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Big Shed
25th March 2010, 08:01 AM
............or out with old


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and in with the new.


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I finally purchased a new wood lathe after a fairly lengthy decision making process (sometimes called "paralysis by analysis"!):rolleyes:.

There was some conjecture in my http://www.woodworkforums.com/f221/mc900-lathe-sale-115030/ thread as to what the colour of my new wood lathe would be.

As you can see it is neither blue or yellow:U.

I did look at the Woodfast Yellow Peril (M910) (https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=W685). In fact Carbatec has one on the floor that they are offering (and have been for some time) for $2495, a whopping $1000 reduction on the normal price. It is a very good quality machine with the best machined bed of all the lathes I looked at, and that includes the Vicmarcs.

However, it suffers from a couple of drawbacks IMHO. First of all, like most of the big lathes it appears to be aimed at giants. With a centre spindle height of about 1150mm it is way too high for me, but more importantly due to the design of the, excellent, stand it is very hard to modify that height.
On top of that, although it has EVS via an inverter, to get the full range of speeds there are 6 belt changes to negotiate, a somewhat puzzling design decision shared by it's little brother the M305. The centres on the M910 lined up nicely with little side side "slop" between the tail stock and the bed.

Although it a lot cheaper than the Vicmarcs, it is still more than $1000 dearer than the H&F WL46 (https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=W387) which I eventually settled on.


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This is a seriously heavy duty machine at 265kg. It has a very substantial cast iron bed which takes 2 blokes to lift it (DAMHIKT) and although not as finely ground as the Woodfast bed, it is still streets ahead of a lot of other lathe beds I looked at. This bedd is supported on 2 very heavy cast iron egs, similar to the Jet 1642 (they're even good enough to support a Nova DVR-XP, aren't they Ern)

It is the same lathe as the Laguna Platinum 18x47 (http://www.lagunatools.com/lathes/lathe-1847;jsessionid=0a0107431f431544770960114d7fa8e6b6a1b1572b95.e3eTaxePaNqNe34Pa38Ta38Lchz0) , the Craftex 128 from BusyBee (Canada) (http://www.penturnersparadise.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=3943)and the Grizzly G0698 (http://grizzly.com/products/G0698).

It is also very closely related to the Powermatic 5320B and the Jet 1642.

The design of these lathes is somewhat different to a lot of other lathes in that the head stock slides along the bed, right to the end for bowl turning. A bowl turning attachment (https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=W387A)is also offered by H&F for an additional $99, unfortunately no stock at present.



The 2hp inverter driven motor has 2 speed ranges, via a very easy belt change, 0-1200 and 0-3200. Head stock spindle is very solid, M30x3.5, and when I put my trusty dial gauge on it in the showroom I first thought that my dial gauge was broken. After borrowing one from H&F and getting the same result, 0 (yes zero!) run out, I was mightily impressed. The spindle also features 24/36 indexing.


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It runs very smoothly and is very quiet.

Tool rest measures 350mm with a standard 25mm tool post, which can be clamped from 3 positions on the banjo.


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The tailstock has a very impressive 110mm of travel, should come in handy for drilling those pen blanks.


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Speaking of pen blanks, when I visited Grumpy John yesterday after picking this lathe up from H&F, he commented that perhaps this was a little bit big for a pen lathe. I guess he is right, but as has been said before, you can turn little things on a big lathe but you can't turn big things on a little lathe.

I'll put up some more pics when I get the various bits out of the trailer (bed and legs) and the boot (head stock/motor, tailstock and tool rest and banjo.

I then have to decide how to lower the height, as this lathe is the same centre height as the Woodfast (and the Vicmarcs). I'll either have to shorten the legs (too late in life to lengthen mine) or make a duck board. I could also make up a new stand and or cupboard, but would prefer to stick with the cast iron legs.

More later............

Rum Pig
25th March 2010, 09:37 AM
Nice lathe well done:2tsup: only if I could convince SWMBO I need a new lathe:rolleyes:
As for the height just make a platform to stand on (not sure if this is what you meant by Duck board) I would have thought this would be good for you southerners so you are not standing on a clod concrete floor.
Look forward to the first turnings for your new baby:)

rsser
25th March 2010, 09:50 AM
Thanks for the outline Fred. Looks impressive.

Yeah, I'd go for a duckboard with some comfort mat or HD closed cell foam to stand on.

DJ’s Timber
25th March 2010, 09:52 AM
Nice one Fred :H

Big Shed
25th March 2010, 10:01 AM
Thanks guys, yes I already have a rubber comfort mat in front of both the metal lathe/mill area and the wood lathe.

My only reservation about a duckboard, and it needs to be about 75mm high, is that I could forget I'm standing on a platform, step back and go *ss over t*t.:o

Oh, and I was very remiss in not thanking William Young, Ross48 and Texas1958 for answering all my (at times dumb) question. You guys have been a big help:2tsup:

All 3 are very discerning wood turners, they all own the same lathe:D

RETIRED
25th March 2010, 10:02 AM
Put a guard rail around it and attach a harness to the lathe.:whistling2:

You didn't call in to me.:wink:

Big Shed
25th March 2010, 10:05 AM
Put a guard rail around it and attach a harness to the lathe.:whistling2:

You didn't call in to me.:wink:

Now that would be anal:o (the guard rail and harness, not calling in to you:doh:)

powderpost
25th March 2010, 10:06 AM
Nice new toy. Go for a duck board to adjust the height.
Jim

rsser
25th March 2010, 10:15 AM
But if you are going to be doing a deal of hollowing, a centre height of a couple of inches above the std won't go amiss.

