# 1624 ll wood lathe



## Charlie75 (Mar 14, 2012)

I am kind of interested in this lathe. It seems to be new because I can't find any reviews on it. It is in my price range and the 16" capacity over the bed will fit my needs. Comments please.

Charlie


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## Wildwood (Jul 22, 2012)

Here are a few reviews, like any China made lathe they are either great or not worth the trouble. Thought might be some reviews posted here, but didn't look.

https://www.teknatool.com/product/nova-1624-ii-lathe/

https://www.amazon.com/NOVA-Speed-Lathe-Black-24221/dp/B01M1BB5LL/ref=sr_1_2/146-1725801-6056849?ie=UTF8&qid=1511209357&sr=8-2&keywords=nova+1624+ii+lathe#customerReviews

It will do anything you want to do with a lathe, have seen more positive reviews than negative. Do shop around for best price, especially if live near a Woodcraft store. They often run sales on lathes, and easier to get a replacement or exchange. They often carry optional bed extension if need one.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/nova-1624-ii-lathe

Don't know what you want to turn might think about beefing up the fram if turn lot of out of balanced wet wood.


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## troll (Nov 20, 2017)

Am looking far a Conover wood lathe. Saw one was listed last year in north Georgia near where I live. Is it possible it is still around. If so call me at 828-246-2415. Denis


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## Hockey (Apr 9, 2017)

Charlie, it looks like you have a double thread going. I posted this in the other one:

"I am also looking at this lathe for the future. In researching it, I came across the previous model which is the 1624-44. Not sure, but I think the 1624 II is the newer model, and according to the Tekanatool website, it appears they only changed the color from the previous model. You can visit the Teknatool website for lots of information.

It seems that users like the lathe alot. An issue to some is that it requires manual belt changes (8 speeds). However, there is an upgrade available to replace the motor and controls to variable speed. If you do the upgrade, you will have a spare motor (original) and can go back to the manual belt changes.

I intend to do more research, particularly on whether the rotating head (which I would prefer to do without) has any issues in firmly locking down to the point that there is no movement in the headstock to bed connection, even with force."


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## LeeMills (Nov 2, 2014)

I've had my 1624 for about 10 years with no problems. 
I do use the swivel headstock almost 100% of the time when hollowing out bowls. Usually I rotate it about 22.5*; that makes the turning more comfortable to me and gets the tailstock out of the way. No problem locking down the headstock or alignment.
The belt change does not bother me. I never change it when turning spindles and usually only once turning bowls or platters. A minor modification makes changing the low speeds better to me.
Lyle Jamieson has a video on adjusting a lathe for balance. I had thought about adding ballast but once I made the adjustment I have not had a need to. It removed over 50% of the "shaking". More ballast would help.
I believe that except for the black color and adding a slap switch for off they are the same.


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## Charlie75 (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks LeeMills. I have read a few reviews and they mostly say the same thing. I am interested in seeing the Lyle Jamieson video. I am not sure but I think he is in Michigan. The one thing that bothered me just a little was the belt change for speeds thing but maybe I can get used to that. Especially since going to any other method bumps the cost up a lot. And if it's something I just could not live with as Hockey stated I could buy the upgrade motor.

Thanks again Lee. And thanks to the others who commented.

Charlie


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## LeeMills (Nov 2, 2014)

Charlie, this is a video by Lyle but he did a better job explaining it in his full video.
Basically, imagine a lathe as a see saw. Two legs are always firmly on the ground and two can teeter.
You only need to adjust one leg. Mount an intentional out-of-round blank so that the lathe shakes some (but not enough to dance around). I adjust the right front since it was the most convenient to me.
If the diagonal legs that you are working with are planted firmly and the other two teeter, lowering the one will bring the other two into firm contact. If the diagonal legs you are working on are the ones that teeter then raising the one will bring them into firm contact.
You can see and hear the difference as you adjust it with the lathe running. If you go too far the other legs will start to teeter. 
Leveling in this means equal pressure on each leg, not as in leveling with a bubble level.
I removed well over 50% of the shaking but you may want to still add ballast.


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## davidsmith0726 (Dec 31, 2016)

I've had the 1624II only about three months, but I figured I'd weigh in anyway. I bought this lathe because it's a good compromise between the midi lathes and the expensive full-size models.

The belt changing is a little bit of a hassle for me, especially changing to the slower speeds-but by no means a deal-killer. I decided to buy an extension after a few weeks. I think it was money well-spent.

I get some vibration with the current set-up, especially when I'm roughing out bowl blanks-I think it actually got worse when I added the extension. I use the legs that came with the lathe. They're certainly adequate, but I plan to build a weighted stand in time. (I thought about bolting down the lathe-there are holes in the adjustable feet to do so-but I think that would create more problems than fix).

I may upgrade in the future (although retirement is looming and I'm learning to be satisfied with what I have), but for a weekend woodworker like me, this seems like the best choice.


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## LeeMills (Nov 2, 2014)

David, you may want to make this small modification. I did mine right after I got the lathe for both checking the speed before I hit the switch and for moving to the slowest speed. Nova does use a very good two sided psa tape so you have to be careful removing the cover and it takes a while with goo gone to remove the remaining tape from both. Magnets should be available at any hobby store. Just takes fingernail to remove to check speed or to help align the pulley on the slowest speed from the outside. I have never had mine vibrate off and it still seals well.

The extension works well either way but most I have seen are as show in the pic.

Have fun.


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