McKenzie Penworks
Member
A week or so ago I noticed a listing on a local Facebook page that showed a rather large lathe. I could just barely make out the model number on it, which wasn't in the listing anywhere, and realized what it was. The price was great, but it was over two hours away and I didn't have a way to transport a 1500lb machine easily. (Yep... that's heavy)
I joked with the person that listed it that they were just far enough to save me from myself... which was great... until they reached out a few days ago offering to deliver it to me for the same price.
SOOO.... now I have this little thing in my shop. It's a Serious Toolworks SL2542. Weighing a mere 1580lbs, it was really fun to get off the trailer and into the shop. It does have wheels but the one on the tailstock isn't quite holding the weight (have to adjust the stationary foot later) so I used my gantry crane to get it in a temporary spot while I clean it up a bit. It sat for 2 years in storage so the entire lathe bed was rusty. Couldn't have that so I already cleaned it up. Now I'm waiting on MT3 accessories and a 1.5" x 8 wood turning chuck to get here so I can turn with it. That is NOT a size that gives you a bunch of choices in wood turning chucks!
Only thing I can think of that I might do with this thing is turn a drum shell or two... I used to build drums before going all in on pen stuff but never had a lathe big enough to do stave/segmented drum shells. The really funny thing is 99% of the time this will just be used to drill 3" lengths of 3/4" maple for our laserlinez blanks. But by golly I've got 6" of tailstock travel to do it with!
I joked with the person that listed it that they were just far enough to save me from myself... which was great... until they reached out a few days ago offering to deliver it to me for the same price.
SOOO.... now I have this little thing in my shop. It's a Serious Toolworks SL2542. Weighing a mere 1580lbs, it was really fun to get off the trailer and into the shop. It does have wheels but the one on the tailstock isn't quite holding the weight (have to adjust the stationary foot later) so I used my gantry crane to get it in a temporary spot while I clean it up a bit. It sat for 2 years in storage so the entire lathe bed was rusty. Couldn't have that so I already cleaned it up. Now I'm waiting on MT3 accessories and a 1.5" x 8 wood turning chuck to get here so I can turn with it. That is NOT a size that gives you a bunch of choices in wood turning chucks!
Only thing I can think of that I might do with this thing is turn a drum shell or two... I used to build drums before going all in on pen stuff but never had a lathe big enough to do stave/segmented drum shells. The really funny thing is 99% of the time this will just be used to drill 3" lengths of 3/4" maple for our laserlinez blanks. But by golly I've got 6" of tailstock travel to do it with!
. Great find.
