Mc 900

[46150]

A mate of mine is after a wood lathe.He has seen in the local trading post two MC900 wood lathes The first has a spare motor and chissels and is asking $500.The second is the same,except it has no spare motor,but a set of chisels for $425.Can someone point him in the right direction.All comments would be appreciated.Regards......Al PS What brand are we talking about?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

MC-900's are more a "type" than a brand. The base machine is bought and rebadged by a variety of manufacturers, with minor modifications. Ledacraft, Carbatec, even JET are all in the game. It's a fairly sturdy and relatively cheap lathe, suitable for learning on. Some will say you outgrow it all too soon, but I disagree... IMHO a truly good turner isn't restricted by his tools. ;)

I bought a new motor for mine @ $50- second hand, but I believe that $75 is a reasonable price. Usually the capacitor is the part that fails and I was quoted $40- for that brand new.

So... which of the two is best value? It boils down to road-testing 'em; casting a critical eye over their conditions. Can you adjust the variable speed lever with just one finger? Do the centres kiss when the tailstock is brought up? Do both convert to outboard and back again easily? When brought back from outboard, do the centres kiss again or do you need to spend 5 mins tweaking things? Also... the quality/quantity of the tools. Generally speaking HSS tools are better than CS tools... but good quality CS is better than cheap'n'nasty HSS.

I will say that I think both lathes are slightly over-priced for second-hand jobs... a new one can be picked up for between $350 & $800, depending on whose badge it's wearing...

[46150]

Thanks skew,that was the stuff he was looking for.Will pass the info on.Regards...........AL

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

You're welcome.

One thing I didn't mention which could justify the price... the brands of the tools. If they're a mixture of good quality tools (as most proficient turners tend to have) with names like Robert Sorby, P&N, Ashley Iles or Henry Taylor, then the tools cost anywhere between $50 & $150 each!

On the other hand, if they're all matching no-brand tools, they're probably only worth $15 the lot!

[Gra]

Carbatec are selling the mc900 new with stand and a set of chisels (no name) for $399 at the working with wood show. I purchased its big brother for not much more..

Shop around and haggle you never know what you will get

[Farnk]

They also come up on ebay regularly!
Thanks to this forum (Gday Neil!) I picked up a leda mc900 for $100.:p
It was in great nick and has been a huge move up from the old GMC.
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