thinking of this lathe, opinions please..

[stevebuk]

hi
decided to upgrade the lathe and i am toying with the Axminster AXVSL 900, anyone know this lathe or any other suggestions up to £300??

 

[Bodrighy]

I think that it is the new version of the Perform and as such is a good enough lathe for most things IMHO. at the price. My personal criticisms of it were
Diameter over bed is only 11" and though the head swivels, unless it's bolted down I found it was not really heavy enough to cope with much bigger than this

Bottom speed of 500 was not as low as I would have liked for some of the odddball things I turn

The position of the motor alongside the chuck was limiting when reverse chucking some larger bowls and also was directly in line with the throw off of dust and chippings.

Having said all that it is certainly a decent lathe. For the £300 you will only do better probably if you go second hand

Hope this helps

Pete

 

[stevebuk]

thanks for that pete, i was also looking at the Record lathes too, they seem decent enough at this price range.

 

[big soft moose]

ive got an axminster m900 which is essentially the same thing - if you can get down here to pick it up you can have it for 75 notes

as ive just upgraded to a axminster 1200 - the one with a 2hp motor and electronic variable speed

the M900 is a decent lathe just a bit under powered (0.5hp) for my liking - mine is eight years old and has a few bolts missing and variable speed is a bit sticky (hence the price) but is otherwise in good nick and comes with the outboard turning adaptor , two tool rests, a face plate, 2 centres and all the usual tommy bar, head locking pin etc

pm me if interested, i'm looking to get rid asap as my new lathe is due next week and i need the space. ( it will take to bits and go in a car - i originally picked it up from axminster in a nissan micra)

with regard to petes comment about the weight - he has a point tho i combatted this by fixing a shelf across the bottom of the stand and piling bags of sand or concrete blocks (or stacks of blanks) on it to add mass - the biggest i ever turned was a 24" platter - tho that needed a free standing tool rest - you can do about 16" dia with the outboard torning attachment.

 

[stevebuk]

thanks BSM
that sounds like a bargain to me, however after receiving a phonecall tonight remarking that the axminster eats belts and the motor sucks up the dust and spits it all over the place i have decided not to bother with an axminster, unless anyone knows better.

 

[Jenx]

Good Old trusty FOX is in that price budget, Steve...
I'm fine-chuffed with mine :wink: :lol:

 

[stevebuk]

Good Old trusty FOX is in that price budget, Steve...
I'm fine-chuffed with mine :wink: :lol:

hi Alun
i have just looked at the Fox F46-719 and isn't the motor mounted at the side of the faceplate same as the axminster?? and does it have level adjustable speeds instead of pulleys.


No need to reply to this Alun, just found your old review of the lathe, sounds really good too, just got to check the overall lenght of it, it looks a beast.

 

[Jenx]

Hi Steve ... the motor is mounted at the opposite side from the headstock spindle...
So its right out the way of everything :wink:
It has the variable-diameter pulley system, so just the two pulleys that vary in diameter through a really simple arrangement when you shift the lever.
Its a fair beast, compared to what you 'expect' in the photo's that are found everywhere... big substantial lump of cast iron !

I cant fault it, for the £300 ( approx ) that it cost me...
and really easy to get at the 'gubbins' of the headstock for any maintenance that should be necessary.
Easy enough to assemble... its heavy, so an extra pair of hands would be useful. I did it myself, and a wee help out would have been good.. but its not impossible as a solo effort.

Thats the model I have F46-719
MT2 Tapers both ends,
1"x 8TPI spindle thread
1hp Motor
Variable speed ( mechanical not electronic )
14" swing over bed + headstock rotates, so you can happily go 'bigger'..

I reckon its been a good deal.... cant fault it for the money !

8) 8) 8) 8)
HTH

 

[stevebuk]

Thanks alun but i think its a no goer, its just too long at 69inch for me to allow that kind of space, maybe i'm fated to keep the perform CCSL.

 

[Jenx]

Into the bedroom with it .... :wink: :lol:
( I had a matchless 350 motorcycle in bits in the kitchen in a previous house... possibly not THE best move I ever made :wink:
The 'Ayatollah' went ballistic !

 

[wizer]

I've been using one of those Axminster lathes tonight and I'm glad I don't own it! It gets the job done but it's hard work beating it into submission. Why don't you consider something 2nd hand like a graduate?

Trust me, you'll get more bang for your buck with the older lathes.

 

[cambournepete]

My Recordis still for sale ...
I really must figure out how to sell things on Ebay... :roll:

 

[richburrow]

Check this one out

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Union-Jubilee...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

This is an old but a quality lathe and you get a double threaded chuck as well.
Buy it now price right on your money!!!!!!

 

[wizer]

Two very good options there Steve. I would not pay £300 for the Jubilee, but it could go for less.

 

[TEP]

Check the Jubilee, the way I read it you only get the double threaded backplate for the Axminster chuck, not the chuck as well. Still a class machine if you don't need a swivel head.

 

[Dave Leishman]

Hmmm...I was just thinking about the same lathe as Steve, but I'm not sure now :?

Steve mentioned Record in his original post too, but there's been no mention of Record in the replies.

Are they a suitable alternative?

It's a little more expensive, but I see the Record CL1-VS is listed on Record's site as being discounted by £200 and is now £399.

Any opinions on that as a suitable intermediate lathe?

 

[TEP]

Hi Dave.

IMO that lathe is only a beginners machine, 'tis a good lathe but has it's limitations because of power and size. The attraction for a lot of folks is the VS, (great to have, but not necessary) take the VS off and you have one of their starter lathes.

:idea: What you should do first is scribble a list of what you would like to do on a lathe. Then look for machines capable of doing the work you want, and within your budget. Second user for more LB per £.

 

[Bodrighy]

I agree with Tam as I have no doubt that whatever lathe you get it won't be long before you are turning to it's limitations so go for the best you can afford. That Graduate someone pointed out would be a good buy and as there a re aload of them around still spares are easy to come by. The Landrovers of the lathe waorld IMHO. You can get variable speed kits for them later if needed as well. A lot of the cheaer lathes like the Perform, Axminster etc are beginers lathes and apart from size of wood you can turn wouldn't really give you anything that you don't already have.

Pete

 

[big soft moose]

thanks BSM
that sounds like a bargain to me, however after receiving a phonecall tonight remarking that the axminster eats belts and the motor sucks up the dust and spits it all over the place i have decided not to bother with an axminster, unless anyone knows better.

I'm not banging my own drum here as i can just as easily ebay it but that isnt my experience - i have mine for eight years of relatively hard use and ive only had to change the belt once.

the motor does pick up the odd bit of dust but a blow through with an airline or suck out with a dust extractor ever so often soon sorts that out.

you wont get a half decent graduate for 300 notes imo - even the hard worked ones tend to go for more than that - plus they are nearly all three phase which means you need to budget a couple of hundred extra for a motor change or an inverter ( if you do want to go that route G&M tools is a good place to look)

if you dont want an axminster 900 or clone thereof , i'd suggest looking at the record CL2 or CL3 ( The CL4 is a class bit of kit but considerably out of your budget).

 

[stevebuk]

Many thanks guys for all the input here, i have decided to wait and save a bit longer and get something far better as in this price range i really cant get anything i haven't already got.