Powermatic 4224B Lathe (Woodturning)

I’ve put my trust in Powermatic. Hi, I’m Nick Cook and I’ve been turning
wood for about 35 years. For the last 15 years I’ve been involved with the people at Powermatic on developing lathes. The 3520, the 3520A and the 3520B have progressed to become very fine machines. Now we’ve developed over the past five years, the
4224. It’s taken all the features that we put on the 3520 and then added more to make it the ultimate in woodturning. A great lathe is the sum of all the details and we
paid close attention to all the details that we’ve added to this machine. First
and foremost is the sliding headstock. Now I can move the headstock over either
just to get closer to the machine without falling over the leg. I can push
it all the way to the end turn a larger piece. The two locking cams on the back
ensure that the headstock’s not going to move, so that you don’t damage the piece
as you’re turning it. The hefty 3 horsepower motor is three-phase, but you don’t have
to worry about that. The inverter takes care of that by taking single-phase 220
power and converting it to the three-phase motor. That combined with the three-step pulley gives you the maximum torque for larger pieces and maximum
speed for smaller pieces. Digital readout shows you exactly how many rpms the
spindle is moving and you can also reverse it. That allows you to sand and
finish the piece a little easier. We’ve added a vacuum chuck. a Venturi
built into the headstock that allows you to connect your shop air directly to the
machine and have vacuum. We’ve added a spindle lock. Nobody has a spindle lock like this. It’s
one of the best features of the machine and with it now you can put things on
the chuck, take them off without any assistance. The speed control is the best
there is. It has a linear potentiometer and a speed
range from 40 RPMs up to 3,500 RPM’s. You have a digital readout, so you
can tell exactly how fast the machine is going. Unlike the dial indicators that are on
some lathes. We’ve added indexing to the head. Not only 36 points like most lathes
have. We’ve got 14, 36 and 48 This allows you to index very quickly
and efficiently without having to take the cover off the headstock or anything
like that. The lighting system. I can’t turn without
light. It’s the best lighting system there is. We’ve got four 110 outlets, so you can plug in your drill, your router or whatever you need. We’ve improved the tool rest. The locking
mechanism is such that it stays where you put it, it locks in place more firmly. The
tailstock has an ACME thread now. This makes drilling much more positive and
much faster. As a production turner, I find it necessary to duplicate things on
many occasions. The comparator, the ability to put an original piece back
here and then use my calipers to move the measurements over to the duplicate
piece, makes it a lot easier to make multiples. We’ve got a tool caddy for all
the accessories. The live centers the drive centers and all that and all of that
sits on a bed of cast iron As a woodturner, what I tell everybody is
that you want to get the best there is when you start. And the biggest is almost
always the best. I tell people that you can do small things on a big lathe, but you can’t do big things on a small lathe. So if you’re interested in getting into it big-time,
start with this one. For the last 90 years, Powermatic has been setting the gold
standard in woodworking machinery. Committed to quality since 1921,
Powermatic has been providing generations of woodworkers with the tools and the
confidence to create and inspire.