Vicmarc - VL200 Swivel Head - so excited!

**DomAU** · 12th October 2019, 09:41 AM

Hi guys,

After keeping an eye out for about 12-18 months I finally bought my first lathe - a Vicmarc VL200 Swivel Head. This was a small batch that Vicmarc produced before going into full scale production with the VL240SH. Shipping weight was about 250kg. It was a bear to move even once everything including the extension was stripped off!

I bought it with an extension bed, so approximately 1100mm between centres, and with a VM100 chuck and an additional banjo and 600mm toolrest.

I plan to use it primarily for spindles for furniture work, but it's nice to have the swivel head in case i ever want to turn a larger platter etc. 200mm over the bed will likely be fine for me, even without the ability to swivel the head.

I had been looking at second hand VL175's or a new VL200 or VL300 but I think and hope that this is actually a great lathe for my intended usage and one I won't grow out of.

Thanks to Mick on this forum who kindly showed me his Laguna 24-36 and let me have a play. I nearly went the Laguna 18-36 after that, but something kept pulling me towards Vicmarc.

I bought the lathe without a stand so will need to make one, and there are a few things on the list before that so it may be a while before i'm turning.

I'll take some better photos when I have it up and running. It looks great tho- very robust and seems like a quality lathe to my very untrained eye!

VMSH200_43.jpg

VMSH200_3 (3).jpg

VMSH200_5.jpg

Anyway, I'll likely be peppering this forum with questions once I get turning. Thanks in advance!

Cheers, Dom

**Optimark** · 12th October 2019, 03:42 PM

Congratulations, it looks very nice.

You may wish to consider purchasing a second safety collar, or spindle clamp. You have one attached to the hand wheel, so you can see what it is.

Lathe Accessories: Safety Collars

This will allow you to use your chuck with spindle turning, which sometimes happens, using reverse for easier sanding. Or for reverse when using the swivel head turned halfway and you are turning/cutting on the right side of a biggish platter or bowl. This is handy for left handed people, like my brother.

The safety collar also works with Vicmarc face plates, but not with generic faceplates. It is certainly something I wish I had on my Laguna for the possibility of reverse scraping a bowl on the right side. Always nice to have as many tools in the armoury as possible.

I have done this with a platter on a 175 VLSH unit and was pleasantly surprised at the size of the platter I could turn with the head swung about 30º. Took a few minutes to get used to cutting on the right side of the platter, then I was off.

Glad you got that instead of the Laguna 1836, compared to the Laguna 2436 they are miniscule; something I noted last month when I saw a pair of Laguna 1836 lathes together.

Mick.

**DomAU** · 12th October 2019, 04:12 PM

Thanks Mick, and thanks again for your advice and havjng me over and letting me turn on your Laguna.

Thanks for the tip about the safety collar - i'll pick one up.

In the end the deciding factors for me between the Laguna and this Vicmarc were - Australian made, the overwhelmingly great reputation for quality and reliability and because I knew I could get a second banjo and longer rest (which at this stage i only hypothesise will be handy for spindle work). This also cost me slightly less than the Laguna (albeit I need to make a stand). The Laguna offered more versatility and also looked great so my decision was made more on the positives of the Vicmarc than any deficiency of the Laguna.

Cheers, Dom

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