Powermatic 4424B Review: Is It Worth The Cost?

Last Updated on December 21, 2023 by Charles Wilson

Powermatic has been serving us since 1921. It has the reputation of providing us with quality and powerful lathe from the very beginning.

Since the company has been named associating with Power-centric, you can guess how powerful the lathe can be with a whopping 3 Horsepower motor inbuilt unit.

We saw there is no actual review about this heavyweight 4424B model of Powermatic properly, so we thought, why don’t we bring this up on the table?

The Powermatic 4424B is their biggest and most potent lathe that has been industrially manufactured. This metal lathe is loaded with a lot of the features that will blow your mind away.

From top to bottom, the construction of the lathe is well-tailored to satisfy the needs of the users.

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Powermatic 4424B Review

This is by far one of the expensive metal lathes that we have seen in the market.

Yes, since it comes with loads of features, also the tagged price would not come cheap. Powermatic 4424B is the most potent Powermatic has ever released.

The features of the 3520B have been upgraded, and newly added features in the 4424B have made the Powermatic 4424B the ultimate lathe of this planet.

So we will be giving you detailed information on the Powermatic 4224B Review that you probably don’t know yet!

Iron Cast Construction

The solid construction of the Powermatic 4424B is top-notch out of the box with Iron Cast, the body, and the bed. The massive structure of the lathe has made the weight 960 lbs.

Which is comparatively pretty heavy, but it also gives the lathe an ultimate ground grabbing which eliminates all the vibration.

While using the lathe in high throttles, the machines tend to vibrate but not in the case of Powermatic 4424B.

The iron cast gives sturdiness to the lathe.

Sliding Head Stock

Most of the lathes have their Headstock at a fixed position, not in the case of Powermatic 4224b.

The Brilliant Research and development department has innovated and moving headstock in the bed of the lathe which slides.

The Sliding mechanism has allowed the users to work with the larger project without any hassle.

Spindle Lock

There is also a fantastic spindle lock in the Powermatic 4424 which is placed in the most convenient place in the lathe. The Spindle is held by the lock, and it is a fail-safe lock for the users.

The Built-in Spindle lock which is on the indexing headstock is useful for the Drilling hole pattern and other routing flutes.

Powerful Motor

One of the main features of Powermatic 4224’s is its sturdy motors that are inbuilt.

The motors are 3 horse-powered, with the capability of having a range of 40 RPM to 3500 RPM. So, you can guess how powerful the motor is.

There is a Poly-V Belt that gives the power to spindle from the motors at all speeds; it provides better and longer life of the belt with an ultra-smooth operation.

Also, when there is an interlocking grain, the motor feature reverse switch from the forward, which is a handy feature.

Built-In Lamps

Are you working in a place where there is no adequate light source? Or do you need more precision in your crafting that needs heavy detailing work?

A good lighting system is always needed while needing to care for intensive operations. The Powermatic 4224 has two built-in 100W lamps for more precision.

In our jobs, precision and detailing is a key function that needs to be taken care of. To me, these built-in lamps are very helpful.

Upgraded Tailstock & Ergonomics Hand Wheels

Powermatic has upgraded its tailstock from their previous product line which was the Powermatic 3520B.

Powermatic has used its unused space in the lathe that can be used as a storage place for keeping accessories or essential thing that is needed in the process of woodturning.

Also, the Hand-wheel is now made ergonomic, so that it can be used even more efficiently like never before.

Variable Speed and Frequency

We know that within the price range of this lathe, most of the lathes have variable speeds. But the Powermatic’s 4224B is exceptional because the lathe delivers ultra-smoothness in the woodturning.

With an Rpm ranging between 40 to 3500, we have observed that motors in the lathes of this price range tend to have lower rpm to be set at much higher rpm than the RPM of Powermatic lathes.

It gets pretty tough for the newcomers to adopt with higher RPM than having the option of starting off with a low setting.

Digital Readout

In our observation, we get to see that 80% of the lathes in this expensive price range have manually dialed readout of the lathes which doesn’t give the actual reading

We have seen a lot of people destroying their craft for having an inaccurate reading.

However, such is not the case for Powermatic 4224B. The readout of the RPM is digital, and it gives the actual readout of the lathe.

Just before you come to any conclusion, give it a shot at my overview of Wen 3420, one of the budget-friendly mini wood lathes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Are there any ways to increase the working area bed, if it’s needed?
The Powermatic 4224 has a huge working space indeed, but if you require to make it larger, then yes there are additional bed extensions of different sizes for more working space in the bed.

Question: How is the new tailstock, can be in use?
The new tailstock has storage space that can be now used for keeping valuables.

Question: What is the size of the tool rest that has been included in the lathe?
The included tool rest of the Powermatic 4224B is 14inches.

Question: Where is the spindle lock situated in the lathe?
You can find the spindle lock in the face of the Headstock.

Final Notes

The Powermatic 4224B is outstanding. It has so much to offer that we can write a book about it. The thing you should note, that it is a professional grade lathe.

However, it is not meant for beginner woodturners who just started woodturning. The 3 HP motor turns work into playtime for the user as it has no hassle in the process.

The speed variables can be fine-tuned to set for the primary user’s preference.

Also, do keep in mind that the lathe has the history to be one of the most expensive lathes commercially sold in the market.

We hope our Powermatic 4224B review has helped you in your purchasing decision.