SHOP FOX W1752 Mini Wood Lathe

The problems are listed below, but if you get past them it is a good lathe for the money. If your new to wood lathe as I am do your homework first. I read many reviews and looked at several lathes(not that I could afford them). There are many how to videos on how to use the tools, what tools you need and how to use them. Within minutes after turning it on and figuring out how to use the chisels, I was able to make a nice oak handle. The speed is fairly easy to change and the lathe is smooth and quiet. It comes with the necessary parts to get you started, minus the chisels.It has a 2 year warranty and seems well made. The live center and other pointy thing in the front (the spur center) line up perfectly. I have a little concern about plastic handles but other wise it seems well made.1.Amazon took way to long to ship it, they penalize you if you use free shipping. almost 2 weeks from the day I ordered it.2. The lathe was covered in grease, not a little but way to much. Up to 1/4 inch in places.ABSURD and it took over an hour just to clean up the grase. It does need a protective layer but not hand fulls of grease.3. The quill handle was broken off at the threads in the handle, I think this happened at the factory because they put a new handle in the parts package. They just didn't want to take the time to do it themselves. That took a few minutes to get the broken treads out of the quill handle and put a new handle in. thankfully they at least gave me a new one.4. The motor dust cover had broke off during shipping apparently.It looks I have have to take out the whole motor assembly to put it back on.Right now I have a peace of electrical take holding the cover on.Having said that the lathe seems like a good quality lathe that should last for years.A note, the tool rest handles are spring loaded and can be turned up or down so to stay out of the way of the tool rest.In spit of the problems I still gave it 5 stars, it is a good value. There is nothing that feels cheap about it.

I received this lathe as a Christmas Present. It seems that a lot of quill handles are broken when people receive their lathes. I contacted Shop Fox customer service, since it was a present bought on Amazon, and they were less than receptive to talke to me. They would not even sell me one and said I had to go through Amazon. I went to a local shop that sells the unit, they called the factory and ordered one. Said it would be here in 2 days. (Ya Right!). 2 weeks later the wood shop called back to check. The item is on back order until June! (Go Figure)After only 1 month my lathe started making noise. The lower pulley vibrated in and was rubbing against the cast iron. Then it went the other way and almost came off the motor. I had to completely remove the motor and pulley, realigne them and reinstall. The pulley still wont stay put, the locking screws for the pulley dont seem to be holding at speed. I dont know how to fix it yet!I DO NOT recommend this machine to anyone! Beware seems to be the prevailing consensus for this machine. It is a shame because it could be an extremely nice lathe.

The belt tension knob was broken. The belt cover was broken. Neither of the tool rest lockdowns were in the box (so it's useless right now). Also the cover over the motor came off in shipping. And no hex wrench that was supposed to be included. I'm hoping that Amazon can send me the parts so I don't have to ship it back--it's 100 lbs. When I get results, I'll update my review to describe how this was handled and how the lathe actually works. I did turn it on and the motor works quietly. The drive spur is out of round some too. (maybe .015 to .02) I don't know what is acceptable, but from a machinist's stand point it's not good.Update 1: Just got the replacement lathe...missing parts include--the live rolling center, spur center, and still no tool rest lockdowns--otherwise I could mix and match to get one functioning lathe. Also there is a bent foot, chipped paint, chipped casting and the "Shop Fox" sign that is bolted on front of the lathe is upside down. I'm just going to buy some tool rest lockdowns, it will be easier than lugging two of these back to UPS and probably cheaper.As far as how Amazon has handled this...they sent me another lathe (with even more missing parts) within two days. They could not send me the parts only.I do not recommend this Shop Fox lathe.

I bought this lathe in 2010 and have loved it. I've made hundreds of pens. My problem now is the bearings are bad and I can't find parts for the machine. I've contacted customer service, but have gotten no reply.