Thread: Vl300 short bed

I have one with an extension bed.

Have spun an 1100mm x 800mm x 120mm thick piece of Redgum on the outboard side in the past

David you can turn 1m outboard on the VL300

Originally Posted by nz_carver

.... I find my self asking to I need a 1000 mm swing
Or do I just want a 1000 mm swing

Only you can answer that, but like most of us, it is probably the latter

I have turned 1200mm architectural pieces outboard on my VL 300.

When working these large pieces some sort of crane is a big help to load the job on the lathe.

One major advantage of using a VL300 is the faceplate/chuck clamp system.
Using this clamp means you can turn the work in either direction with safety.
This clamp makes sure the faceplate won’t unscrew until you are ready to remove it.
The VL300 has R/H threads on both ends of the spindle.
No L/H threaded equipment required to turn outboard.

Another trick I learnt is when you have 60 or 80 kg of wood on the lathe, it can take a long time to come to a stop after hitting the stop switch.
Hitting the reverse button on my lathe will apply a brakeing force to the freewheeling piece of timber.
I then need to press the stop button when the job comes to a halt or it will start to wind up in the other direction.

Beware using this reverse button trick works on my lathes fitted with Fuji drives. If you try this on your lathe your experience may be different.
No responsibility accepted.
Cheers

Tim

Hey thanks for thy Tim I didn't know about the r/h thread that's a tick for the vl300

I have a VL300SB EVS & I love it.

I have never used the outboard turning option.

I did buy the Vermec swing away extension but I hardly ever use the swing function.
With hindsight, a longer bed would have been better & then I could just push the tailstock well out of the way.

To stop it faster I found that if I hit the stop button & then hit the start button & then the stop button again it stops heaps quicker.

The only thing I have been told, (I don't know this for sure) is that the headstock spindle doesn't have a great deal of wall thickness because of the size of the hollow through it & I have been told that somebody managed to bend theirs by putting a piece on the outboard that was too heavy & too out of balance.
I didn't see it, I heard it from somebody who says that they saw the result.

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, I have always found and seeing that you have many many years of turning left in you

Originally Posted by Tim the Timber Turner

I have turned 1200mm architectural pieces outboard on my VL 300.

When working these large pieces some sort of crane is a big help to load the job on the lathe.

...
Tim

Another option is an engine hoist, something like this

That's what I had in mind nick