Thread: Woodfast 410

Paul, sorry for the late reply. I have sent you an email and have also discussed this with someone else, the response may take a few days as the lathes I have are not at home.

This morning I took out the tailstock spindle and heated the end where the center was stuck. I held it in my hand and gave three sharp whacks with a hammer on the knockout bar. It popped out on the third whack. The Morse taper was quite rusted and dry as the penetrating oil had only soaked in about 1/4 in. on both ends.

After carefully inspecting the threads on the handwheel I determined that it was indeed LH. I heated the outside of the threaded part with the torch and whacked the wrench on the handwheel flat with a knockout bar sharply while holding a wrench on the spindle nut.

Again three whacks did it. The wrench flying off each time.

Photos of outboard spindle, and rusty live center and tailstock spindle

I flopped the cabinet end over end to the back yard and put the lathe together, mounted a half dry chunk of walnut that had been too much for the Hegner 175, to the point that it made me anxious.

The Hegner switch is behind the the headstock, and I had a hunk of wet wood flailing around on a lathe that was trying to jump off the bench. The problem solved itself when the lathe spat the timber out and I shut off the lathe.

I screwed the more or less flat part of the evil timber to the faceplate of the Woodfast, ran up the tailstock, put the belt on the slowest position, set the speed to 20, and punched go.

It leisurely started rotating, gently rocking the lathe sitting on soft mulched ground.

I ran it up faster, knocked off some of the unbalanced parts, went to second speed, cut off more, went to third and finished roughing the outside and started on hollowing.

It began to sprinkle so I took a photo and covered everything.

I am pleased, the bearings barely got warm, the stability is wonderful for that size timber, the banjo and tailstock controls easy to use and lock firmly. The spindle height is at my elbow, but I might place the cabinet on 4 X 4s mounted crossways to make the footprint wider and bring the spindle height up to the Hegner's.

The control does buzz, and the cabinet does amplify the noise. I am partially deaf, so that probably reduces the annoyance. I will probably remount the control box on rubber mounts, as it will be louder inside the basement.

I am very pleased, Woodfast made a good lathe. There is no substitute for mass and horsepower. I see why likes big machines and tools.

When I was making interupted cuts at slow speed, if I advanced the tool a bit fast and got a good thump the controller would pause and occasionally stop the motor.

I'll start another thread about that, as well as some thoughts on packing or raising blocks.

The white box on the lower right of the lathe is a remote on / off switch, quite handy.

Originally Posted by

I don't think it lives with the lathe.

It looks like a fence off a sander or linisher.

Good haul Paul.

Definitely a linisher fence.

After digging out the corner of my dirt basement, running in a bunch of wiring for lathe, and outlets for power sander, lights, Dremel tool die grinder, etc. I FINALLY got it in place about a week ago.

I am so pleased with it. It is so smooth and absorbs out of balance pieces without complaint. I have been roughing out 3 - 4 pieces a day and have a couple sanded and first coats of finish on.

Since I bought the lathe I bought a Oneway Stronghold chuck with the #3 jaws, got a used Thompson 5/8 in. bowl gouge and a barely used Easy Finisher, which I use as a rougher and hollowing tool.

The combination of bigger lathe, chuck, and tools makes life easier with the bigger bowls. Even if I am not using the full 20 inches for a bowl, it is nice to just stick an odd shaped piece in there, knock off the protruding chunks, make a spigot, chuck it and rough a bowl.

My other lathe is a Hegner 175 with 350mm swing. It was made in Germany and cost more new than the Woodfast new. The Woodfast is a much better lathe. The Hegner bed is constructed of welded square tubing which flexes when a large out of balance piece is put on. The long bed gets in the way of doing the inside of bowls. The tailstock on the Woodfast can be slipped off the end and placed on a bench making good access to the inside of a bowl.

See pic for Big Lathe, Big Chuck, Big Tools. (For me, I'm not in 's league yet.)

Enjoyed re-reading the posts.

Same here.

Good to read about a resurrection.

Oldies are goodies - I keep telling myself

You are a lucky bugger Paul!

Hope you have years of fun!!!

Nice lathe, just like a 908 on steroids. Don't think you will be dissapointed with it. Did you identify year of manufacture? Usually stamped on the outboard end of the bed. I fitted the Woodfast VS off the new 910'2 to my old 908 - great machine.

I have the long bed version (900mm between centres), bought in 1989. An excellent machine that has given me no trouble. It will probably only give you another 50 years of good service.
Jim

Paul, congratulations on your re-build Its look superb I only wish my 400 was a 410 as I would have never thought of moving it on. The older Woodfasts are great lathes well what ever time and effort it takes to get them back in top condition.

Great rehab there, Paul.

My kind of lathe. Definitely a keeper.

I expect you would also love the VS unit that Woodfast retrofitted to those earlier lathes. Mine went down to 30rpm. But, not sure how they would go on your voltages, etc.

Tesla VS controller.JPG

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Nice lathe, just like a 908 on steroids. Don't think you will be dissapointed with it. Did you identify year of manufacture? Usually stamped on the outboard end of the bed. I fitted the Woodfast VS off the new 910'2 to my old 908 - great machine.

The build date on mine is 6 - 95.

It has a Leeson 1.5 HP DC variable speed motor and controller that was added by Craft Supplies USA. The controller is only supplying 1/2 the voltage so it acts as though it has a 3/4 HP motor.

I recently asked Craft Supplies if they had a schematic. The gentleman who was doing the conversions for them has passed on, but CS gave me the name of the people who built the controller.

They are still in business, and looking at their web site I find a controller of the proper voltage and HP for $112.

I am first going to remove mine and see if there is anything obvious, most likely a blown silicon controlled rectifier, which should cost about $10 to replace.

It's like a fairy tale ending for woodturners! I'm coming up on the first anniversary of getting my used woodfast m410 and have enjoyed every minute of it.

I came upon some helpful information in my research of the lathe that I think should be made available to those looking at these lathes as well.

One point of confusion that often arises is regarding the nature of the variable speed versions of this lathe that Craft Supplies created. They made DC versions (direct current) and AC versions (alternating current).

An easy way to tell if your variable speed woodfast lathe (if still stock from craft supplies) is AC or DC is by looking at the foot at the headstock end. If it's flared to the floor (trapezoid) then it's AC. If it's straight to the floor, then it's DC. The drive for the AC unit is in the flared foot. I believe that information came from Roger at Craft Supplies as well. He has been very helpful every time I have bothered him for info on a lathe I didn't buy from him. The AC version will give you more torque at lower speeds, run quieter, and recover from load changes faster. These differences are seen most when roughing the exceptionally large pieces. That's my own addition from experience with both versions of variable speed lathes.

Also, I noticed someone saying the tailstock should eject the live center. On mine it does not, but you're beyond that detail now. I just wanted it to be written for posterity. I am considering changing the bearings on mine just to start fresh again. For those interested, mine has four bearings made by NSK: 62mm outer diameter, 35mm inner diameter, and 14mm wide (model 6007v). If you're changing yours, don't take my word for it. Go look at the shielding on your bearings for a model number.

Lastly, if you find yourself in need of the manual I have attached a pdf version of mine.

Hope it helps!