Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18707 in Home Improvement
• Brand: PSI Woodworking
• Model: TCLPROVS
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 21.00" h x 12.50" w x 34.50" l,

Features

• Variable speed wood lathe
• Powered by a 1/2-horsepower motor with variable speed control
• Electronic speed control box and cable easily mounts
• Made from cast iron
• Accessories include 6-inch tool rest, 3-inch face plate, spur center, dead center, and spare drive belt

From the Manufacturer
PSI has engineered the TCLPROVS Turncrafter Pro VS Variable Speed Wood Lathe to be the most powerful, variable speed, midi wood lathe on the market at the best price.

Customer Reviews

Turncrafter Pro Variable Speed Lathe
I just recieved my lathe a few days ago and am very pleased with it. Amazon's free shipping is awesome, my lathe came well packaged, packed in styrofoam. Setup took only a couple of minutes, just put the VS control box on the side and insert the hinge pin and you are done. All handles seem to be solid and the finish nice. It also came with a set of safety goggles and a spare drive belt. The only problem I have found is that on the installed drive belt one of the outside "V" grooves is torn causing a clicking noise as the belt goes over the pulley. It isn't making a vibration when it turns so that's pretty minor.
In comparing this one to the Jet units I checked out at a local Woodcrafters store, I don't see any advantages on the Jet that would make me want to pay $125 more. The Turncrafter is every bit as well made and I'm happy as can be with it. I've been turning several pens and some spindles for practice and it works smoothly in all aspects. The price on this one is the best you'll ever see for a midi size lathe with variable speed. It's really nice to be able to start out slowly to make sure the wood doesn't fly off, then bring it up to the desired speed. After doing a lot of research on the web this is BY FAR the best deal going. Hope this gives you some good information and saves you time deciding on which lathe to purchase.....Happy Turning OkieBart

Can't recommend.
Get a cup of coffee and sit back in your easychair for a spell and I'll tell you a little story called "The Nightmare Before (and after) Christmas".

My wife bought this lathe for me as a Christmas present, wasn't that nice of her? Quite frankly, I was shocked on Christmas morning, and elated!

30 minutes into it the motor just stopped, didn't overheat. Unplugged the motor from the speed unit and connected power directly to it, still wouldn't work.

Called PSI the next day and spoke to Judy who referred me to Joe Roberts and he told me to send the motor and speed unit to them and they would immediately check it out and send me a new one (cost me $15 to send it back). That was lie 1.

A week later I called them to see whats up and Joe Roberts told me the motor hadn't come in yet but he would call me when it did. Lie 2.

3 days later I called again and Judy told me she couldn't find Joe but she'd have him call me. Lie 3.

At this point I start documenting this stuff.

I called the next day and Joe said he didn't remember talking to me before but would check the motor and call me back but he never did. Lies 4&5.

I called the next day and Judy told me they were having inventory so there was no way my motor had been received by them and transferred me to someones voicemail so I left a message, and no one ever called me back. sigh.

I called back and asked to speak to Joe and he told me because it was Friday he'd send me a new motor the following Monday. So on Tues I called and Joe said he sent the motor on Mon and would call me the next morning (Wed) with the tracking number. He didn't call. Lie 6.

I called the following Tues and Joe said he didn't send the motor and forgot to call me but he had a new motor in hand and would send it to me that day and call me the next morning with the tracking number.

Now we are up to today, Jan 22, and I spoke to Joe this morning and he said he sent the motor yesterday and would call me back with the tracking number which he did, but the tracking number showed (via the UPS website) that what he shipped only weighed 2.3 lbs and was going to a different state than where I lived.

I called back and Joe said there was a mix up and he'd call me back with the correct tracking number. He never did. I don't know how many times he has lied to me at this point.

So here it is, exactly 1 month since this lathe was purchased and paid for and all I have is a heavy piece of metal that doesn't do anything and a severe case of irritation over this whole mess.

If I don't have a new motor and speed unit by close of business on Monday the 26th of Jan I'm going to box the thing up and send it back to Amazon.

