Was wondering if anyone saw or purchased the new version Renzetti lathe at the recent expo? If you have actually put it to use, feel free to include your thoughts.

Dan Kevin Knox has one, he posted pics and we've been talking about it on FaceBook all morning. I'm sure he'll chime in here since he is really pleased with it. Plus he got it anodized Black, and is the first one to purchased this unit.

I got the first one (was informed that mine was the prototype and Kevin's was the first commercial unit - he got a serial number on his!). I had posted my thoughts on it over on the Stripers Online forum about a month or so back.

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Thoughts? Words can not accurately express the feelings I have toward my lathe at this point. I must be mormon because I asked my second wife to marry me yesterday! LOL. This lathe is Sheer perfection. The 8th wonder of the world. It does everything under the sun and is built with the exacting precision of the space shuttle. On the old lathes, where the beds connected, they did so with a piece of aluminum and 2 screws. It was ok. There was an obvious bump when rolling the carriage over it. It was accepted as normal, This lathe takes lathes to a whole new level. The exacting precision that Andy Renzetti put into this lathe renders me absolutely speechless. The connector for the beds is an aluminum square tube that is precision cut to not wobble, sag or droop at the joint. My bed is 12' at this point and even over the 12' span, it has absolutely no drop in the middle. Using the lathe to build is absolutely effortless. I posted a video on facebook of the carriage rolling down the bed on its own as it wraps. It moves effortlessly up and down the rod and with the ability to wrap right up to the supports, I no longer have to jockey around supports, move them or even worry about them. Just as some background, I have 3 Renzetti's and my last one built roughly 4000 rods. I know these lathes and the quality that Renzetti puts into their works of art and this BY FAR has blown away anything that Andy has ever produced before. If you plan on building rods for a long time, this is the last lathe that you will ever want to buy.

Kevin Knox
ANGLER'S ENVY CUSTOM RODS
QUEEN ANNE, MD 21657
#_#_#_#_#
www.anglersenvy.com

going to post any picks here

Bill - willierods.com

they are posted.

Kevin Knox
ANGLER'S ENVY CUSTOM RODS
QUEEN ANNE, MD 21657
#_#_#_#_#
www.anglersenvy.com

Here are the comments I posted on SOL awhile back. Note that what Kevin posted above is very similar to my own observations, so you can figure that it's not a case of a guy making up anything about how good this new unit is.

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This new version came about as a result of a conversation I had with Andy and Danny two years ago at the Expo. Good dinner conversation. Didn't know they had taken it to heart until a package showed up on my doorstep about two months ago.

The older models can indeed be upgraded to the new bed system. I've had the prototype here for a couple months now. It's been working fine.

I have it set up with a 9 foot bed and run the carriage end to end. The new extrusion is quite stiff so longer bed lengths don't introduce much in the way of sag. I measured mine - about 1/2 millimeter difference between the center of the span and the ends. In other words, no practical difference. I doubt most folks have tables that are that level. If you wanted to go whole hog and have something like a 15 foot bed, you might find some appreciable amount of sag - but that can be easily remedied with an internal stiffener. In the meantime, I keep a few blanks stored down the center of mine.

There are a couple differences from how the old one works, however. The carriage can't be completely removed from under the bed unless you remove the carriage hand-wheel. Of course, it's not likely most would ever need to completely remove it anyway. The reverse tension spring is a bit shorter, to accommodate passing the rod supports. That's about it.

I had asked Andy what the upgrade cost would be. Nobody wants to have to spend $500 to upgrade an $800 tool. But according to him, the upgrade price won't be anywhere near that high. The price he quoted seemed, to me, to be entirely reasonable. But I won't repeat it here since he may have to adjust it once he gets all the costs figured out.

Frankly, I wasn't sure the added bit of convenience in not having to remove the carriage to get around the supports was really that big of a deal. But after using this one a bit, I wouldn't go back to the earlier model. It really is nice.

Expect to see it at the Expo with units for sale. And, this time there may be some legal protections in place to prevent "knock-offs."

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Andy settled on supplying 3 foot sections many years ago. I can't remember his exact reasoning, although it may have had something to do with shipping costs for longer sections. If you see him at the Expo you might ask about him supplying you with a longer 1-piece section, although I'd guess you'd be looking at over $100 in shipping charges alone for a 12 footer.

I can say that the couplers used to join the sections are very precise. Once slid together, they exhibit no slop or wiggle, and that's without screwing anything into place. Yes, screws are supplied to do that with, but the fit is very precise nevertheless. The junction between sections is so good that you barely hear the carriage wheels moving across the joint. As you know, if you had one of the older lathes, getting a really nice junction between the sections required a little bit of adjustment. There's nothing to adjust on the new one - just slide it together and screw in place. It's smooth.

The new square extrusion is actually lighter than the older one. And yet it offers more rigidity due to the taller cross section. It has a slightly different shape on the corners than the older one, but all the old attachments fit just fine.

Wow!!! This new lathe sounds real good. At my age I don't think I have enough rods left in me to catch Kevin's 4000 builds on the same lathe. Now if I was 30 years longer, look out. My lathe has been around a while but it was designed by Renzetti many years ago so it is a good and valuable friend.

Capt Neil Faulkner

Kevin, can you tell us how you really feel? lol it is a work of art

Any idea when the new units will be available and the cost?

now. They will be updating the site this weekend. As for cost, that will be posted also.

Kevin Knox
ANGLER'S ENVY CUSTOM RODS
QUEEN ANNE, MD 21657
#_#_#_#_#
www.anglersenvy.com

probably about $1500?

No, far, far less than that. Very similar to the older model.

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