Rikon - 70-220 VSR (Rating: 3)

I will start this review with an email that I sent to the Rikon Tech support team about a week ago.

"I have had my 70-220VSR lathe for about a month now. First let me say that the customer service has been great. The CS department has done what they need to do so far to take care of me. I originally ordered the lathe through Woodcraft. The lathe showed up in a timely fashion. After unboxing, I conducted a function check and noticed that the spindle was not spinning true. I removed the handle from the headstock to see if the handle had not been put on square. The spindle was still obviously spinning out of round even with the handle off. I called the CS department and after talking to a few different techs, I had a new lathe shipped out to me along with a new live center for the trouble. It arrived about a week later. I went through the same procedures with the new lathe and everything checked out. I boxed up the malfunctioning lathe and had it shipped back to Rikon via the same carrier that delivered the replacement lathe. When I started my first few projects on the lathe, I noticed that the chrome was peeling off the tailstock wheel and the faceplate on the variable speed box was also not secure. Neither of these were big issues and I probably wouldn't have thought twice about either issue if it had not been for the previous issues. I called CS again and they were not aware of either issue being systemic. They did ship out a new wheel to replace the one that had the peeling issue. I received the wheel a few days later and put it aside to install later. Around Christmas, I received a bill from the carrier that delivered the replacement lathe and shipped the malfuntioning lathe back to Rikon. The bill was for return shipping and totaled around $450. I called Rikon CS again and was able to get it straightened out, it was just another 'bump in the road'. That brings me to today. I was going through and cleaning and waxing the bed, banjo and tailstock and decided to install the new wheel. When I opened the box, I discovered that it was in fact the wheel for the head stock not the tailstock. Not a big issue since the wheel that is currently on the tailstock still functions fine. Just another minor nuisance. Finally while cleaning the banjo and the tailstock, I noticed a few places where paint had already chipped off (about .25" in diameter). All I have turned on the lathe so far is maybe a dozen pens, nothing big that would cause any kind of chipping. While none of these issues with the replacement lathe are major by any stretch, the combination of them has me a bit discouraged about my purchase. I purchased the lathe to replace a Turncrafter Power Commander that I have been using for a few years. I was expecting this lathe to be a good step up from the Turncrafter and in some ways it has been but with all the issues with the two Rikon lathes, the experience has been a bit of a disappointment. I am still hoping that things turn around. I have held off giving anyone feedback on the lathe until I have everything settled and working well as I don't want to give an unfair opinion. On a positive note, the projects that I have completed on the lathe have turned out great and there are many positive things about the lathe that I do enjoy. The ease of the belt changes is great! Much better than the previous lathe. I have also made use of the reverse option while doing finishing sanding. The extra quill travel has also been great as I don't have to reposition the tailstock while drilling on the lathe. I do want to be clear that I am not an angry customer who now won't buy anything from Rikon. I believe that this has just been a Murphy's Law experience if you will. The customer service that I have received thus far is enough to make me a repeat customer and is one of the reasons that I chose Rikon over a few other competitors."

With the email out of the way, some of you may be asking, why 3 stars. As I stated in the beginning, I sent this email about a week ago and I have yet to receive a response. That in and of itself is quite irritating. As stated in the email, the customer service factor was a large part of the decision making and while their CS is good, it still seems to be lacking a bit. The lathe itself, without all the issues I have personally had with it, is great. It is a solid built machine. The spindle seems to run true on the machine I have now. The tailstock has a very smooth operation after cleaning it up. The same goes for the lathe bed. I am not a fan of the stock tool rest but that is not something I would consider a real factor as the tool rest is on par with tool rests on lathes in this price range. The measurement markings on the quill are somewhat faint, especially compared to the Turncrafter. That nuisance is offset by the extra quill travel which is great of drilling on the lathe. The tool rack to hold wrenches, centers etc is in a bit of an awkward position for a right handed person. I do not understand why they put it right behind the headstock. The lathe bed is machined a bit better than the Turncrafter and the tailstock slides true along the bed with almost no side to side play. Would I recommend this lathe? I am still on the fence with that. I will update this review after a few more months have passed.