Woodturnerjosh
22nd February 2016, 08:29 PM
Hi everyone!
Ever since getting my Vicmarc VL240 a little over a year ago I've wanted to get my hands on a big piece of timber to make a big bowl. I recently got in contact with a local arborist and acquired a few large blocks of hardwood to play around (the first of many I hope ;) ) The photo's are of the largest block which started off barely clearing the bed and finished up at 460mm x 210mm deep. The block weighed in at 50kg and, after some basic balancing, I managed to start turning at around 300rpm. I reached a max rpm of a little under 600 when it was all hollowed out. (oddly enough, when the headstock was at 90 degrees I could increase the speed more but do not have the ability to turn in this configuration)
Some observations....
As I mentioned in earlier posts you can feel some vibration between the head and the bed when using a centre saver (McNaughton) but when on the highest torque pulley the lathe did not struggle at all.
Even with a 50kg block hanging off it, the headstock swivelled very easily...almost as if there was nothing on it at all.
The headstock had to be at zero to using the centre saver. When on the 30 degree indent the banjo would flex enough to make it very hard to control.
At 30 degrees the banjo isn't long enough to easily turn the inside so I ended up turning in reverse (using the locking collar). The outboard attachment would have been useful for this.
I actually used the locking collar even when turning forwards as the electric braking was a little too abrupt for a block this large and heavy (it started to loosen itself...that was a little scary lol)
All in all it was a lot of fun and after setting things up differently I'll definitely be doing it again! Some things I need to change are bolting the lathe down, buying (or making) a large curved tool rest and getting a longer straight tool rest.
I also need to get a hoist of some sort as lifting 50kg up the lathe bed and screwing it on is not something I want to be doing regularly.
If anybody has any guesses as to what the timber might be please chime in. It's completely green so fingers crossed it dries out well
There seems to be very little out there written about this lathe and what is capable on it so I just thought I would pipe up from time time. I would love to turn something this size on a VL300 to see if there is noticeable difference.
Thanks for reading
Josh372283372284372285372286372287372288372289
Ever since getting my Vicmarc VL240 a little over a year ago I've wanted to get my hands on a big piece of timber to make a big bowl. I recently got in contact with a local arborist and acquired a few large blocks of hardwood to play around (the first of many I hope ;) ) The photo's are of the largest block which started off barely clearing the bed and finished up at 460mm x 210mm deep. The block weighed in at 50kg and, after some basic balancing, I managed to start turning at around 300rpm. I reached a max rpm of a little under 600 when it was all hollowed out. (oddly enough, when the headstock was at 90 degrees I could increase the speed more but do not have the ability to turn in this configuration)
Some observations....
As I mentioned in earlier posts you can feel some vibration between the head and the bed when using a centre saver (McNaughton) but when on the highest torque pulley the lathe did not struggle at all.
Even with a 50kg block hanging off it, the headstock swivelled very easily...almost as if there was nothing on it at all.
The headstock had to be at zero to using the centre saver. When on the 30 degree indent the banjo would flex enough to make it very hard to control.
At 30 degrees the banjo isn't long enough to easily turn the inside so I ended up turning in reverse (using the locking collar). The outboard attachment would have been useful for this.
I actually used the locking collar even when turning forwards as the electric braking was a little too abrupt for a block this large and heavy (it started to loosen itself...that was a little scary lol)
All in all it was a lot of fun and after setting things up differently I'll definitely be doing it again! Some things I need to change are bolting the lathe down, buying (or making) a large curved tool rest and getting a longer straight tool rest.
I also need to get a hoist of some sort as lifting 50kg up the lathe bed and screwing it on is not something I want to be doing regularly.
If anybody has any guesses as to what the timber might be please chime in. It's completely green so fingers crossed it dries out well
There seems to be very little out there written about this lathe and what is capable on it so I just thought I would pipe up from time time. I would love to turn something this size on a VL300 to see if there is noticeable difference.
Thanks for reading
Josh372283372284372285372286372287372288372289