FWIW I've used the shelf supports inside those legs to install a couple of shelves (brilliant eh?). Top one is for tools and cans of finish in use, but is not so useful cos it gets buried in shavings. Bottom one is loaded with blanks.

Also those legs are prob not splayed enough for a swivel head lathe like the DVR XP; bolting mine down helped, and I've cross braced them at the back (ie. lengthways) but haven't had a chance to test that addition.

issatree
25th March 2010, 10:49 AM
Hi All,
I'm a 6 Footer, & my Duck Board is approx 120mm. high, with Boards length ways 1 3/4in.- 45mm. x 1/2in - 12mm. Glued & Screwed to 5 - 4 x 2's - 100 x 50mm. The boards are 3/4in. - 45mm. apart, so all the shavings fall through to the floor.
The Boards being thin, makes the D/B Springy / Bouncy, which I like, & have never had sore feet ever.
Therefore you are never standing in the shavings. My D/B will hold close to 2 bags of shavings.
Never had a problem falling off the D/B.
I have taught quite a few people over the years & they have never fallen either.

Depends what you train your brain to do. NO Brain ?????????.

Just remember, you R/ Handers, that you have to make your D/B in an " L " shape, around the left leg of the Lathe, so as your left foot has somewhere to go.
Regards,
issatree.

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Ozkaban
25th March 2010, 11:31 AM
Nice looking lathe there :2tsup: I usually over-analyse purchases too as I have more time to research than to do :rolleyes:

As for the height, just stick a couple of 75mm blocks on your shoes, and hey presto! A Duck board that you can't step off :D:D:D

Cheers,
Dave

Woodwould
25th March 2010, 11:44 AM
Congratulations! The pressure is on now! :U

Ed Reiss
25th March 2010, 11:54 AM
Nice lathe...sized just right for larger sized pens :D

Big Shed
25th March 2010, 12:57 PM
Depends what you train your brain to do. NO Brain ?????????.

Regards,
issatree.

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I must have, I've trained my brain not to hit the ENTER key!

wheelinround
25th March 2010, 01:54 PM
Fred having seen presidents of OTGA's I agree a solid well finished lathe at a good price to boot. I still feel a swivel head would be a great idea as not everyone has he room for a swinging platter at the end let alone standing room. Something to think bout when making your duck board.

Well done good choice :2tsup::2tsup:

artme
25th March 2010, 01:55 PM
Like the look and sound of it Fred.

This type of sliding headstock set-up has been around for a while.

It looks a bit like the ones sold up here by David Drescher, too.

Texian
25th March 2010, 02:54 PM
Happy new lathe Fred. There has been much discussion and conjecture in the U.S. forums re. the introduction of the Grizzly iteration of this lathe. It is a major improvement over previous Grizzly lathe offerings, and the response from actual purchasers/owners is positive. I wondered a bit about the lack of a cooling fan (2 hp Jet and PM motors are TEFC), but owners say the motor runs cool.

And yours is the right (very Jet-like) color. Turn something big, and tall.

scorpio_oz
25th March 2010, 03:56 PM
Hi,

I'm interested in finding out how this performs.

I was looking at one of these a couple of weekends ago from another supplier, not H&F, its been a while since I looked at the range of lathes at H&F.

I'm curious to find out how the quality is because I have the smaller EVS midi from the same manufacturer, and in the last year have had a broken toolrest due to poor quality cast iron, not uncommon apparently, a failed on/off switch mechanism, not the first one of these replaced on my model either, and a main shaft as the MT was running 2mm off centre.

None of the components from my lathe are used on the bigger one, so unless its a quality issue from the company, this one looks better, but then I ain't an authority on lathes, I'm still learning.

Since my wife and daughter are both turning now, 3 turners, one lathe, gets to be a bit of a log jam. And its SWMBO thats telling me that I need another lathe cause she can't get any lathe time. :D

I'm pleased this thread arrived, for two reasons, I'm interested in how the lathe performs and the thread may have saved me money as the H&F pricing is less than what I was quoted elsewhere.

Regards

-Gavin

Pat
25th March 2010, 06:05 PM
Good looking lathe Fred. I bet you'll have plenty of fun spinning up bigger bits of wood.

I still love my Yellow Peril, it's the right height for me (181cm).

Sawdust Maker
25th March 2010, 07:47 PM
Fred
Happy new lathe :2tsup:

Big Shed
25th March 2010, 08:31 PM
Like the look and sound of it Fred.

This type of sliding headstock set-up has been around for a while.

It looks a bit like the ones sold up here by David Drescher, too.

Yes I know Arthur, he tried to sell me one, but was too coy to give me a price:doh:


Happy new lathe Fred. There has been much discussion and conjecture in the U.S. forums re. the introduction of the Grizzly iteration of this lathe. It is a major improvement over previous Grizzly lathe offerings, and the response from actual purchasers/owners is positive. I wondered a bit about the lack of a cooling fan (2 hp Jet and PM motors are TEFC), but owners say the motor runs cool.

And yours is the right (very Jet-like) color. Turn something big, and tall.

Texian, I only found out in the last few days, after I had paid a deposit on the lathe last Thursday, that Grizzly now also sell this lathe. I haven't seen a lot of forum feedback on the Grizzly lathe.

I have however corresponded with William Young, a member here and on the Penturners Paradise forum, who is particularly pleased with his Craftex 128 from BusyBee.



Hi,

I'm interested in finding out how this performs.

I was looking at one of these a couple of weekends ago from another supplier, not H&F, its been a while since I looked at the range of lathes at H&F.

