Review of the Record Power CL4 Lathe with Bowl Turning Attachment and Stand

• Page 1 of the Record Power CL4 Review
• Page 2 of the Record Power CL4 Review
• Page 3 of the Record Power CL4 Review

I have just received my first ever lathe, a Record Power CL4-36, bought from D&M Tools and I decided it might be nice to write a review of it. I am a complete newcomer to woodturning so this review won't be covering the usual type of material such as how well the lathe performs under maximum load. Instead it will focus on matters such as how well suited the machine is for a beginner and how easy the machine is to set up. I believe that I can provide a unique view of this machine and hope that I can help other people make the right choice when looking for a lathe.

As with a lot of lathes the CL4 comes with "free" extras. The package I decided to go for included the RPLB24-48 lathe stand and the CL3B bowl turning bracket. Also included in the order were some tools, oil for the main bearing and a live centre (which was left out of the order). My first impression of this lathe was "Oh my god it's huge". It arrived on the morning of the 22nd March by courier and weighed in at a whopping 171Kg. After a laugh and joke with the delivery guy about how to get it off the van we cut the packing straps and carried each box in separately. I suggest that when you have this machine delivered you make sure that you have someone around to help you move it – preferably someone strong - as two of the boxes weighed close on 50Kg each.

In my excitement I quickly started opening boxes and pulling each bit out to look at it. This was fine up until I decided to pull the motor and controller out of it's box. It was exceedingly tightly packed and after struggling to put it back in the box for 10 minutes I decided to leave it out. Unfortunately it's not designed to sit up on it's own and there is no easy way to support it. I ended up leaning it on the box while I put everything else together.

The Stand

The first thing to put together is the stand. This could probably be done by one person but a second pair of hands really helps when it comes to bolting together the two sides as they are fairly heavy and unwieldy. The instruction manual is clear and concise with plenty of diagrams and pictures to show you what to do and at no point was I left wondering what to do next. The two sides are made first which are then stood up so that the cross pieces can be bolted on make the stand ridged the lathe plates are then bolted onto the top at either end.

The stand is designed to accommodate any of the Record Power lathes and is length adjustable to suit lathes from 24 inches up to 48 inches. Adjustment is performed by sliding the side bars in or out and locking them in place via the pre drilled holes - a task which can be performed even after the stand has been put together. The final stand is surprisingly sturdy – something I was a little worried about – and can be made even more so by bolting it to the floor. There is no play at all front to back and only the tiniest amount side to side which would be fixed by bolting it down. All in all I am very happy with the stand and I am glad that I went for a deal which included it.

Before you start to think everything is perfect I do have a couple of small grumbles. The first grumble is about quality control. One of the legs I received had a substantially bent top fixing plate. If it was a slight bend I could understand it accidentally passing a visual inspection but this plate looked like it had been part of a train crash. Although I can't say for sure I am fairly certain this damage happened at the factory as the box was in good shape and the paint on the plate wasn't split (indicating it was painted after it was bent). I'm happy to say, however, that a couple of emails to D&M Tools later and Record Power are sending a new leg direct as soon as they come into stock. I managed to put the stand together despite the bent leg and the fixing bolts pulled most of the bends out.

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