollars so really not a big deal, but the belt should last longer. It's just not a very good design for speed control. The tail stock seemed to slip at first too, from too much lubrication or surface of the lathe bed not rough enough. This problem clears up with usage. Overall, I'm happy with what I have for the money.