New Lathe

[Mark J]

It's a full size lathe according to Nova, but it has a shorter bed and appears a little smaller than the Galaxy.

The DVR up grade includes a replacement motor, not just a controller.  I believe you leave the belt on one set of pulleys.

[Mark J]

The lathe with most of the cosmoline cleaned off and an eye bolt attached with blocks to the bed rails.

Ready for the first lift.

The lathe off the dolly.  The tail stock shifted for balance.

Ta Dah!!

And I even got the two leg assemblies done tonight.

 

[thatCharlieDude]

*sings* "He's got legs and he knows how to use them..."

[Mark J]

LOL (for real, people are staring).

I got the legs mounted and the unit lifted off the workmate standing on its own.  But I can't get the !#÷%&* picture to load.

[Marmotjr]

7 hours ago, Mark J said:

LOL (for real, people are staring).

I got the legs mounted and the unit lifted off the workmate standing on its own.  But I can't get the !#÷%&* picture to load.

Better the legs are mounted and the picture doesnt load, rather than the legs won't mount and the picture loads fine. 

[Mark J]

Success.  Vexing and  unecessary problem with photo download, but I may have a workaround.

Anyway I said the idea got legs and here's the proof.

Next step is build a mobility base.  I picked up the plywood yesterday.  Then mount the motor and, well, try it out!

[pkinneb]

I look forward to hearing how you like this lathe I have been eyeing one for a while now.

[Mark J]

Working on the mobiity base.

Whut!?   It's a router table.  How else ya supposed tah use it?

 

Finished

And the Grand Finale lift.

Opperant word being Grand.  I figure that assembly at +200 lbs.  Even with a 4 to 1 block and tackle that's about what I can lift.  And once I do,  the line is difficult to release from the cam cleat.

I lifted just enough to get the base underneath.  But being suspended from one point the lathe did want to pirouette quite a bit.  So once I got two legs lined up I shifted the tail stock to move the center of gravity onto those legs and that did the trick.

Next step is mount the motor, then play.  Well, OK, motor, read the manual, then play.

[Marmotjr]

2 hours ago, Mark J said:

Well, OK, motor, read the manual, then play.

I know this is a male dominated forum, but shouldn't you read the manual, then mount the motor.

 

Ok Ok... I wouldn't either. 

[Mark J]

I am considering those to be the Assembly Instructinons.  By manual I meant the Manual of Operations.

[Mark J]

All done and in its new home.  

Now can I turn something

By the way the instructions were not to obscure, sort of on a par with Ikea.  But you will need to break out the "metric" wrenches .

[Marmotjr]

I DON"T SEE ANY CHIPS!

[Mark J]

In my defence I am sitting at the kitchen table looking at some blocks and making some drawings.

[Mark J]

18 hours ago, Marmotjr said:

I DON"T SEE ANY CHIPS!

OK, as requested.  Here's some wood chips!

On 8/26/2017 at 1:11 PM, pkinneb said:

I look forward to hearing how you like this lathe I have been eyeing one for a while now.

Well I don't have a hundred hours on it yet, but so far no bad habits.  Solid, no vibration.  

I realise now that one of the compromises of a short bed is that the tail stock is in the way for bowl work, but it slides off easily enough.  I could rotate the head but I'm flipping back and forth between end and side work.

In the unlikely event that this bowl design I'm working on actually works out I'll post a picture.

[Marmotjr]

Oh yeah....

Time for a new tool wall.....

[Mark J]

Here's the bowl.  

It didn't come out quite the way I'd envisioned (or drawn) it, but I'm OK with it.  

If I find a little bit bigger blank I'll try it again narrower at the bottom and more droop in the lip.

[Tpt life]

Good looking bowl!

[thatCharlieDude]

Looks nice! Love the grain. 

 

kinda looks like a hurricane. 

[wtnhighlander]

That's an impressive turning!

[Mark J]

On 8/26/2017 at 1:11 PM, pkinneb said:

I look forward to hearing how you like this lathe I have been eyeing one for a while now.

I've done several bowls now so a brief epilogue.  

First I stiffened the mobile plywood base I built.  It flexed too much when extending the wheels so I gave it a 2 x 4 spine.  I wish I had used a 2 x 6 not for additional stiffness, but because it turns out the 2 x 4 makes a good foot rest, but I wish it were a little higher.

I am getting some vibration at high speeds.  It's not a bad problem.  It is only on the highest speeds and I am able to dampen the vibration by holding the tool firmly on the tool rest and keep the tool in good control.  

I am not entirely sure of the source of the vibration.  With the spindle empty (no chuck or spur drive) there is a tiny vibration at high speed.  With the chuck and a block of wood mounted this becomes more pronounced so I am not sure if any imbalance of the chuck or stock is contributing.  Also the mobile plywood base I built flexes a bit.  I think if the feet of the lathe sat on the concrete floor this would dampen the vibration.  

