MC1100 - any advice for new toy

[tonysa]

Hi all

Been mainly lurking on the Ubeaut forums, finally decided to take the plunge and order a carbatec MC1100 from local supplier, should be able to collect next Sat.

From the pics you guys have posted there's some mighty talented people out there and it's you guys that have inspired me to "give turning a go". Amazing what can be done with a piece of wood in the right hands.

The MC1100 seems a well respected machine, dust in motor, broken bands and speed mechanism seems to be main issues. Are there any other issues to watch out for, suggestions, mods etc ?

What would be a good all round chuck, the midi chuck has been suggested ( i have to check its T bar type).
Also have to invest in turning tools and grinder. The grinder may have to wait for the local www show in late july.

I'll post my efforts once I have the thing installed and all fired up. My first project will be a nice heavy priest for the boat (to kill fish by hitting on head) - easy peasy (we'll see about that bit later) What's jarrah like to turn, apart from being hardwood ? Otherwise whats a cheap heavy hardwood that turns easily for beginners I could use ? I've got lots of scrap pine to practice on first.

Split red gum pile doesn't look like firewood any more.
I've started sorting the unsplit bits already LOL
I wonder if the stuff needs much practice to turn.

Thanks

Regards
Tony

[adrian]

Have a look at this search link.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/search.php?searchid=292243
There's a lot of good info there.
I'm on my 3rd belt in a year and my speed lever is always playing up. Others have had problems with the bolt holding the headstock to the bed. I have similar problems with the bolt on the toolrest that clamps it to the bed. When I try to tighten the tailstock it tends to slide back along the bed and if I fix that then the pressure on the blank tend to make the headstock tilt back.
Its hard to keep fixing these problems because my lathe is fixed to a bench and it's impossible to get to the underneath ot the lathe.
Watch out for unbalanced blanks on this type of lathe because the centre of gravity is so high that the lathe can become unstable. As a beginner you should try to get the blanks as round as you can before you put them on the lathe.

[rsser]

Welcome to the dizzy world of turning Tony. I can relate to your comment about firewood coming to be seen as something else. And when out driving, fallen trees get instant attention ... (always keep the chainsaw in the boot ;-} ..)

Vacuuming out the dust from the headstock seems to be a good idea for regular maintenance.

Re chucks, there's been a lot of debate on this forum. I'd recommend the Supernova2 which acc to one online supplier now comes with a very solid pair of 75mm jaws rather than the less capable jaws provided by other makers.

See the review of Teknatool chucks at

http://www.fholder.com/Woodturning/lyn.html

Jarrah's good - easily turned but coarse grained so hard to get a fine finish on. Redgum is usually the opposite in both respects, but can sometimes be v. dense and slow to work.

[Utuk_Xul]

I have an MC900 and know someone with an MC1100 and both machines had a missing tension pin on the claw that is under the motor. I would check that if your headstock moves at all and go to the hardware store and replace it. They are really cheap. As for the belts needing to be replaced often... Both of these lathes had that problem until I found that the pulley wheels had burrs on the inside. The belts were rubbing against the burrs and fraying. Take a 500 grit piece of sand paper and deburr the inside of the pulley wheels. Haven't changed a belt in a bit over a year now. It's just poor quality control, but once you deburr the pulley wheels... it's a heck of a machine. Same internally as the comparable Jet. I also found that tightening that big nut on the underside of the toolrest and tailstock fixed the problem of them not locking down well enough.

[tonysa]

thanks for taking time out to reply fellas, appreciated

i did a search and found a whole heap of interesting stuff and with the info you guys have supplied I reckon i'm set to tune the beast up when she arrives

nothing a of deburring and a squirt of inox can't fix by the sounds

i'll remember to check the big nut under the tailstock if its difficult to lock down

i'll order a spare couple of belts to be on the safe side

the supernova2 chuck looks like the way to go, not too heavy for the MC-1100 is she ???

pricey but found the url you we're referring to and apparently comes with chioice of two options, kewl stuff.

any other info appreciated

regards

tony

[smidsy]

Hi Tony,
I have never had a problem with the belt or speed mechanism on my MC900.
My maintenance routine is to clean the lathe with compressed air and lubricate everything with Innox - the thing I like about Innox is that it is food safe so not too harmful if any gets on timber.

The speed changer is a little harsh on belts (although in saying that I'm still on my first belt after 12 months) but it's a trade off. The cheapest electronic variable speed lathe is $1000 and I've used other lathes at my club so I can say with experience that changing belts to change speed is a pain in the tail.

On chucks you will get different opinions, I have the Vicmarc and think it is the best but the fact is that the top end chucks like Vicmarc and Supernova are pretty much equal. Use the search function here to see what's been said about the various chucks, then see which one has the accessories that will suit the turning you want to do and use that to make up your mind. One thing I would suggest though is that you go for the T-bar operated chuck, these only need one hand to operate and are so much easier than the twin tommy bar style chucks - and unless you can get one for about $30 avoid the clone chucks.

For chisels go with the generic chinese set to begin with, these are a good range of chisels and nice enough to do some good work with but cheap enough to expend on sharpening practise.
Once you can sharpen and you can see a need for specific chisels you can augment your collection with the good stuff like Hamlett.

Cheers
Paul