I'm curious to find out how the quality is because I have the smaller EVS midi from the same manufacturer, and in the last year have had a broken toolrest due to poor quality cast iron, not uncommon apparently, a failed on/off switch mechanism, not the first one of these replaced on my model either, and a main shaft as the MT was running 2mm off centre.

None of the components from my lathe are used on the bigger one, so unless its a quality issue from the company, this one looks better, but then I ain't an authority on lathes, I'm still learning.

Since my wife and daughter are both turning now, 3 turners, one lathe, gets to be a bit of a log jam. And its SWMBO thats telling me that I need another lathe cause she can't get any lathe time. :D

I'm pleased this thread arrived, for two reasons, I'm interested in how the lathe performs and the thread may have saved me money as the H&F pricing is less than what I was quoted elsewhere.

Regards

-Gavin

Gavin, the same manufacturer or the same supplier?

If the same manufacturer, I'd be interested to find out who that manufacturer is.

I'm hoping this lathe will live up to my expectations, but at the same time I'm not foolish enough to think that I won't have any problems. Problems are always likely with any manufactured product, particularly if it comes out of China. Unfortunately price is not always an indication of quality, I know I have owned 2 Rovers!



Good looking lathe Fred. I bet you'll have plenty of fun spinning up bigger bits of wood.

I still love my Yellow Peril, it's the right height for me (181cm).

Pat, I was tempted to buy the Yellow Peril, I was really impressed with its' build quality, unlike that of its' smaller cousin. They must be made in 2 different factories!

The bed on the M910 is particularly impressive.

The real deal breaker was the 6 belt positions, to me they negated a lot of the attraction of the EVS.

The height issue could have been overcome, just like I have to overcome it on this lathe.

There is a bit of difference between 181cm and 167cm:o

texx
25th March 2010, 08:53 PM
fred you have bought the lathe i wanted to buy when i was looking at lathes a while back but the dollars stopped me at the time and thats when i opted for the little cheapie to get by on until i could afford the bigger lathe .
i like the sliding head stock idea on those lathes , and the heavy duty solidness ( is that a word ) of them .:2tsup::2tsup:

Big Shed
25th March 2010, 09:00 PM
fred you have bought the lathe i wanted to buy when i was looking at lathes a while back but the dollars stopped me at the time and thats when i opted for the little cheapie to get by on until i could afford the bigger lathe .
i like the sliding head stock idea on those lathes , and the heavy duty solidness ( is that a word ) of them .:2tsup::2tsup:

Yes, you may remember I actually bought the same cheapie as I couldn't make up my mind which way to jump. I returned it a few days later as the runout, particularly inside the headstock Morse taper was horrendous. I only started checking it with a dial indicator after I spotted it with the naked eye on first startup!

I would still one day buy a (good) mini lathe for taking with me when I travel, but haven't found one yet.

Harry72
25th March 2010, 09:16 PM
Nice lathe Fred, congrats:)

PenTurner
25th March 2010, 09:20 PM
Fred, Not bad for a beginners' lathe!:D, I think I might make a trip to Bendigo, now let's see, need 1. trailer, 2. Bolt cutters to cut chain on lathe leg 3. stealth 4. muscles--er I think I'll leave those at home-just bring a big bucket to drool in!!:D Amos congratulations, sure hope it lives up to expectations. Amos:)

scorpio_oz
26th March 2010, 12:29 AM
Same manufacturer.

Sold by at least three suppliers in Australia that I'm aware of,

Some of the equipment and accessories from this manufacturer looks familiar to some of the products that I have seen at Carbatec and other woodturning suppliers.

The manufacturer is the Burt Group in China.

Here is the link if anyone is interested.

Burt Group Website (http://www.burt-group.com.cn/en/Product.aspx?ProductClassId=21)

Regards

-Gavin

William Young
26th March 2010, 03:26 AM
Hi Fred .

I heard that I was mentioned here in this thread so thought I better pop in and say hello. Between my own shop time as well as being owner and administrator of my busy Woodworking Friends discussion board site my time spent in other sites has been spread pretty thin.

Congratulations on your new lathe.
You now know what I meant about what a gut stretcher the components of that lathe are for weight. . It is identical to mine except for color and I hope you are as pleased with yours as I am with mine. Had mine for about 6 or 7 months now and have turned out tons of stuff on it. Loads of power on low range setting for turning some seventeeen inch diameter pieces of hardwood that I have already turned . That lathe will turn the tiniest of miniatures all the way up to practically anything a person would want to make on a lathe. .Loads of nice features on that lathe.

Have fun and enjoy your new lathe.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1620/1718813/3312409/380208011.jpg

rsser
26th March 2010, 03:32 AM
AFAIK there are lathe assemblers in China, not manufacturers.

They source their components from all over and a superficial similarity can mask significant differences in component quality.

NeilS
26th March 2010, 09:16 AM
As for the height just make a platform to stand on (not sure if this is what you meant by Duck board) I would have thought this would be good for you southerners so you are not standing on a clod concrete floor.






Yeah, I'd go for a duckboard with some comfort mat or HD closed cell foam to stand on.



:whs: ...and... :whs:

Nice buy! And, should handle the pens OK.

Bowl turning on the end works OK for balanced bowl blanks up to about 24", but side mount (swivel head) provides more lateral ballast for larger or slightly out of balance blanks. Unless you turn more than a few like that then end mounting is fine, especially if you have the extra workshop floor space for the end turning.