Nova considers this a full size lathe, but I have to say the bed is rather short.  I find the tail stock is enough of a nuisance when turning bowls that I remove it all together and set it aside. 

Changing belts for different speeds has gotten old.  It's not particularly difficult, but it means completely disengaging from the thought process of turning, switching off the lathe and refocusing on moving the belts then returning to the bowl and remembering why you just changed the speed.  

In spite of the above I think this is great lathe and I would buy it again.  I am thinking of discussing some upgrades with Santa, like that DVR motor and that swing out tool rest.  

[pkinneb]

3 hours ago, Mark J said:

 

Thanks for the feedback very helpful

 

[Marmotjr]

21 hours ago, Mark J said:

I am getting some vibration at high speeds.  It's not a bad problem.  It is only on the highest speeds and I am able to dampen the vibration by holding the tool firmly on the tool rest and keep the tool in good control.  

I am not entirely sure of the source of the vibration.  With the spindle empty (no chuck or spur drive) there is a tiny vibration at high speed.  With the chuck and a block of wood mounted this becomes more pronounced so I am not sure if any imbalance of the chuck or stock is contributing.  Also the mobile plywood base I built flexes a bit.  I think if the feet of the lathe sat on the concrete floor this would dampen the vibration.  

Throw a 50lb bag of sand down there.  Might have to add another 2x4 to help stiffen it. 

Also consider picking up a MT2 alignment jig.  There are some that are double ended MT2 ends, and you just slide the tailstock and headstock to meet in the middle.  If you feel tension or stress while trying to rotate the drive shaft with this in place, your drive shaft might have a touch of runout, causing the wobble.    That would be a warranty thing.

 

[Mark J]

And I have since added the DVR upgrade and the outrigger tool rest.  Christmas presents.

I haven't had a chance to try them out yet, but I hope to give you some follow up in the weeks to come. 

[Mark J]

OK, here is some follow up.  

As regards the vibration I think all lathes vibrate to some degree which is why they get built on massive frames.  I might have had some imbalance in the previous work piece, but after a couple of bowls this really hasn't been a problem.  It's more like a hum.  

Interesting enough, looking at the troubleshooting section, Nova said the most common cause of vibration is an over tensioned drive belt. 

The Nova design has the motor mounted on a plate which pivots at the spindle end while drive end is supported on a cam.  Lift the cam to take tension off the drive belt and change speeds.  Let the cam down to apply the desired tension and tighten the T bar to hold the cam in place.  

Except that the cam does not and cannot hold the weight of the motor.  The cam pivots on a threaded rod screwed into the frame.  The locknut has to be loose enough to allow the cam to rotate.  Now since it is a right hand  threaded rod no matter how tight you make the T bar the weight of the motor on the cam will always unscrew the threaded rod.  

Stupid design.  But even though they get an  for that I still I think the lathe works fine with the weight of the motor on the drive belt.

I tried lock tite on the threaded rod, but not good enough.  Ultimately I had a better solution.  I bought the DVR motor upgrade.  

I like this very much.  Big improvement.  Installation was a bear,  but the YT video (from some Dreadlocks guy) was a huge help.  Once I had the belt tesioned I was able to crank down on the cam locknut.  I won't be changing belts so I don't need a movable cam.  This hold the cam and belt tension in place.

Having DVR is great and I recommend this upgrade.  Besides the speed knob there are ten speed presets.  There is also an electronic break.  I do have two issues.  I do not care for the types of buttons they used.  Instead of physical buttons they are pressure sensitive pads which are more difficult to operate.  The old motor had an emergency stop switch, not so the new. 

I also added the outrigger tool rest for outboard turning.

I am less enthusiastic.  It works well enough as intended, but I think you are limited in the thickness of the work by the time you include a chuck.  That blank is 2 1/4 inches.  I think 4 inch might be crowding the tool rest.

Too, I think I prefer just rotating the head stock to the 30 degree position.  That gives me room to work and I don't have to get so creative on positioning the lights.

[Marmotjr]

On 1/14/2018 at 6:42 PM, Mark J said:

The old motor had an emergency stop switch, not so the new. 

While it won't have the brake feature, you can get an e-stop button that is inline with the power cord.  Not the best solution, but might be the easiest.

That outrigger rest does seem a little small, disappointingly so.   I'd stat looking around for after market versions that might extend that range some.  At the very least, you might be able to get some thick steel stock, drill a few holes, and have it offset the the whole rig outwards by 8-12 inches.     The probably didn't make sense, so: A flat piece of steel, with two through holes drilled on one end would be bolted onto the frame, and then two tapped holes about 8 inches out would have the rest of the arm assembly bolted on.  Like a riser block, sorta.