Thats sounds great Kevin,when your all done send a couple pics if you can.

Kevin Campbell wrote on Dec 24^th, 2016 at 12:12am:



There is a recall on the switch if the forward and reverse are switched.  Call in to their customer service if you are feeling lucky, or call John Ford extension 706 if you actually want the part, and they will send you a new electrical box. Or offer to have you return the lathe and they will ship you a new one...

I finally got in touch with their marketing manager about the problems I had, and listed the forward/reverse being backwards as well as the condition my 1624 arrived in, and she said that the recall notice was supposedly on their website.  Apparently none of the lathes from the batch that had that problem were supposed to be fixed before they were sent out.

I'll tell ya, I am loving this lathe. Speed and stability are 2 excellent characteristics for woodturning. And, the swivel head is great. Back and left shoulder are very thankful for that feature. Also, a guy called from Nova, and they are sending out the part for the forward/ reverse issue.

Im looking at this Lathe now, just seems to good to be true. I might just have to do it when woodcraft has thier anniversary sale on the 28th.

Jeff  Where did you add weight to yours?
       Do you have  the iron stand or
       the one that comes with it?Thanks Anthony

I've had the 1624 for three years. I added the outboard spindle wheel and highly recommend getting that little item.  I continually use it to "apply the brakes" when shutting off the lathe - much safer than grabbing the chuck or rotating stock. Last year I added the factory variable speed upgrade. Yes, it was easy enough to deal with the belts, but I found myself leaving it in just a few basic speeds and not changing around as much as I probably should.  The variable speed definitely took care of that, and I'm now all over the map with spindle speeds as I perform different operations. Pure pleasure.  My only gripe thus far is that it has been much harder to switch from forward to reverse, taking several pushes on the pressure switch before it actually changes.  Just this past few days I may have discovered that maybe I've been pushing too hard on that pressure switch.  It seems to respond much better to just light taps/pushes.  If so, my only gripe will be gone. My upgrade did come with a broken control box housing. The company sent me a replacement but after looking at all the wiring I'd have to change over I decided to repair the broken box in place.  So far it's holding up fine.

I was a little disappointed to find that the headstock bearings are all in about a 3-inch portion of the headstock housing instead of being on either side of the pully drives. Doesn't seem to be a problem in actual use though so maybe it's just my old-school sort of thinking. I don't think I'd want to do any metal spinning on this lathe though because of the headstock bearing locations.

The 1624 in original or variable speed form is a fine lathe.

ron

After having the 1624 for a month I find that some accessories are really useful. First, get the head allignment tool. This thing makes quick work of aligning the tailstock and head. Very useful if you rotate the head for anywork.
The hand wheel is another I think that is needed. darn thing doesn't come with one. I find I miss this as my Jet had one.
Get a smaller tool rest. The big 12" that it comes with is to big for small work.

Guys  I will be getting my 1624 in about a month
         I ordered the hand wheel and alignment tool
         it came today.I don,t think the hand wheel comes
         with the lathe.