.....

scorpio_oz
26th March 2010, 10:33 AM
Ern,

I stand corrected. I probably used the term 'manufacturer' loosely, the 'assembler' for these suppliers is the 'Burt Group' as per my earlier post.

There are a couple of other assemblers I looked at last year when I was looking at a lathe initially that are using common components with the Burt group, but the completed products are different in appearance.

My father in law imports metalworking equipment from China and deals with the Burt Group for their metalworking machinery. He's in China every couple of months.

When he seen my lathe, he immediately told me, 'oh, I could have got you one of those cheap, they are from the Burt Group'.

Wish he had of said something earlier, because of his business commitments, we are lucky to see him once or twice a year, and I didn't know he could get woodturning stuff.

I spoke to him last night and he reckons he might be able to get a 'sample' of the 1847 put in his next container if there is room, all I have to be is patient. He's finding out more for me today. The risk with doing it this way, is although the price will be cheaper, I can't check it for alignment etc, and if something isn't right, I'm stuck with it, so after the luck of my current lathe, I'm a bit hesitant. Price isn't everything. One thing he did say though, is usually samples are checked by the assembler, and samples are usually the best quality they have, its the ones after the sample that the quality control can be a bit dodgy on.

In these cases, the lathes are identical down to the paint jobs, model numbers, and some of the images from the assemblers website are in use by the Aussie suppliers, so I'm guessing they are the same. I' have the model MC1218VD, which is the midi EVS on the Burt website.

With all the hassles with my lathe, we are still enjoying using it immensely, though I think thats more due to the addiction of wood turning.

And also realising, that I started out turning pens in an electric drill powered contraption, and was enjoying that also, so as long as I've got something that spins the timber, I'm easily pleased I guess.

Regards

-Gavin

Pat
26th March 2010, 01:19 PM
Fred, when you find a midi without alignment issues, please tell me.

woodwork wally
26th March 2010, 02:25 PM
[My only reservation about a duckboard, and it needs to be about 75mm high, is that I could forget I'm standing on a platform, step back and go *ss over t*t.:o]

You only do it once and the AMRU[ automatic memory retention unit] will come in to play from thence Just fall carefully. I found a bruised arm sufficient to index AMRU Oh yes a bruised toe heading toward lathe triggers AMRU#2. both work well you do get used to it Cheers WWW

Big Shed
26th March 2010, 09:29 PM
Didn't have a lot of time to spend on "the beast" yesterday as we had to go out for most of the afternoon, so only had a few hours in the morning.

That was spent getting all the heavy stuff, bed and legs, out of the trailer. Fortunately I have an old printer trolley that is about the same height as the trailer and I can back the trailer in to the workshop area.

So getting the very heavy bed out of the trailer proved easier than I thought. In fact I managed it on my own by lifting one end and sliding it along the trailer and the lowering it on to the trolley. Old brains beat young brawn once again.:2tsup:

Once I had the bed on the trolley I decided to take GJ's advice and lap the bed with a large carborundum stone and kero. This took away most of the grinding marks and made for a very smooth bed, I also lapped all the outside corner and the inside corners as well.



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That was yesterday morning's task, and it was time well spent.
This morning I fitted some nylon pads to the bottom of the legs, these seem to be supplied with the US and Canadian versions, but not with this one. I could then set the legs upright and roll the bed in to position, adjust the height of the bed to just above the legs with some timber chocks and bolt the bed to the legs. Forgot to take photos of this part of the project, got too involved.:doh:
Next step was to rope in SWMBO to lift the heavy head stock and motor out of the boot on to the trolley, wheel it in front of the bed and place it on there. On the Laguna video on Youtube the guy can just slide the tailstock and tool post banjo off after taking off the end stops, it isn't quite that easy, you actually have to remove the nut on all these components, as well as the head stock to be able to slide it on to the bed. As I had already done this at H&F, to get it off, it was just a matter of placing the head stock on the bed, then refitting the locking plate and nut back on the lock down bolt.


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I paid particular attention to how the head stock sat on the bed, as I had a PM from another WL46 owner that his head stock rocked and he had to put shims under one corner. This was not the case with mine, I had already checked this out before disassembling at H&F, but it pays to be sure.


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In fact I was game enough to plug it in and run the motor before I actually put the locking plate and nut underneath the head stock. It is so heavy, and the thing runs so smoothly, that it just sits there, even at full RPM (3380 on the readout)


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Big Shed
26th March 2010, 09:53 PM
Next on the agenda was the tool post banjo, that was a cinch, much lighter than the head stock I can assure you.

There are three threaded holes to take the locking bolt and handle.


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I elected to put it on the right.


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The tool rest supplied is 350mm, with a 25mm post, and is reasonably well finished. Again I had some feed back from another WL46 that he had to draw file the bottom of the banjo because it rocked on the bed, I was lucky I didn't have to do that.

He also had to draw file the top of the tool rest, again not necessary in my case.


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Next came the tail stock, again no adjustments required, sat nice and level on the bed and the centres lined up perfectly:2tsup:.


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The tail stock spindle extension is 110mm, which will come in handy for drilling pen blanks and pepper mills etc.


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wheelinround
26th March 2010, 10:00 PM
:2tsup: envious Fred.

First dust tomorrow

Have you left enough room between the wall and lathe for large swing items at the tail end.

Big Shed
26th March 2010, 10:12 PM
Here is a shot of the bits and pieces and tools supplied with the lathe.

The knockout bar is fairly long, and that length is needed!

The small threaded and tapered pin is a spindle locking and indexing pin.


