Thread: cast iron legs

Thanks, Joe. Any copmment on the heat issue?

Hei Rick,
I have the MC900 and so far it has run like a clock - even when I managed to pull the head off the base attempting to turn a monster lump of jarrah that was way beyond the ability of the lathe.

As some have said, the speed adjuster can be a little temperamental but I have never had a problem - my routine is to clean with compressed air and then lubiricate liberally with Innox.

The MC's are a cheap lathe, but looked after they are good lathe.
Cheers
Paul

DPB


Sorry on overlooking the heat thing.

I have a VL-175 and have worked on a number of others. All the headstocks, especially with a lot of pressure from the tailstock rose in tempretaure. They never became uncomfortably hot. The 175 and other VL lathes have Timkin style tapered roller bearings, similar to what rear wheel drive cars have as front wheel bearings. Because these bearings need the inner cone to press hard onto the outer shell to align and run smoothly, they generate some heat. If you ever felt a cars front wheel hubs after a drive, or a trailer's hubs for that matter, you will find that they are hot. Should this be uncomfortable to the touch the tourque on the nut needs to be slackened off a little bit. Vicmarc torques the headstocks at the factory, but in the manual they make mention on how to adjust them. If your lathe doesn't stop abruptly when you switch the motor off, the tourque should be OK. If the torque gets slackened off too much, the headstock will not run true, will be noisy and with a large blank or VM120 chuck it will freewheel for a long time after turning the motor off. Anyway check your VZL manual for adjustment procedures, but bear in mind that a little adjustment makes a huge difference.
I trust that this helps you.