Some advice for a friend.

[scorpio_oz]

Hi,

I've got a friend that is looking at purchasing a Vicmarc. He is looking at either a VL175 or VL200.

The main difference he is wondering about is the swivel head. The VL175 can swivel 30, 60 and 90 degress. He understands that if he has the outboard turning attachment he can turn at 90 degrees, though he can turn at 30 and 60 with just the standard tool rest.

On the VL200, he has to turn larger things outboard on the back of the main shaft.

He is thinking that the swivel head would be more useful as he doesn't have to give up as much space at the end and behind the lathe to turn things, as he would with the VL200.

I was wondering what others who had used a swivel head, either on the vicmarcs or another lathe thought about it.

As both his and my limited experience with lathes are limited to midi lathes, I can't offer him a qualified opinion.

What are the advantages / disadvantages between the two lathes that others might know?

Thanks.

Gavin.

[Ozkaban]

I have an old VL200 and it's brilliant, though I do miss the swivel head as I don't have a lot of room behind the lathe. So far, I've only turned items within the 400mm swing, but access to the inside of bowls would be improved with either outboard turning or swivel head. I am trying to work out how I can change my shed around to accomodate a little more room at the end of the lathe but it's a tiny cubby hole. It's probably worth noting that the VL200 only has 50mm more swing anyway, which isn't a huge difference.

The trade of for this is absolute bang on accuracy between centres - the headstock doesn't move so there are no realignment issues when changing back to spindle turning. I haven't played with the VL175, and Vicmarc machining is generally great so I don't know how it goes, but the VL200 is as near to perfect as makes no difference in that regard. Maybe a VL175 owner can chime in here.

I bought mine of ebay, more out of what was available. Would have like to compare it to the VL175.

In short, I don't think you'll regret either way.

Cheers,
Dave

[Reece]

i have a nova 1624-44 (i think thats the model number) which has a swivel head. "worth it's weight in gold" is the statement that comes to mind.

the 90 degree swivel is brilliant, because you still stand in front of the lathe, rather than moving around to the end of it if you were turning from the back of the main shaft.

there is nothing getting in my way, because i'm still standing in the same area as i would with the headstock in its normal position.

so if space is an issue, go with the swivel head. hell, even if space isn't an issue go with the swivel head.

( i don't think i really said anything you didn't already know, but that is my opinion on the matter :D )

[rsser]

I had a VL175 and there were no alignment problems between centres. The swivel head is well designed and made.

Have also had 2 other swivel head lathes; current one is the DVR XP.

That's not nearly so well made and reseating the head after using it swivelled out is a pain, and there's also problems with tailstock alignment. The motor however is a model of power and quietness.

For someone who wishes to do a lot of bowls or platters, a good SH unit makes things very much easier IME. When shaping the outside of a bowl you can position the work in such a way that the body movement dictates the curve and that works much better than using just the arms. For hollowing, ditto, plus there's less body contortion.

I've not done outboard turning on a machine like the VL200 but can't see why the same advantages would not be there. But you must have the outrigger which is very solid and also will give you a solid workout to get it into position. Not a problem if you're fit. (OK, you can also get stand-alone tripods; however, they can get in the way of your lathe tango moves.)

The outrigger on the DVR XP bolts onto the lathe bed and is easier to get into position; its reach however is far less than the VL's.

Just as an aside, last year the RRP on the DVR XP was $3,500 and this year it appears in the Carba-tec dogalogue at $2,900. That improves the value proposition.

[jefferson]

I have a long bed VL300 and recently bought a VL175. As Ern said, no alignment issues with the latter.

I now use the VL175 for just about everything. I reserve the VL300 for very fine spindle work ie. finials, just to keep the old girl in working order. Plus some large stuff turned both inboard (300mm swing) and outboard.

If I had my time again, I would have bought the VL 175 first. Especially so, given that I am left-handed and the swivel head makes things so much easier.

I've also played on two Stubbies - the 750 and 1000. IMHO, both are better bowl / platter lathes given their larger inboard capacity than the Vicmarcs noted above. (Not the VL600 when it finally appears. :D).

Budget doesn't seem an issue, so the main Q. is what type of turning?

[mick61]

G`day I only have a woodfast 280 but if I was to increase the size of my lathe for turning large bowls I would want to be able to turn inboard for the simple reason you can bring up the tailstock early on which means the blank is much more secure.My two cents.
Mick:D

[rsser]

Yes, that's an important consideration.

But a good size faceplate with proper screws will take a heavy load.

[NeilS]

I did a lot of outboard bowl turning on the back of my old Woodfast lathe. That worked very well. When I bought my swivel head Woodfast (the C1000X) I started to neglect the old Woodfast, so eventually sold it to make more room.

The one advantage of the swivel head over the rear of headstock (other than not having to have left hand threads inserts or using locking collars) is the better stability from the wider foot print in the same plane as the bowl rotation. An advantage with larger irregular weighted blanks. I won't be going back to a fixed head lathe now that good swivel head lathes are available.

If the Woodfast C1000X weren't available I would have gone with the VL175.

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