Old vs new

[Davyc]

I have in my shed a viceroy Educator which I am tempted to put a speed control system onto.....
Or.....
Should I save my money and buy one of those record lathes for around £1000.......
What’s the views of some of you experienced turners or does anyone have any other ideas....
Thanks.

 

[minilathe22]

I added variable speed control to a Union Graduate lathe. Bear in mind you will need a 3 phase motor, I don't believe single phase motors work with a VFD. Also if the motor is very old/has some issues, the variable speed may not work properly.

You should be able to convert it for alot less than £1000 though, and the Viceory lathes look solid to me. I don't know which Record lathe you are comparing it with though.

Obviously the advantage of the new lathe is it will be all setup ready to go. Adding a VFD to an older lathe is a bit of a project.

 

[Jacob]

Do you really need variable speed? Turners have managed for years with just 5 vbelt pulley sizes, or less.

 

[minilathe22]

This is a good question. I find it very useful for large diameter projects and roughing out when the surface is uneven. I don't think it would be as much value for spindle turning.

You can program the vfd to spin the motor faster than its rated speed as well as slower, and you also get emergency stop (locks the spindle, like a lot of battery drillers do). You can also configure reverse.

It's not a must have by any means. Once setup it is a pleasure to use, and less time spent changing belts, although I do still change the belt based on diameter of work.

 

[Trevanion]

Do you really need variable speed? Turners have managed for years with just 5 vbelt pulley sizes, or less.

Not that I do much turning anymore, I would never go back to changing over the belt. It enables you to find the perfect sweet-spot speed with a dial and because of that it's much safer too because you're not having to put up with the machine vibrating because it's not at the right slow speed or the wood flying off because it's going too fast.

It's hard to find a new machine that has traditional 4/5 speed pulleys as they're just outdated and totally rubbish in comparison, the literal only thing they have going for them is that they're more reliable because there isn't anything electronically to go wrong.

 

[Davyc]

Thanks for the quick replies.....
A bit about me, I took up turning after a stroke as a bit of therapy, both for the hands and probably more for the mind.
I have been using an old Axminster M900 which I enjoy using. I was fortunate enough a few months ago to be able to purchase the viceroy. I am finding having to bend down to change belts to alter the speed a bit of a pain, so that’s why I am thinking about fitting some sort of speed control so it cuts out the bending....
I also think that the ability to have a reverse function would be a good thing....
Thanks again.

 

[Jacob]

My only experience of variable speed was on a Hegner which I owned briefly. It worked, except at slow speeds it lost torque which made it near unusable.
I don't know if they all do that - I had imagined that the power input would be the same, giving the effect of a powerful low gear at slow speeds.
I've got 4 pulleys on my marvellous Arundel J4 senior. A lower one would be handy but not essential. Belt change very easy. No bending down!
n.b. buying old - look out for accessories, chisels, chucks etc can be worth a lot more than the vendor realises.

 

[Lazurus]

My VB36 has both variable speed control and pulley system, this ensures correct torque at every speed range, bear in mind it will handle up to 5` 9" diameter bowls it certainly needs to have some grunt at low rpm`s.

 

[Davyc]

So. Today, after a lot of thought and humming an haaing etc I took the plunge and ordered a speed control setup through Newton Tesla. Great people to deal with and very helpful.
Hopefully get it all up an running next week.
Cheers for all the comments. Very helpful.

 

[0770dc]

I have in my shed a viceroy Educator which I am tempted to put a speed control system onto.....
Or.....
Should I save my money and buy one of those record lathes for around £1000.......
What’s the views of some of you experienced turners or does anyone have any other ideas....
Thanks.

I have in my shed a viceroy Educator which I am tempted to put a speed control system onto.....
Or.....
Should I save my money and buy one of those record lathes for around £1000.......
What’s the views of some of you experienced turners or does anyone have any other ideas....
Thanks.

Hi Davy,
Sorry to open up an old thread but did you manage to convert your Viceroy. I’m just buying a Viceroy TDS lathe with a 240v motor and would ideally like to convert it to variable speed so would love to hear how you got on.
Thanks
Dan

 

[Jonzjob]

Davy, I took your intended route of changing to 3ø about 10 years back. I have a Record CL1 36 and I fitted a Teco Inverter 7300 C-V. I was living in France at the time but bought it from an English company. It looks as if it's not made any more? I also got the 3ø motor to go with it. I had a problem in that the CL1 sizes are imperial and the 'normal' motors were metric shafts. No problem, because Chas, on here, made me an adaptor and posted it over the cut for me. I still thank him for that!

Pretty easy to fit and I haven't looked back since, nor would I go back either. As another poster said, if I need a slow speed and the torque to go with it then I just drop the belt onto the slow pullies and it works wonderfully well. One of the best things I have found it that when I remove my Axminster K10 chuck I just loosen it on the spindle, select reverse, hit the button for a couple of seconds and I have the chuck loose in my hand

That 3ø has totally transformed my old blue CL1. It is so very easy to get the correct speed with an unbalanced lump and so easy to increase the speed as it becomes balanced. It's about 24 years old now and still runs as new.

 

[Davyc]

Hi Davy,
Sorry to open up an old thread but did you manage to convert your Viceroy. I’m just buying a Viceroy TDS lathe with a 240v motor and would ideally like to convert it to variable speed so would love to hear how you got on.
Thanks
Dan

Hi Dan.
As I said above I went with a system from Newton Tesla, which included getting a new motor. It was a simple fit really, the instructions supplied were very easy to follow.
I can’t fault the equipment and being able to find that exact “sweet spot” is brilliant.
Going back to the lathe, I have had nothing but bother with it and ended up having to change the headstock bearings which set me back another £100 which now means the lathe has set me back a total of nearly £1500.....and I still have not got a chuck or anything for the outboard side of things....
So, yes the speed control set up is totally worth it but unfortunately I can’t say the same about the lathe....I will be replacing it next year with something new....no more second hand....
Newton Tesla are excellent to deal with.

 

[0770dc]

Hi Dan.
As I said above I went with a system from Newton Tesla, which included getting a new motor. It was a simple fit really, the instructions supplied were very easy to follow.
I can’t fault the equipment and being able to find that exact “sweet spot” is brilliant.
Going back to the lathe, I have had nothing but bother with it and ended up having to change the headstock bearings which set me back another £100 which now means the lathe has set me back a total of nearly £1500.....and I still have not got a chuck or anything for the outboard side of things....
So, yes the speed control set up is totally worth it but unfortunately I can’t say the same about the lathe....I will be replacing it next year with something new....no more second hand....
Newton Tesla are excellent to deal with.

Hi Dan.
As I said above I went with a system from Newton Tesla, which included getting a new motor. It was a simple fit really, the instructions supplied were very easy to follow.
I can’t fault the equipment and being able to find that exact “sweet spot” is brilliant.
Going back to the lathe, I have had nothing but bother with it and ended up having to change the headstock bearings which set me back another £100 which now means the lathe has set me back a total of nearly £1500.....and I still have not got a chuck or anything for the outboard side of things....
So, yes the speed control set up is totally worth it but unfortunately I can’t say the same about the lathe....I will be replacing it next year with something new....no more second hand....
Newton Tesla are excellent to deal with.

I too spoke to the guys at Newton Tesla and found them very helpful. I’m going to put the motor upgrade on hold until I see if I can get someone to machine an adapter or some faceplates for the outboard spindle as I’d be hoping to mainly turn larger bowls on it. Troublesome finding anything with a 11/4” 9tpi thread isn’t it!!