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After some trial runs and trying out various speeds on the 2 belt settings, it was time to put a live centre in the tail stock and a ER25 collet chuck in the head stock spindle and see how all that would fit and spin, works like a charm. One thing I have to get used to is how quiet (and smooth) this lathe is compared to my old one. I can actually listen to ABC FM with it running at top speed.:2tsup:


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Just in case you think I'm totally biased and can't see anything wrong with my new toy, there is the one draw back with this lathe, it doesn't take a handwheel on the rear of the spindle. Now I never had one on my MC900, it also couldn't take one, but it would have been nice. I took the backplate off to see whether I could fabricate something and I think I can, and keep the spindle hoe clear for the knock out bar. Another owner (William Young) has made up a timber hand wheel with a rubber expanding plug inside the spindle, but that won't work for me as I use the ER25 collet chuck a heck of a lot and need to be able remove that often and quickly.


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Next I fitted my Nova G3 chuck, had to buy a new adapter for the M30x3.5 thread. I went straight on, measured TIR at approx 1.5 thou, measured on the chuck body. Not bad at all, we're doing woodworking right?


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Spun her up and did some drilling, how easy and smooth is that:2tsup: Did I mention this thing is quiet?:)


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Went out in the yard and found a thinnish pallet, put it in front of the setup with the rubber comfort mat, just a tad high (100mm), so will make something at a later stage.



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I am extremely impressed with this lathe so far, it is very solid, well put together, smooth and yes, quiet. It would have to be the best value for money big lathe on the market. Let's hope that it will live up to my expectations:2tsup:

Big Shed
27th March 2010, 08:31 AM
:2tsup: envious Fred.

First dust tomorrow

Have you left enough room between the wall and lathe for large swing items at the tail end.

Actually first dust was yesterday Ray, albeit only from drilling a blank!

No, at present there isn't enough room to swing large items at the tail end. Once I reach that stage of competency I will have to rearrange things.

One of the ideas floating around in my mind is to lower the lathe height by cutting the cast iron legs and fitting industrial nylon castors. This would do away with the duck board/pallet and allow me to swing the lathe around when required.

I will be ordering the outboard turning attachment though.

Time will tell.

I am also considering getting some more WL46 tool rests to cut down for smaller work. The 2 shorter tool rests I have were made for the MC900 and because of the extra swing height on this lathe the posts are a bit on the short side.

The short black one was a new MC900 300mm tool rest cut down to 150mm, the other (round) one was made for me by DJ.

Texian
27th March 2010, 02:49 PM
Good report Fred. What is the spindle height from the floor? Mine (Jet 1642) came with screw-in feet/levelers. After laboriously cleaning out the paint and sand with a tap and installing the feet, had to jack it up and remove said feet to get it closer to the floor where I was.

pommyphil
27th March 2010, 05:22 PM
Very tempting, I've been learning on a MC1100 for 12 months and this looks like the

ideal upgrade for me. Thanks for sharing,:2tsup: I'll follow the thread avidly.

Phil

Big Shed
27th March 2010, 05:33 PM
Good report Fred. What is the spindle height from the floor? Mine (Jet 1642) came with screw-in feet/levelers. After laboriously cleaning out the paint and sand with a tap and installing the feet, had to jack it up and remove said feet to get it closer to the floor where I was.

The spindle height on this lathe in "bare feet", ie without the nylon pads, is 1130mm. On my old MC900 it was 1050mm.

My 3/8 Whitworth studs on the nylon feet went straight in without any cleaning up required.

In fact I had to do no cleaning of sand etc on any of the castings.

hughie
27th March 2010, 05:34 PM
One of the ideas floating around in my mind is to lower the lathe height by cutting the cast iron legs and fitting industrial nylon castor's. This would do away with the duck board/pallet and allow me to swing the lathe around when required.

If you do make sure all the wheels have a lock on them,other wise you'll be doing the Turners Waltz




I am also considering getting some more WL46 tool rests to cut down for smaller work. The 2 shorter tool rests I have were made for the MC900 and because of the extra swing height on this lathe the posts are a bit on the short side.
The short black one was a new MC900 300mm tool rest cut down to 150mm, the other (round) one was made for me by DJ.
[/QUOTE]

Get em made by a tame welder etc save you dollars for other stuff.

Keep up with the tute, I am enjoying it. :2tsup:

Big Shed
27th March 2010, 05:44 PM
If you do make sure all the wheels have a lock on them,other wise you'll be doing the Turners Waltz

Get em made by a tame welder etc save you dollars for other stuff.

Keep up with the tute, I am enjoying it. :2tsup:

Sure will get the ones with locks on them:2tsup: Not too good at any waltz, let alone the Turners Waltz.

The smallest one of my tool rests was made by a "tame welder", if I may be allowed to call DJ that. Funnily enough I prefer the cut down MC900 one, something about the shape of that rest appeals more to me than the 25mm bar on the one DJ made.

artme
27th March 2010, 06:05 PM
Excellent write up Fred!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

I must say from the photos the quality is there, especially for the price>

Sawdust Maker
27th March 2010, 07:55 PM
Nice write up :2tsup:
almost makes me wish I had a new lathe so I could join in on the fun of having a new lathe :U

Doc0055
30th April 2010, 02:58 PM
Fred,
you have had the new lathe for a while now, So what is the verdict. Does it perform well, and is there any regrets.

Cheers Scott

Big Shed
30th April 2010, 03:49 PM
Fred,
you have had the new lathe for a while now, So what is the verdict. Does it perform well, and is there any regrets.

Cheers Scott

Actually spent a fair bit of time last weekend using it, mainly making some new handles for some of my chisels.

