Vicmarc VL100 accuracy is supriseing

[Thugpipe]

I was skimming the forums the other day looking for stuff about the Vicmarc VL100 because I do things like that and I came across quite a bit of praise but those same people being timid about the issue of spindle runout and tailstock alignment.

well I decided to take a dial indicator to my VL100 and test the runout and what I found surprised the hell out of me. It had less than .0001"( sorry not metrics)of runout :o and yes that is the correct number of zeros. Don't believe me? See for your self:
[/URL]
YouTube- Vicmarc VL100 run-out test part 1

and the tailstock was less than half a thou out from the spindle in any position:

[URL="http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=O8U0g7gbi80&client=mv-google"] (http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/results?client=mv-google&q=vicmarc%20vl100&aq=0&oq=vicmarc)YouTube- Vicmarc VL100 run-out test part 2

Being in the USA VL100s are pretty hard to come by and you never hear much about them. I would think that more people would be giving it serious consideration especially since the taiwanese lathe all shot up in price and also considering that for some reason the USA seems to be the cheapest place on earth to buy it: 2007 VL100 BM $359us (craft supplies utah) 2010 VL100 BM $472us (woodworkers emporium las vegas NV)

[rsser]

G'day Thugpipe and welcome to the forum.

Full marks for testing the little VL.

The result is no surprise to us here who've owned Vicmarc machinery but I'm darned if I know how you can get that unit over your way at that price given the prices Down under. Enjoy your good luck!

[Enfield Guy]

Outstanding!!!!!

[Thugpipe]

Thanks

I love this little machine and I do find it funny to see people here in the usa complain about it's price when we can get it for such a steal.

if you are at all interested I have a gallery of pics of my little Vic, I'm a bit of a tinker and I have done some fun things to mine. I am proud of my fix to the indexing system which I feel it the lathes only shortcoming.

Vicmarc VL100 CL - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thugpipe/sets/72157622886008447/)

[rsser]

Great work Thugpipe.

[DJ’s Timber]

2007 VL100 BM $359us (craft supplies utah) 2010 VL100 BM $472us (woodworkers emporium las vegas NV)

What does BM mean? Does that mean it is with or with out a motor?

From the prices you've quoted, I'd be guessing without a Motor.

[Thugpipe]

BM = Bench Mount
SM = Stand Mount

yes those prices are for the one without a motor or stand. the first price is what I paid for my basic lathe in 2007 although I did end up later adding the legs from the CL version of the lathe which I purchased direct from vicmarc they cost me slightly less than I paid for the lathe itself :o . I also fitted a 1hp american 3 phase motor(baldor VM3546) and VFD (hitachi L100)which lets me run it on our 110v 1phase really is a luxury. All in all over the last 3 years I have spent about $1,200us on it :D but it was little by little and I used it for some time just clamping it to the bench and using a dc motor I already had. If you look at my prictures on the link you can see the evolution.

[Big Shed]

Amazing prices, the same bench mount version here, in the country where they are manufactured, costs $A1115:o or $US1005. So Vicmarc can ship it all the way to the US and can sell it there for less than half the Oz price.

We can draw our own conclusions from that I guess.

[artme]

G'day Thugpipe and welcome to the show!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Tis level of accuracy does not really surprise me. I was in Italy in2008 and visited one of the forum members there - La truciolora, aka Claude.

He uses Vicmarcs in his turning school and also sells them in Europe.

Claude demonstrated some thing of their accuracy to me in a very simple manner. He took the tool post (VL 175 Model), and dropped it into the the outboard turniningholder. The post, with toolrest attached, simply resisted the urge to drop into place. It did a slow graceful slide as air, trapped by the fine machining of both the hole in the shaft of the outrigger and the shaft of the toolpost, finally managed to escape!!:o

[Thugpipe]

you think those prices are good? Less than a year after I purchased mine craft supplies decided to no longer carry the VL100 and put it on clearence. At that point you could get the Bench mount for $250us and a 6 speed stand mount for $550us :C

I was a hair's breadth from buying a spare, I should have and resold it today :doh: well I did manacge to pick up a bed extension for $125us so that was a nice consolation prize :D

[hughie]

Thugpipe, welcome aboard had a look at your 'tinkering' well done :2tsup:

The US prices..........:C

[Thugpipe]

thanks, I love modifying my machines for the better.

I find the price diference baffeling myself, at the current exchange rate my dollars and yours are so close and the difference in price is so vast. It can't just be the VAT and it isn't that the US represents a huge market share for the little vicmarcs. These days if you want a vl100 there is only one dealer in the whole of the US and they don't have a website, they have it if you know to ask for it. In fact I only know of two US dealers of vicmarcs and the one only carries the VL300.

in fairness although we do get a great deal on the bench mount version, the EVS costs about the same here, about $1,900us to $2,200us and it runs on 220v 50Hz power which is a little inconvinient for us who operate on 110v 60hz. I save my 220v line for the biggins with 1.5hp and above like my table saw and metal lathe.

[hereward]

Looks like $US 7,000 + to me?

[Thugpipe]

Looks like 7,000 + to me?

what lathe are you looking at?:o

or are you referring to the vortex?:D
I'm only in for a few thousand...so far...:doh:

[Allen Neighbors]

You confirmed what I've thought all along, Thugpipe. Good show! :2tsup:
I bought a little VL100 bench model a few years ago. Paid $300US for it, and put my own motor on it. Just wish I could slow it down some, without a lot of tinkering and $$. Can't afford a VFD.
I have a 3/4hp, 1725rpm motor on it, and my slowest speed as far as I can figure it, is 683. But I still love to take it with me when I travel. It's the cat's meow!