I mean really, have you ever heard of anything like this before?

I haven't, and I don't think a customer should have to go through this, especially with a Christmas present. Some gift.

I can't recommend this machine due to the irresponsible performance of the people that work for PSI.

Oh yeah, one more thing, this Joe Roberts has a nasty little laugh he does almost constantly while talking that just drives you up the wall.

If it was up to me he would be standing in the soup line right now.

And all I wanted to do was spin pieces of wood to resemble visions in my mind........


Part Deux:

Its now been about 4 months since this lathe was purchased.
As stated above dealing with Penn State has been a nightmare, specifically the enormous amount of lying by the guy in charge named Joe. He's still there and he's still lying.

Anyway, in frustration I scoured the web and found out there are 2 parts to the Penn Sate industry and up to that point I had been dealing with the part that was mentioned in the User Manual at 1-800-377-7297.
Don't call that number unless you are a glutton for abuse.

Instead, call 1-877-774-5431 and speak to Mark ( www.psiwoodworking.com ). When I called he was the one that answered the phone. You can tell instantly that Mark knows what he's doing and he is used to getting stuff done, and solving problems.

Mark told me their lathes are made in China and recently they have been having alot of problems with them as I outlined above and he had no solution for me but he said he would send me a new motor and speed controller which he did and they arrived in a few days. The same problem occurred. The lathe initially worked fine then out of nowhere it stopped and wouldn't come on again. A few days later it would come on but would then go off again. I called Mark and he sent me a 3rd motor. That motor has worked fine to this day. However, there have been a few times when it would stop for no apparent reason and after pushing the reset button on the speed control unit it would run again.

I still don't know the reason why this thing acts like it does nor does Mark, however I now have 2 extra motors and 1 extra speed control for backup.

Here's what I think.
I think the issue is in the speed control unit, specifically, the reset switch. It doesn't has a positive feel to it when you press it. You can't tell if its been pressed or not when you press it. The button itself seems loose in the housing and its just a matter of luck if it makes a connection or not. One of these days I'll get around to purchasing an after market push button switch and see if that clears the problem up.

Having said all of that, in the past 3 months I have turned over 300 pens and various other things and am very happy with the quality of the unit except as indicated above.

Last week I decided to turn a small bowl which means using the included faceplate. After turning the bowl I went to remove the faceplate from the lathe and realized that a special tool is necessary to do so and it was not included with the stuff that came with the lathe. The main shaft in the headstock has 2 small holes drilled into it and I inserted a cylindrical drift pin into it while turning the faceplate with a 1" open end wrench and it came undone.

I called the original Penn State number and requested the special wrench that was missing and that idiot Joe said no problem, he'll send me one, then he asked if I purchased the lathe from them. I had already given him the serial number and he looked me up in the database. I told him I purchased it from amazon and he said, "Well thats a whole different story, you're gonna have to send me a copy of your receipt so I can verify it." So now I have to find the receipt and go somehere and make a copy of it and snail mail it to him in order to fix a problem THEY created by not including the wrench in the first place. Well, Monday morning I'm calling Mark and see what he says and if he says he'll send me a new wrench I'm gonna tell him he needs to fire that idiot Joe.

I hope no one else has to go through what I have and if you do have problems I hope the info above helps out.
It really is a decent lathe but unfortunately the support is horrendous and its up to pure luck how your history will be with it.

Great value, great quality
Haven't spent a whole lot of time on this lathe yet, but am impressed so far. It was a toss up between Jet VS and PSI VS. I chose PSI as it's built practically the same, others seemed to like it, and at the time of purchase was a much cheaper--about $125 cheaper! Seemed like a great value.

Very smooth, very little vibration, VS works well, fit and finish may be a little worse than the Jet but nothing big. Had to run a file down the inside edges of the bed to free up a slight tight spot when sliding the tailstock. Having used the Jets at a local turning club, I find it hard to recognize much significant difference in quality and useability between these two (granted I'm still a beginner). So far, I'm very pleased with the decision to go PSI.