# Whats the best value turning lathe ?



## Blister (2 Jan 2007)

Hi , I am looking into buying a woodturning lathe 

What in your opinion is the best value for money at the moment 

fairly flexable regarding price , would like good spec 2 - 3HP motor , variable speed , bowl turning and between centres , like to keep the options open 

any recommendations would help 

Thanks :wink:


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## tigerturnings (2 Jan 2007)

Hi,

If you want to buy new, depending on your budget and the size of workpieces you want to use, you could in my opinion do a lot worse than a Vicmarc. I have one of their lathes and it is an excellent machine. In my experience Phil Irons, their UK dealer, has been very helpful and the one spare part I have needed (a speed control potentiometer - since I foolishly lent a board against the lathe which then toppled and struck the knob, breaking the shaft of the old one) arrived very promptly after I ordered it, with an offer of phoning to talk me through fitting it if required. (I'm not affiliated with Phil or Vicamrc in any way other than as a customer). You can find prices on Phil Irons' website, the top of the range VL300 offers a 600mm diameter over the bed and comes in around £3000 depending on configuration; smaller machines are also available and are somewhat cheaper.

I read a very favourable review of a Silverdrive lathe on this site some time back. They were not around when I bought the Vicmarc (although I now understand that the larger Poolewoods of the era were actually made by them). The direct drive design has good and bad aspects to it. I personally appreciate the additional torque that can be achieved through a multi-step belt system but haven't actually used a direct drive machine to give any comparative opinions. Some of them claim to have excellent low-speed torque despite the lack of a belt drive. I also believe - hopefully I'll be corrected if I'm in error - that the headstock spindle is not hollow on those machines, which may make ejecting centres more difficult. I think their pricing is roughly comparable to Vicmarc's.

Slightly cheaper (~£1600), and very popular in America at least, is the Nova DVR XP. These are direct drive machines with swivelling headstock, and are available through Stiles and Bates. I think Robert Sorby actually import the units from the manufacturer in New Zealand.

One drawback of these direct drive machines is that they use (I believe) a custom motor which is part of the lathe spindle. Should the motor or drive electronics fail, the whole machine may be useless unless/until you can repair it or obtain a spare. In most cases with belt driven machines, the motor is of a standard frame size and thus more easily replaced if necessary.

I often find myself advising people to also consider second hand, older but well treated machines. You could get a similar machine for much lower outlay that way, but modern features like variable speed are often only possible as retrofit on older machines. Something like a Wadkin RS, Wadkin-Bursgreen BZL, or a Harrison/Union Graduate (also see http://www.woodturninglathes.co.uk/index.html) would be a sturdy second hand choice, so long as it's in good condition and complete. Chucks etc shouldn't be a problem on older machines, just be sure the spindle thread is still supported by the chuck makers - most threads used on the bigger machines seem to be. You may however run into problems if you need replacement castings, which if available, can be very costly. If it's complete when you buy, though, and the transportation is carefully done, this should not be a problem in practice.

I'd also say, before spending the money, try to have a go on several models and see which you get on with best. Shows and/or local dealers and/or local woodturning clubs could well help out on this front.

Other machines possibly worth consideration are the Jet/Axminster 1642, the Axminster Plus models, the Omega Stubby, and the OneWay lathes. They're roughly in price order, starting around £1300 and going up to nearly £4500. I personally have no experience of them but other forum members may well do. If not, it may be worth checking out http://groups.google.com for other peoples' opinions.

Cheers,

Neil


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## Scrit (3 Jan 2007)

tigerturnings":3rf3bpfe said:


> You could get a similar machine for much lower outlay that way, but modern features like variable speed are often only possible as retrofit on older machines.


In fact to my knowledge the only industrial lathes made in the UK with a variable-speed drive were actually the Dominion FJAs (see this post for details). All the others required belt changing although the heavier lathes from Wadkin (the RS/RU), Pickles, Sagar, Robinson, White, Oliver, Dominion and Fell generally could be had with 6 or 8 speeds - White even made lathes with Norton gearboxes rather like engineering lathes, so no belt changing required. I've mentioned the British industrial makes which were around after the 1930s simply because any other make is likely to be very old indeed.

These manufacturers all made heavy-duty industrial lathes, frequently with 6ft or longer beds and sometimes with the added option of a traversing carraige (which aids in turning cylinders and machining such items as fluted columns), but the big downside is that these lathes are incredibly heavy - a basic 6ft bed RS 6in lathe weighs in at about half a tonne, which means that transporting it on even a tail-lift van may be out, but at least vibration won't be a worry :? . One point to note about the heavy lathes is that not all of them will accommodate outboard turning, and that where they do you need to ensure that the outboard turning stand is available - getting a secondhand one on it's own is a bit tricky on a machine which has been out of production since the 1960s.... After WWII a few of these heavy machinery manufacturers also made lighter lathes for use in patternmaker's shops and training establishments, which is where the Dominion FJA and Wadkin-Bursgreen BXL come in. These machines, whilst still heavy (the FJA is 330kg) are at least manageable (in bits) in an Escort-sized van or estate car with a bit of help

As Neil says, though, avoid any industrial class machine with a broken casting. You'll never source a replacement and they're simply not worth repairing in many cases

Scrit


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## paulm (3 Jan 2007)

Check out the WivaMacs from Peter Helmsley at the Toolpost, very well engineered lathes, heavy duty, but suprisingly reasonable prices compared to Vicmarc, Oneway etc.

I have had the big 1200 vario version for a few years now and love it. The huge bearings are really way over-engineered, like the rest of the lathe, and this gives a real sense of ease and reassurance when using it even for large out of balance pieces.

http://www.toolpost.co.uk/pages/WivaMac ... athes.html

Not sure where you are based but welcome to visit and have a play on it if you like.

Cheers, Paul.


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## Scrums (3 Jan 2007)

Ebay ...........

That's it, pure and simple. If you're not in too much of a rush, your shopping list isn't too restrictive and you're prepared to travel then that's where to find your lathe at a good price.

My Wadkin BL150 3ph was £200 inc' 3 x faceplates all centres and a 4 jaw chuck and came with a Startrite 352 at £200 also....delivered and fortunately manouvered down into my basement workshop.

God knows what the guy paid for them - they came from a hospital workshop and were part of a job lot.

There are some bargains out there, you just have to be patient.

Chris.


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