The lathe performed even better than I expected, it is very smooth, quiet and free from vibration. Even though it isn't bolted down it didn't rock"n roll.

About the only negative, already mentioned above, is that there is no facility for a handwheel. Laguna in the US have brought out a revised model that now has a hand wheel and this may flow through to OZ, but I am working on a modification to fix that and still keep the headstock spindle open for a knockout bar.

Certainly no regrets, in fact I can recommend this lathe to anyone looking to buy a new lathe. It can do anything from pen turning (have done a few of those already on it) to the big stuff (which I haven't done yet). At the price I don't think you can buy a better EVS, or manual belt drive, lathe anywhere.

:2tsup::2tsup:

rsser
30th April 2010, 05:04 PM
Useful feedback Fred.

Keep us posted when you've had a shot at an irregular bowl blank.

mkypenturner
30th April 2010, 07:56 PM
About the only negative, already mentioned above, is that there is no facility for a handwheel. Laguna in the US have brought out a revised model that now has a hand wheel and this may flow through to OZ, but I am working on a modification to fix that and still keep the headstock spindle open for a knockout bar.


:2tsup::2tsup:

hey fred i also have one of those lathes and my local club has 4 of them do you have a maetal lathe ?? as one of our members does and knocked up some hand wheels same as on jet ( long thin ) by taking the end plate off and making the hole in it bigger to accomadate the hand wheel and its drilled down the guts for a knock out bar origanil bar it put into storage and get a longer piece of rod and make a new handle for the longer bar


if you want pics and measurements of them as going to club on sunday i can do that and post in here for you and anyone else that has one :2tsup:

troy

Big Shed
30th April 2010, 08:01 PM
hey fred i also have one of those lathes and my local club has 4 of them do you have a maetal lathe ?? as one of our members does and knocked up some hand wheels same as on jet ( long thin ) by taking the end plate off and making the hole in it bigger to accomadate the hand wheel and its drilled down the guts for a knock out bar origanil bar it put into storage and get a longer piece of rod and make a new handle for the longer bar


if you want pics and measurements of them as going to club on sunday i can do that and post in here for you and anyone else that has one :2tsup:

troy

Would appreciate that Troy

William Young
1st May 2010, 03:34 AM
I am also interested in where a person can purchase a hand wheel . I have had that same lathe for about 9 months now and turned a ton of stuff from miniatures to 18" bowls and everything in between . It's a great lathe and a real workhorse.
I made a wooden outboard handwheel that works on compression inside the hole so it doesn't have a hole through it for a knockout bar. I also made a wood inboard handwheel that works OK as well but a steel outboard one would be nice to have.
The only time I use handwheels is when I am doing small things like pens etc where it isn't as easy to rotate the piece with a mandrel.
For bowls amd such I usually just use the chuck to rotate it.

mkypenturner
2nd May 2010, 03:05 PM
ok guys hers the pics from my clubs lathes

Texian
2nd May 2010, 03:40 PM
Good looking "handwheel", very similar to the one on my Jet. IMO much better than the traditional handwheel shape. Easy to grip, and often use it to add a bit of mechanical braking to the programmed electonic braking. Suggest that you guys make 'em and sell 'em.

William Young
2nd May 2010, 03:58 PM
Is just that shaft going to be used as a handwheel ? Will a regular style of handwheel be added to that?
Did the whole spindle have to be removed from the lathe in order to bore the hole in the end of it or was it done on the lathe with the inner end (with the threads on it) locked in order to drill the outer end. .

Big Shed
2nd May 2010, 05:04 PM
Thanks for that Troy:2tsup:

Not quite what I was expecting as a "hand wheel". It is obviously modeled on the Jet 1642EVS, which in one of the reviews is also called a vacuum chuck adapter.

So, how is this attached to the existing spindle? I'm assuming that the pulley is taken off and the 150x50mm shaft/hand wheel is attached to the end of the pulley?
The thing that concerns me here is the 150mm overhang and its' possible effect on the bearings. Also a hand wheel with a 50mm diameter appears rather small, is there a reason why it is 150mm long?

Maybe my reservations are unwarranted as Jet is doing it this was, but I don't know how theirs is attached either and whether they have bigger bearings to compensate for that overhang.

I was thinking more along the lines of the Powermatic 3520 (http://www.southern-tool.com/store/powermatic_20_lathe.html) hand wheel or the Laguna modification (http://www.lagunatools.com/lathes/lathe-1847#) to its' lathe.

mkypenturner
2nd May 2010, 09:08 PM
Thanks for that Troy:2tsup:

Not quite what I was expecting as a "hand wheel". It is obviously modeled on the Jet 1642EVS, which in one of the reviews is also called a vacuum chuck adapter.

So, how is this attached to the existing spindle? I'm assuming that the pulley is taken off and the 150x50mm shaft/hand wheel is attached to the end of the pulley?
The thing that concerns me here is the 150mm overhang and its' possible effect on the bearings. Also a hand wheel with a 50mm diameter appears rather small, is there a reason why it is 150mm long?

Maybe my reservations are unwarranted as Jet is doing it this was, but I don't know how theirs is attached either and whether they have bigger bearings to compensate for that overhang.

I was thinking more along the lines of the Powermatic 3520 (http://www.southern-tool.com/store/powermatic_20_lathe.html) hand wheel or the Laguna modification (http://www.lagunatools.com/lathes/lathe-1847#) to its' lathe.
its done on the specs of the jet as a normal handwheel would be to small as it would hit the motor as to how its assembled i will have to wait for the member to return from his holiday for more info will keep every one posted

troy

Treecycle
2nd May 2010, 10:46 PM
Big Shed,
Does your lathe have a retaining plate bolted to the end of the shaft to help hold the pulley on, or are there 2 8mm tapped holes showing on the end of the pulley boss approx 48mm apart?

