Thread: Experience with Vicmarc 240 lathe

Don,

Looking at the Vicmarc web site I see this:

The VL240 lathe comes with 3 step pulleys which provide 3 ratios; 1:1 for small to medium size work, 1:1.5 for medium to large work and 1:3 for large work. For extra torque, simply change the Poly V Belt to the 1:3 ratio.

At 1:3 you should have enough torque for ordinary US wood - cherry, walnut, maple. If you are turning 18 inch diameter 100 year old dry locust stumps, you may need to go to a smaller tool.

Thanks for the reply Paul, I do in fact have my pulley set at the 1-3 ratio, and the wood I am working with is green spalted maple. So this doesn't seem to lead anywhere as to a reason for what I am experiencing.

I haven't tried a smaller tool since I have not had this problem on my relatively diminutive NOVA DVR XP, which isn't even bolted to the bench it sits on, and it only weighs 185 lbs. (84 kg)

Don,

Something is not right. You may have a bad lathe, or the variable speed controller is not programmed correctly. I would have a long conversation with the seller, citing the comparisons you have above. I think when one pays top $$ for a lathe, one should get superior performance and service.

Originally Posted by Don Davis

I do in fact have my pulley set at the 1-3 ratio

Did you also change the setting on the VFD to match the pulley ratios?

On my Vicmarc 300 I have to match the VFD setting to the selected pulley ratio.

here's a post about my own experience with the VL240 and I did not have any sort of power issues Big bowl on the Vicmarc VL240
with very aggressive cuts I could still get it slow down but I can do the same on my 3hp VL300

Thanks for the feedback folks, Acco, I didn't see anything about adjusting the VFD on my lathe in the manual, but I have not adjusted it due to that--I would be very interested to know what adjustments one needs to make--Thank you.

Woodturner Josh, I saw your post and that's one of the reasons I went with a 240 from Vicmarc.

Hi Don, just to add my 2 cents worth, I have had a VL240 for about 3 years and love it. I regularly turn large bowls, around 450mm (usually redgum, which, while not the hardest wood around it can be leaning to that end of the scale at times) and have had not problems at all with regard to stalling. The lathe belt is at 1:1 as it was when delivered. So I would suggest there is a fault with your machine.

Cheers
Simon

Maybe a telephone call to the actual manufacturer may be better; they are very approachable.

Their local hours are: 0600 hours to 1500 hours Monday through to Thursday, they open the same time on Fridays at 0600, but close earlier at 1300 hours. Local to them, is Brisbane Australia.

Whenever I have had an issue and there have been very few, a telephone call has worked very well. I have even used their website for accessory questions in the evenings after work, their reply often came though around 0630 hours the next morning.

Direct international dialing is: 61 7 3283 4656 will get you to them.

Mick.

Thanks for the feedback Simon and Optimark, I too a thinking there is an issues with my particular lathe--Marco--a principal at Vicmarc--was not helpful when my distributor I bought the lathe from contacted him, he had not advice other than to state 'well, everybody turns differently...' surprising, since I am not an inexperienced turner, and I have given a direct comparison in that I do not have this issue with my NOVA DVR at all. Someone mentioned that their 300 needed to have its VFD adjusted when he changed pulley sizes--I would like to know what these adjustments might be--there is no information in the owners manual re: this, or for a 300....
I really want to be in love with this lathe, but right now I'm challenged to be so given this issue--I'll keep pushing til I find a reasonable answer to my question.....

I will take some pictures today showing you how to change the settings on my lathe.

The only other thing that I can think of that would affect it, is the belt tension.

Ok, on my lathe, I only have the two pulley steps, not the three steps which the newer machines have.

So first two pics show low and high speed at 10rpm and 1000rpm, of which is the low speed range for when you need the torque.





And the next two show 30rpm and 3000rpm which is for general use.





To change the settings between these functions require me to push the func/data button. On my lathe the cycle is from 30/3000, 10/1000 and then another two to get back to the 30/3000 setting if I remember correctly.

Originally Posted by Don Davis

I hollow a bowl typically with an 18mm carbide tipped tool, or a 3/4" round nose scraper. My previous lathe (which I still have) is a NOVA DVR XP, and I have NEVER stalled it using the same technique for Roughing/Hollowing a bowl. BUT, on the first two bowls-only 10" (250mm) pieces, I stalled my 240 totally--this baffled me cause even though it is only 2 HP (1.5 KW) I was told I should have no issues coring a large bowl out with it, and that it's VFD applied higher power/torque in the low speed ranges so it performed like a much higher powered lathe. At this point I am wondering if I made a mistake not buying the 300 as it is available with 3 HP.

Don, while others with experience on Vicmarc lathes are helping you out I will come in with some general comments. The following comments are not specific to Vicmarc, but lathes in general in relation to scraping 'cuts'.

I core on a 1.1kW/1.5HP lathe with blanks up to 20"diam. It can be done, just, but only because the scraper tip on the coring bar is no more than 12mm wide. There is no way I could do it with an 18 or 19mm scraper tip and definitely not with seasoned wood. As Josh has pointed out, even a 3HP motor can struggle if the demands are too great.

Heavy scraping roughing-out 'cuts' demand very high torque. The slicing cuts made with bowl gouges are far less demanding.

I can't explain why other 2HP lathes that you have used have coped with your roughing out of larger bowls with a large scraper and not the VM240. Other than perhaps the Nova lathes that are designed to maintain their torgue in response to the demand on the lathe spindle. It may well be that once your VM240 is reprogrammed its VFD may also do the same for you.

I have just come back after a week in the company of Richard Raffan, Glenn Lucas and Nick Agar, who all use Vicmarc lathes in their workshops. I didn't hear any comments from them about them being under powered. Brendan Stemp, another professional woodturner, among others here, also uses them. These turners would not have a make of lathe taking up valuable space in their workshops if they were not up to any reasonable task that they are going to use them for.

I appreciate the input folks, I am still not sure if I should mess with my VFD, I'm not going to at this point. My distributor I purchased the lathe from has been very supportive, and I hoping he will come up with some options for me. Marco at Vicmarc I spoke to one time--didn't realize it but my phone company charge me $108 for a 13 minute or so call so I'll not be calling Vicmarc again until the get an 800 number, Marco was very pleasant to speak with, but he has not been very supportive on this issue as I stated previously. I'll let folks know if I come up with something that helps my issue, and anyone with any other input is welcome to share with me!!

Is the lathe new or secondhand?
Not being an Electrician of any sort this might be a dumb question, but has the lathe been set up to your voltage? I have no idea if it would even run on 110V if set up for our 240V.