# Fox F46-717 A is it any good?



## eastyorkshirelad (6 Jun 2011)

Looking at purchasing the Fox F46-717 A second hand.. they want £100 for it .. anyone got any good or bad points about it?


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## Bodrighy (6 Jun 2011)

It is supposed to be a pretty good lathe and is about the £500 brand new. You will need to see whether it has all the things you will need such as drives etc as well mind. You can manage without a chuck to start though it is extremely useful but another £100 at least for a decent one. The Fox if I remember rightly is a standard 1x8 thread for the chuck which makes it easier to get parts. Unless it is a total dog I'd be tempted myself at that price

Pete


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## eastyorkshirelad (6 Jun 2011)

now this is the picture... now i dont seem as impressed doesnt look like the same model


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## jumps (6 Jun 2011)

it's in pieces - that's all.

at 132kg you will want it in pieces to move it, takes seconds to put together.

it's a relatively powerful model and, as said, has 1"x8tpi thread and 2MT which are well catered for in aftermarket bits.

a pretty good deal from the sound of it - it won't hang around.


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## Cimares (6 Jun 2011)

I had the predcessor to this where the headstock sits down in a recess on the lathe bed, but has the same motor assembly. The only key difference between this and my old one I think is the fact that the headstock can be moved along the lathe bed and the stand is a more durable cast design.

I bought my old lathe second hand in 2002 for £80.00 and sold it a few weeks ago for £50.00 after nothing more than a new belt and a clean-up and grease.

I'd say that the only issue I had with it is the way the variable speed works. It's a V belt that runs between two spring loaded sloping pulleys. The speed variation works by moving the pulley's closer or further apart with the belt raising or lowering in the groove accordingly. When the belts went (twice in the 9 years I had it) it was down to fraying, probably caused by the VS motion.

That said it was a cracking lathe and I had great fun with it. I can only assume the big brother is better.

Paul.


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## eastyorkshirelad (7 Jun 2011)

picking the lathe up at the weekend now just looking into getting a good chuck and tools.. slowly on the road to wood turning heaven... thanks for your help.. one last thing ive heard this lathe has trouble with the headstock anyone heard about this thanks


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## CHJ (7 Jun 2011)

This lathe like all the other clones/brands of the same design need regular maintenance, given that they are fine.

Check headstock speed change levers and associated links and attachments and ensure none of the grub screws have worked loose.
Spray headstock pulley mechanism and shaft with Dry Lub PTFE 
Make sure that the Motor shaft centre grease point is lubricated with standard bearing grease, check that there is a slight smear of grease on the motor shaft where the pulley slides.
Don't get grease on the Belt but I found that the PTFE Lub did not seriously affect the drive system if if got on the belt, in fact it reduced the noise and tendency for the belt to fray and did not cause undue slippage.

My machine (of the same type) had heavy use and I cleaned out the mechanism and checked about once a month, a five minute job.


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## Cimares (7 Jun 2011)

Yeah definatley pop the cover off the belt area and give it a good blast of air once a month if you have a compressor, or a vigorous hoovering!


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