Big Shed
2nd May 2010, 10:55 PM
Big Shed,
Does your lathe have a retaining plate bolted to the end of the shaft to help hold the pulley on, or are there 2 8mm tapped holes showing on the end of the pulley boss approx 48mm apart?

Without going to the shed and taking exact measurements, there are 2 taped holes (I guess they are 8mm) and they are about 48mm apart.

Treecycle
2nd May 2010, 11:03 PM
When I work out how to attach a file to the thread I will post a drawing of a handle that I made.

Big Shed
2nd May 2010, 11:46 PM
When I work out how to attach a file to the thread I will post a drawing of a handle that I made.

See here (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f36/posting-pictures-your-post-78760/)

Treecycle
3rd May 2010, 12:01 AM
Thanks Fred. I will finish the drawing and post it after I convert to PDF format.

Treecycle
4th May 2010, 10:59 PM
This is my first attempt at adding attachments to a post and I am not quite sure if they are going to work, but here goes.
Here is my version of a handwheel for the Hafco lathe.
After I made up the shaft and flange, I just glued the wooden handwheel on with Araldite after roughing up the steel shaft for grip.

136223

The early model lathes don't have the retaining washer bolted to the end of the shaft to help hold the pulley on. The PDF drawing shows the design of the shaft and flange suitable for this setup. My lathe had the washer fitted which made the design a little trickier.

136224

The end of the pulley should look like the next photo to suit this design.

136225

I bored the wooden wheel out on the lathe to ensure the hole was running true and the bottom of the hole is flat so that it can be pushed up against the end of the shaft and will stay square to the shaft when glued on.
After fitting the wheel to the lathe I made up a temporary rest outboard and gave a final true up to the wheel, sanded and then applied polish.

Big Shed
4th May 2010, 11:19 PM
Thanks mate, that looks pretty cool:2tsup: Well thought out and executed.

Mine doesn't have a washer, was this bolted to the 2 holes in the end of the pulley?

After your previous post I actually took the pulley off mine and it looks identical to your final picture with perhaps some minor differences.

The centre to centre distance between the 2 holes on mine is 49mm.

The threaded holes take M8 bolts. (Sorry read the pdf sideways and read it as 6mm:doh:)

I will use your design with perhaps a couple of changes, will show what I did when I get to it, which could be a couple of weeks as there are some things I need to finish before then.:rolleyes:

Treecycle
5th May 2010, 09:23 AM
Fred, the shaft on my lathe had 2 holes tapped in the shaft which held the washer on. The earlier models don't appear to have that. The photo in the post is not my lathe, but someone else's who also has the ealier model.
Forgot to mention that the 2 holes in the wooden wheel are drilled to line up with the holes in the mounting flange, so an Allen key can be passed through it to tighten up the capscrews (if that is what you find is the easiest to attach it with).

William Young
5th May 2010, 10:29 AM
After seeing all the suggestions here and elsewhwere I put a conglomeration of ideas together and made one for my lathe. I have some pictures in my camera and will post them if they turn out OK .
I had previoesly made this little setup that works good but it doesn't have a hollow shaft so have to take it off for using the Hold Fast vacuum chucking system .
The rubber part expands when turning the screw from the end to lock the handwheel into the hole in the shaft. .

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/WW%20Jigs%20and%20Tools/HandWheel3.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/WW%20Jigs%20and%20Tools/HandWheel2jpg.jpg



http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/WW%20Jigs%20and%20Tools/HandWheel123.jpg

The one I made this afternoon, although it is all wood . will be a permanent one and it does allow for vacuum chucking.

Will try to do a little tutorial with pictures later today

Treecycle
5th May 2010, 02:08 PM
Great idea the design of your wheel William. It is certainly the way to go for anyone who does not have access to metal turning facilities. At least it is easy to remove if you need access to use the knockout bar.

William Young
5th May 2010, 02:17 PM
Here is my version of a hand wheel for the models of lathes previously discussed .
As anyone knows that has one of these lathes , there is a 5" square steel plate on the end of the head stock with a 2 5/8" hole in the center of it that has a plastic cover to keep out shavings and sawdust. When removing the 5" square plate it exposes a 4.5" round hole (approx) and the shaft of the lathe with the pulley on the outer end. The pulley has two 8 mm threaded holes in it .
My idea was to make use of those holes as a way to fasten the hand wheel on and also to leave the steel plate off and make a part of my hand wheel fill the 4.5" hole in order to keep shavings out. .
I know some have made some nice versions of the hand wheel using a combination of steel shafts and wood . Some have modified the 5 "x 5" cover plate to make a bigger center hole in it but that is heavy gage steel plate and I didn't want to try to change the size of it. I do not have access to a metal lathe and machine shops charge a lot so I use wood whenever possible .
So this is my version .
I used oak because I had some scraps left over from other jobs . Any good hardwood will work well for this. .
I turned a piece the same diameter as the hole in the end of the lathe with the plate removed and drilled a hole in the center as well a couple holes to put 8 mm (approx 5/16") hex head bolts into. .
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/CT128Handwheel1.jpg
I recessed the two holes to allow room for the bolt heads as well as the outer diameter of a socket wrench .
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/CT128Handwheel2.jpg
I fastened it to the end of the lathe and tightened it up to make sure I had a good fit.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/CT128Handwheel3.jpg.
Then I took it off and turned a piece of 3" thick oak on the lathe and got it roughly to the shape I wanted for a hand wheel . I left a flange on the bottom that I could drill countersunk holes in to hold that piece to the first piece.
Screwed the two pieces together with 4 screws and mounted the whole assembly on the lathe to true it up and sand and finish.
Here is what it looked like at that stage.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/Ct128Handwheel4.jpg
Took it apart and mounted the base plate onto the pulley with the bolts and tightened with a socket wrench . Then screwed the outer piece on with the four screws.
Here are the two parts and the hardware used.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/CT128Handwheel5.jpg.
Here are a couple views of it mounted on the lathe .
The recess in the hole in the center is to accommodate the tapered part of the bearing housing for my Hold Fast vacuum chucking system.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/CT128Handwheel7.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/CT128Handwheel6.jpg

