I am about to relate a bizarre convergence concerning Powermatic 3520A and an Oliver 51K.
I got the Powermatic several years ago when a large discount was in effect. There was a problem with the spindle, but that was eventually resolved and now it works fine. Except the bed is too doggone short. Although it is supposed to fit 35" between centers, you are stretching it to get 30" in there and that's with the tailstock hanging off the end of the bed. Anyway, I am using the lathe and an Oliver 51K shows up in Cl, so I get it. Although it is only a 12" swing, it does have a 7' long bed. So I have a large swing lathe with a short bed and a smaller swing lathe with a long bed. On another site, there was a discussion of interchangeability of banjos on Powermatic and Oliver lathes. Although the discussion centered on the Model 90 and 159, I wondered if my two lathes were the same way.
I found the Oliver tailstock would not quite fit on the Powermatic bed, but the Powermatic tailstock would fit on the Oliver bed. Since the short extension for the Powermatic is $400 or so, I have an option to extend the bed for a lot less money.
I just think it's sort of cool that a lathe made in 1928 or so has parts that can fit on one made in the early 21st century.
Roy Girolami
'
I got the Powermatic several years ago when a large discount was in effect. There was a problem with the spindle, but that was eventually resolved and now it works fine. Except the bed is too doggone short. Although it is supposed to fit 35" between centers, you are stretching it to get 30" in there and that's with the tailstock hanging off the end of the bed. Anyway, I am using the lathe and an Oliver 51K shows up in Cl, so I get it. Although it is only a 12" swing, it does have a 7' long bed. So I have a large swing lathe with a short bed and a smaller swing lathe with a long bed. On another site, there was a discussion of interchangeability of banjos on Powermatic and Oliver lathes. Although the discussion centered on the Model 90 and 159, I wondered if my two lathes were the same way.
I found the Oliver tailstock would not quite fit on the Powermatic bed, but the Powermatic tailstock would fit on the Oliver bed. Since the short extension for the Powermatic is $400 or so, I have an option to extend the bed for a lot less money.
I just think it's sort of cool that a lathe made in 1928 or so has parts that can fit on one made in the early 21st century.
Roy Girolami
'
