Shop Fox W1836 Bench Top Wood Lathe, 12" x 15"

I bought this Lathe just over a year ago, and just love it. It has done everything I have wanted it to do with ease. The only issue I have is the light, I have yet to find a light bulb that will work. It seems the bulbs are not long enough to reach the bottom of the socket to make contact so the light will work. Anyone else with this issue, if so how did you fix the problem? Overall a very good Lathe. I would recommend it.

Flexible light poor design. Sags and falls Tool rest had gouges creating rough surface.

Do not buy this machine! I thought I did my homework. Price, features, HP, size. I could not have known that the shipment would arrive having spent time on its head. Packaging inadequate to the task. Several dings, including a scuff on the digital readout. Broken pulley cover. ZERO response from Shop Fox. My machine was tumbled around. Only the lathe itself was in the place it was put originally. All other parts were strewn about. I documented all of this and sent the pics to Shop Fox. ZERO reply. I'm sure the Rikon or Grizzly machines I looked at would be better choices. I mean, it's not hard to improve on ZERO.

I have owned this same exact lathe in the past. ad to sell shop due to hard times/ covid. I just bought it again and it is just as good as i remembered. However, the box was delivered 2 days ahead of schedule while i wasnt here and the box looked like it was dragged behind the truck for delivery. Contacted amazon and was suggested to open the box and inspect product. upon unpacking, parts and pieces started to fall out. The styrofoam was broken which led to a parts bag being missing. There was also 2 leveling legs / plastic pieces scattered in the bottom of the box. The tool holder was cracked in half making it useless. The belt tensioner door was all bent and didnt close well along with the door release closure knob broken. The quill lock handle was also bent , still works but bent at about a 22deg angle. The tool rest lock handle was also bent but not as severe. I turned on the lathe after inspection, and pre-set up to find this lathe works well, very little vibration, and the head and tail stock line up center to center. Other than the missing. broken parts, due to the shipper not reading the FRAGILE stamped on the box, i am in love once again with spinning projects in my shop. Mr manufacturer, please, send me the parts i need instead of packing up the old machine and shipping a new one. I am not interested in wrestling this back into the box and lugging it for a return. I am sure you will find sending the pieces less inconvenient than a whole new machine, not to mention the week or so for the new one to arrive. If this is not agreeable to you, i would respectfully request a major discount for the trouble i will have to incur packaging and sending the damaged one back. TY for your consideration. Love the machine, hate the transporter. Sir Jameson

I have it assembled, but not used it yet. However, my initial visual impression is WTF? Enamel paint job had multiple chips and scratches, along with numerous runs. Poor quality control for sure! I'll update with operation evaluation. Update: machine works flawlessly. Head and tail points meet perfectly and everything functions as it should. I'm happy to have it!

The belt can be replaced with a nicer one, other than that, its perfect. know what youre doing. especially if you attach metal jaws, you can really get hurt if you dont know what youre doing oh, and sharpen your tools and use the right ones for the right job. perfect lathe. i rated it 2 stars for "for beginners". you need to setup stock properly and tool rest properly and speed. that being said, theres some people out there who are savants, and thats why it got 2 stars instead of 1. but you can get injured badly if you are not careful, and you really must wear a dust mask and goggles when turning. I use a fullface 3m 7800, i love that mask.

Better than I expected

I have had cheaper lathes where the centers are slightly off and there is a little runout. This has none of that and has been good for 15 pens and a salt mill so far.