[rsser]

Al, doesn't a 5/8 gouge slow it down? ;-}

[Ed Reiss]

Hi ya, Thugpipe...welcome to the asylum!!

Good test you did there. Certainly shows that Vicmark is synonymous with quality.

[Allen Neighbors]

Al, doesn't a 5/8 gouge slow it down? ;-}

Not too much....:rolleyes::D

[Thugpipe]

thanks!

as for your speed issue well the cheap solution is to find a 1140rpm motor on ebay, by my calculation that would get you down to about 456rpm on the lowest speed. But my best advice is to just keep an eye on electric motors on ebay and eventually something should come along cheap enough. My first variable speed setup was a dc drive with a 3/4hp leeson motor $90 the drive was $50 shipped both off ebay. Just keep an eye on ebay and you can get set up cheap.

BTW my current EVS setup minus the elaborat motor mounting system was actually pretty cheap considering. The motor was $125 off ebay and the VFD was $199 from driveswarehouse.com and with less than $25 of extras you could be running in style on 110v. If you want to set either system up let me know I would be more than happy to help.

[Thugpipe]

hey so while I have the attention of some of you vl100 owners I was wondering if any of you have a reasonably new VL100 and could take a picture of the indexing pin on it for me. I was looking through the latest vicmarc manual and in the belt changing section there appears to be a new indexing pin in some of the pictures so I am curious. The indexing pin is one of the few problems I have with the lathe although I have made a new one for mine that fixes the problem.

[Allen Neighbors]

Well, thugpipe, I bent my indexing pin on Little Vic. I've been using it all the time to lock my spindle while I removed or put on the chuck. The one time I turned it on without releasing the indexing pin, it bent. I know... I know... there's a reason its called the 'indexing pin' instead of 'spindle lock', but you know how we occasionally screw up... or am I the only one that does that? :D
Now I have to wait until I return from this next trip to overhaul it. Mine is plain jane... nothing but the pin and a little circlip, I guess, holding it in place; I'll have to order a new one.
I'm interested in what you did to modify yours....
I could do a repair WIP, if anyone's interested.
I'm going to be out of pocket for a couple of weeks, and I doubt if I'll have internet where I'm going, so I'll have to check back on this thread later.

[Thugpipe]

well allen dont feel so bad i have done that same thing more than once :doh:

i just got a reply from the good people over at vicmarc and they have updated the indexing system to be very similar to the modification I made to mine.

134243

That could be very good news to you because they now have done the really hard part for you, making the pin system. if i am not mistaken you could drill out and tap the old indexing hole the same way i did to my lathe(if you check the pictures you can see the lathe on my drill press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thugpipe/sets/72157622886008447/)) and just screw in the new pin. Although you can see the new pin clearly in the exploded view of the latest manual there is no part number listed for it, it will have to talk to vicmarc to see if you can get one. if i had not already made my mod i would try to put in the new one

[Thugpipe]

well guys you know those wonderful american prices I told you about on the VL100 they are a thing of the past. I was just on the phone buying some stuff with the woodworkers emporium guys and they told me they have stoped importing the VL100 because it has become too expensive (i.e. About $1000 for the bench mount) and they only have one left instock and that is a new old stock one that was from before the size increase so it actually only has a 200mm(8") swing and can't take a bed extension and that is what they want $471 for :C

it was a good run while it lasted and I am glad I got one when I did, you can bet your ass I am never parting with this little machine.

I just think it is so sad that a machine like this can't compete with a taiwanese or chinese product of severely lower quality due to the cost associated with a factory in a first world country. Well at least there still are a few companies making high quality machines out there but for how much longer before you see the first chinese vicmarc? Wait already happened (beaver anyone) :toiletjump:

[artme]

Yes, with the Aus.$ hitting 93US cents I guess the importers now have to pay real money.

[Thugpipe]

well the exchange rate explains the cost in relation to the ausie cost but I just wish that either it could cost little enough that it could be competitive or that people would be a little more descriminating and and save up to spend more on a quality machine. The more tolerant the market gets to low quality the worse the overall quality of machines in general get. At least here in USA I have seen most machine manufacturers QC go down the toilet and watched the basic materials and construction get cheaper and cheaper. Thanks global economics! :banghead:

[Jim Carroll]

I just think it is so sad that a machine like this can't compete with a taiwanese or chinese product of severely lower quality due to the cost associated with a factory in a first world country. Well at least there still are a few companies making high quality machines out there but for how much longer before you see the first chinese vicmarc? Wait already happened (beaver anyone) :toiletjump:

And that was short lived once Victor could not control the QC
Dont see many of them about.

[artme]

I may be wrong, but I think the Vicmarc castings are done in Thailand.

They are checked over here and the unsuitable ones are discarded while the others are machined for production..

Whether any other preliminary work is done Os I know not.

[Jim Carroll]

I may be wrong, but I think the Vicmarc castings are done in Thailand.

They are checked over here and the unsuitable ones are discarded while the others are machined for production..

Whether any other preliminary work is done Os I know not.

The beaver one was completely produced overseas with some other outside influence,

As you say the normal castings are produced os in thialand and then all the rest is done in house to their own standards which gives them full control and can discard if not happy.