Thread: Dedicated Bowl Lathe - any in Australia?

I would definitely buy a VB36 if I had the money and wanted a dedicated bowl lathe. However, it depends on how big a bowl you want to turn. A vicmarc VL175 with its swivelling head and outrigger would do the job and be a far more versatile lathe. Big bowl lathes and big bowls can end up being white elephants. Who wants a big bowl, who wants to pay for them and if you can't get rid of them then how many can you store at home.

Originally Posted by brendan stemp

I would definitely buy a VB36 if I had the money and wanted a dedicated bowl lathe. However, it depends on how big a bowl you want to turn. A vicmarc VL175 with its swivelling head and outrigger would do the job and be a far more versatile lathe. Big bowl lathes and big bowls can end up being white elephants. Who wants a big bowl, who wants to pay for them and if you can't get rid of them then how many can you store at home.

All true. It is nice to have a 500 - 750 Kg lathe that is oversize for making smaller bowls from out of balance stumps that are roughed out with a chain saw.

I have a 20 inch swing Woodfast. I have had to saw off protruding chunks after mounting the blank to let it turn without hitting the bed.

Hardenfast,

Have a look here:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/lathe-bargain-158338/

Well, I received a nice reply from the Hegner guys in the UK, confirming that they will be happy to ship to Australia. They recently shipped a fully optioned VB36 on two pallets to New Zealand for around GBP700 (around AU$1,080).

The other interesting bit is that they currently have everything reduced by 20% until the end of September, meaning that the machine itself is discounted from GBP4,536 to around GBP3,630 (approx. AU$5,630).

I'm a great fan & supporter of our Australian manufacturers - or what's left of them, and the Vicmarc & Stubby machines seem to be the equal of anything in the world. However, these Hegner bowl lathes are certainly worth a look.

They are already 240v and will only need to have an Australian plug fitted, and at around AU$6,700 including shipping they are competitively priced against the Ozzie machines.

Have a look at the Hegner VB36 brochure here:

http://www.hegner.co.uk/assets/downl...ning-Lathe.pdf

Now thats a good deal Wayne

I agree with the brochure, that is the ULTIMATE bowl lathe. With the discount the price is competitive with less sturdy and less refined lathes.

If you can justify the $ and still sleep at night, order it.

As I am a retired old geezer, the cost of that lathe is about 6 months of my income.

I also have almost as much fun building and resurrecting equipment as turning.

BUY THE LATHE!!

Hell, that is one serious lump of iron.....and for what you get...good value for $7000 landed..don't forget to add the GST

BUT how many of us are going to cough up that sory of cash for a lathe.

cheers

Yes, Soundman & Paul - you're both right (not necessarily agreeing that you're an old geezer, Paul), but this machine is a serious investment for any person. By the way, good point on the +GST, SM - add an additional $600 to the final figure.

Having recently outlayed around about the same amount for a Vicmarc VL300 it's certainly not a flippant decision to be making. Still. it looks so nice!

The only positive I can bring to the equation - apart from the beauty of the equipment, is that I can still justify & claim the expenditure as part of my construction business. You know... for all those... umm... post caps I need to make.

I'll wait until I learn more about the Stubby F600 options before making any decisions. Seems to be somewhat difficult to get info on the Omega/Stubby machines these days. Maybe they're now more focussed on the USA market than ours?

Ray (Wheelin), if I go ahead with it you'll have to get Sue to bring you north once a month for some play time.

Wayne.

Originally Posted by Hardenfast

Ray (Wheelin), if I go ahead with it you'll have to get Sue to bring you north once a month for some play time.

Wayne.

You might find me knocking on your door too

Back when the Graduate bowl lathe was first produced there was a real need for a dedicated bowl lathe. Us bowl turners hate all those ways that spindle turners add to their lathes that get in the 'way' of us standing directly in front of out bowls to turn the insides, causing us neck and backaches.

Since the introduction of swivel head lathes any real need for a dedicated bowl lathe has been eliminated, IMO. If you want a dedicated bowl lathe just buy a good swivel head lathe and dedicate it to that purpose, and if required, you can always sell it later to someone who wants to do both bowl and spindle work. My only reservation about the swivel head models that I would currently consider (Woodfast or Vicmarc) is that they are slightly underpowered (1.5HP) for any serious coring of larger bowls. Stubby did produce a 2HP VS swivel head model (the 500?) that would overcome that limitation and would be worth considering if still produced, they were about $5,500 but can't find a current price. As for bowl size, that is only limited by the toolrest configuration and/or the distance to the floor if you use a free standing toolrest.

But, as Brendan points out, there isn't much of a market for very large bowls. The average sized table/house isn't big enough to fit them and there isn't a lot of uses for them that an 18" bowl can't provide. Once people get over the excitement of making a few big ones they settle back to making bowls the sizes that people want and can use, which can be done on almost any lathe.