Big Shed
6th May 2010, 08:49 AM
That looks very inventive William, well thought out and executed :2tsup:

One of the suppliers, Laguna, have now modified their version of the lathe and is selling it with a hand wheel as standard.

Your design gives me further ideas for when I get around to making a hand wheel for mine, thanks.

William Young
6th May 2010, 09:27 AM
Thanks for the responses.

Here is a easy and inexpensive way to make and an use an inboard hand wheel while putting off making an outboard one for a while .

There are lots of ways to make a hand wheel with plain old wood for a lathe that doesn't have one. This is the one I used for mandrel turning of pens most of the time before I made the outboard one . I only used it when turning pens and didn't really need a hand wheel for bigger stuff when using a chuck.
I must say though , that the new outboard one I showed earlier in this thread is more convenient and nice to have there all the time. ..
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/WillysWoodcrafting/Tutorials/InboardHandWheel.jpg

Big Shed
13th May 2010, 09:15 AM
Here is yet another take on a handwheel for the 18x47 lathe

Vacuum power for the new series of Laguna 18/47 lathes | JT Turning Tools, LLC (http://www.jtturningtools.com/Laguna)

William Young
13th May 2010, 01:36 PM
Fred.
I am curious about this part of that one

Installation is simple - loosen the two set screws and unscrew the stock hand wheel from the end of the spindle (caution the spindle threads are right-hand). Then thread the new kit-supplied hand wheel on to the lathe just snugly - don't over-tighten. Re-tighten the set screws.

What two set screws ? ? It seems like that attachment replaces the original hand wheel on a Laguna lathe that comes complete with a hand wheel but neither Laguna or anyone else has a hand wheel as an accessory for the different names and colors of those lathes. .

I don't really care for a small diameter metal hand wheel but that is just my preference. I suppose a person could get used to it over a conventional style of hand wheel and certainly better than no hand wheel at all.

The handwheel I made set me back about a whole $2.00 and it sure works just as good as the hand wheel did on my Jet 1220 that I had before the 18/47 one.
$120.00 probably isn't bad for those that can afford it and don't want to make one themselves for a couple bucks. .

I am wondering if anyone here has a Laguna brand name lathe with the factory made hand wheel attached or has even ever seen one . I sure would like to see a picture of how thay fasten that one on.
I have a feeling that the genuine Laguna has a longer spindle extending out past the pulley for attaching their hand wheel to. Notice it says to remove the hand wheel from the end of the spindle

Treecycle
13th May 2010, 02:14 PM
It appears that the new model Laguna (which is their platinum series) has an extended headstock spindle. It is suprising that they did not do it that way from the start as they appear to be a well established company, and therefore should understand the requirements of turners.

Big Shed
13th May 2010, 02:16 PM
Bill, Laguna appear to have modified the headstock spindle and they now have a new model that has a handwheel. The info on the JT Turning Tools site specifically mentions "new model".

To be fair, the $120 doesn't only buy you a handwheel but the adapter for their vacuum chuck system as well.

Your handwheel certainly appears to do the job and looks good, I put the link to JT up to add another bit of information to the handwheel discussion, not to endorse it in any way.

There is a fair bit of discussion going on on the AAW forum re the missing handwheel, the Grizzly 18x47, as well as your version and my Hare & Forbes version are all missing the handwheel. I would say in the fulness of time the handwheel mod will flow through to other vendors as well, as I am assuming that they all come out of the same factory in China.

William Young
13th May 2010, 02:49 PM
It appears that the new model Laguna (which is their platinum series) has an extended headstock spindle. It is suprising that they did not do it that way from the start as they appear to be a well established company, and therefore should understand the requirements of turners.

I agree that they should have done it from the start . If they had, maybe all the copies (if that is what they are) would have been done the same way.

The two threaded holes in the pulley are there for putting a couple screws in to attach a set of pullers for safely pulling the pulley off the spindle.

I just decided to use those two threaded holes for another purpose and it worked . It can also be taken off in a couple minutes in the event that the pulley would ever have to be removed as in replaceing spindle or bearings.

Texian
13th May 2010, 03:46 PM
I don't really care for a small diameter metal hand wheel but that is just my preference. I suppose a person could get used to it

I quite like the cylindrical "handwheel" of the Jet 1642. It's easy for me to grip, to rotate the spindle manually or slow the rotation if the electronics are not slowing it quickly enough to suit. Just depends upon what you get used to I guess.

Big Shed
13th May 2010, 06:30 PM
I agree that they should have done it from the start . If they had, maybe all the copies (if that is what they are) would have been done the same way.



I don't think they are copies so much as "badge engineering". To me they look suspiciously like they all come out of the same Chinese factory.