After immense pain dealing with Rockler and Teknatool I finally have it all together (Nova Neptune Max)
When I finally get them to pick up stuff, I will leave both a purchase review and an actual review of it. Really hope it was worth all this grief rather than cruising down to my local Woodcraft and buying a Powermatic. This is my secondary/wife/guest lathe. Replaces a Rikon midi which was my first lathe. My primary is the Rikon 70-3040.
First impressions from assembling: Disappointed in little fit and finishes. Examples: powder coat on top bed of lathe not a distinct line it bleeds (will have pics in full review), they provide a tool “shelf” for each side but the provided spanner doesn’t have a slot that it fits in. Instructions weren’t great. We are all mechanical people so I figured it out, but if you say there are two distinct sets of legs, provide some type of labels or indicator on the legs to tell which they are. Was easy to align headstock and once built was really ready to go. Definitely more heavyweight than my Rikon Midi.
Will do first turning tomorrow. Open to questions.
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u/ApprehensiveFarm12 1d ago
Yeah .. some things you will just have to live with. Almost all machines have small things. I hope you enjoy your new lathe!
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u/Staff_Guy 1d ago
I have the Neptune, not the max. I love it. Perfect? Far from it, but for me this thing is great. Ymmv.
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u/Business_Spend5935 1d ago
Is that the tool rest it came with or did you already replace? I recently got a Nova Galaxi and was shocked at the terrible tool rest that shipped with it. The powder coating started coming off during my first project, leaving a jagged edge right away. I otherwise love the lathe, which is why I was so surprised in the terrible quality of that one part. The Neptune is a newer model, so I’m hoping they’ve fixed this going forward!
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u/lvpond 1d ago
That’s so funny because that was my exact reaction to the tool rest too. Really, 20” unbalanced bowl on this tool rest? Powder coating is weak all over this lathe except the signs on the front. And that is the factory rest, and yes probably going to replace it, maybe a Oneway or honestly if I find that my Rikon will fit I would definitely get a Rikon for it.
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u/Artistic-Traffic-112 2h ago
Hi. I have no experience with Rikon equipment. However, I have some with other brands. The powder coating is only for aesthetic appearance. It has no benefit to function. If anything, it is a distraction because you are not 100% focused on ylthe job at hand for fear of creating superficial damage.
The rest takes an extraordinary amount of wear and tear with those hard steel tools sliding along the surface repeatedly and under load. No way, imo is any coating going to survive that kind of abuse. Given the purpose of the rest is to provide a secure fulcrum on which to lever cutting control on a fast spinning lump of oftentimes unbalanced hard wood, it's difficult to see how it could. In your place, I would strip it all back to metal and fine grind the contact top edge to a smooth half round, lightly oil it allover or wax it to protect it from corrosion much as you would your chisels. Now, your chisels will glide along the rest until it has been knocked about so much that dents and divets make it an irregular surface and snag on the tool. Then, you need to redress the top edge.
I wish you well with your new lathe.
Happy turning
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