However, the VB36, at that price is tempting, very tempting. I could almost justify the cost, although at my current rate of sales (I only buy equipment out of the proceeds of my production) that would be just under three birthdays! A little less if I sell my Woodfast C1000X, which I've got to like a lot and would probably keep anyway for the occasional spindle work that I do.

However, one of the downsides of moving up to this level of equipment is the additional cost and hassle of getting the dedicated accessories that are required for it, along with any incompatibilities with your current gear. For example, I would hate to find that my Kel McNaughton corers didn't fit. The overall cost of ownership may be much higher than just the initial cost.

If I was a professional making my living from turning I could probably justify making such an investment, but sitting further down the woodturning heap I run the serious risk of being seen as a yuppie woodturner with a lathe that none of the professional woodturners can justify...

If 'a hammer does not a carpenter make', neither does a fancy lathe automatically make better woodturning; but it might just be more fun...

PS - Apologies for the long post... I'm laid up now for six weeks after surgery and have too much idle time on my hands...

I know you have just bought a VL300 but there is an upgrade coming soon for the outboard side of the lathe so you can attach a 500mm bed extension.

This came about from a request from Irelands Glenn Lucas a prolific bowl turner, he wanted the short bed of the VL300 for his inboard work but by putting an extension on the outboard side had the best of both worlds .
With the extension on the outboard side you can stand there with nothing on the floor to get in the way and still turn the 600mm diameter if need be. You can also have the tailstock on there if needed for stability when starting with an out of round bowl.

Have a look at the 2nd video on glenns website you will see what I mean.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

I know you have just bought a VL300 but there is an upgrade coming soon for the outboard side of the lathe so you can attach a 500mm bed extension.

This came about from a request from Irelands Glenn Lucas a prolific bowl turner, he wanted the short bed of the VL300 for his inboard work but by putting an extension on the outboard side had the best of both worlds .
With the extension on the outboard side you can stand there with nothing on the floor to get in the way and still turn the 600mm diameter if need be. You can also have the tailstock on there if needed for stability when starting with an out of round bowl.

Have a look at the 2nd video on glenns website you will see what I mean.

He is also using a tool rest the same shape as what I make.

Running Hardenfast's numbers through the Customes Duty and Tax calculator, I get the following:

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td width="434">Customs value (Cval)
</td> <td width="57">

5,630.00

</td> <td width="72">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Customs duty (Duty) @ 5% of Cval
</td> <td width="57">

281.50

</td> <td width="72">(Payable)
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">International transport and insurance or postage (T&I)
</td> <td width="57">

1,080.00

</td> <td width="72">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Value of the Taxable Importation (VoTI) (Cval+Duty+T&I)
</td> <td width="57">

6991.50

</td> <td width="72">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Goods and Services Tax (GST) @ 10% of the VoTI
</td> <td width="57">

699.15

</td> <td width="72">(Payable)
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Total payable Duty + GST
</td> <td width="57">

980.65

</td> </tr></tbody></table>

Total cost (purchase price + transport + Duty & Tax) - A$7690.65

But I'm thinking, would I get an extra $4690 of fun out of using the VB36, that being the extra cost of purchasing it over the C1000X at just $3000, all up? Hmmmm........

But, if the claim that

the lathe "will never be obsolete" and its engineering lives up to its hype, it should outlast last maybe two C1000Xs, ie if I can keep woodturning for another 15-20 years.... ...so that makes it only $1690 for the extra fun. Have I convincing myself yet?

Maybe!

Originally Posted by NeilS

Running Hardenfast's numbers through the Customes Duty and Tax calculator, I get the following:

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td width="434">Customs value (Cval)
</td> <td width="57">

5,630.00

</td> <td width="72">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Customs duty (Duty) @ 5% of Cval
</td> <td width="57">

281.50

</td> <td width="72">(Payable)
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">International transport and insurance or postage (T&I)
</td> <td width="57">

1,080.00

</td> <td width="72">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Value of the Taxable Importation (VoTI) (Cval+Duty+T&I)
</td> <td width="57">

6991.50

</td> <td width="72">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Goods and Services Tax (GST) @ 10% of the VoTI
</td> <td width="57">

699.15

</td> <td width="72">(Payable)
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="434">Total payable Duty + GST
</td> <td width="57">

980.65

</td> </tr></tbody></table>

Total cost (purchase price + transport + Duty & Tax) - A$7690.65

But I'm thinking, would I get an extra $4690 of fun out of using the VB36, that being the extra cost of purchasing it over the C1000X at just $3000, all up? Hmmmm........

But, if the claim that

the lathe "will never be obsolete" and its engineering lives up to its hype, it should outlast last maybe two C1000Xs, ie if I can keep woodturning for another 15-20 years.... ...so that makes it only $1690 for the extra fun. Have I convincing myself yet?

Maybe!

Keep working on it Neil the numbers are in your favour.

Having used a VB36 I would not put it high on my list for beign user freindly.
It has lots of grunt and is an awesome machine but moving the toolrest around can become very tiresome.

I would not knock one back if someone was to give me one