New Lathe on the Way

[Bill Boehme]

How is the vibration and power on the 1640 lathe? I’m tired of the vibrations and stalling on my delta midi lathe and I’m going to start looking into a bigger heavier one.

I don't know about the new 1640, but our club has the predecessor 1642 with the smaller 115 volt motor. My opinion about the one that our club has is that it is a good lathe, but a bit on thelightweight side and the power is marginal at slower speeds. I also don't like the banjo. I don't know if any of this is applicable to the new lathe.

 

[hockenbery]

How is the vibration and power on the 1640 lathe? I’m tired of the vibrations and stalling on my delta midi lathe and I’m going to start looking into a bigger heavier one.

the 1640 has a lot more power and weight than the midi lathes.
It is not going to vibrate noticeably with almost anything up to 10” diameter or so - the things you could turn in the midi. With pieces larger than you could turn comfortably on the midi you will get vibration with out of balance pieces
It is well designed lathe that will work well for pieces up to 14” diameter

Bigger out of balance pieces, relative to the lathe size, you will have to accept some vibration until you get it roughed round.
Basically with well made lathes the bigger and heavier have less vibration.
Sort of a quick vibration hierarchy
VB3 < ONEWAY 2436 < Robust AB < Powermatic 3520 < Jet 1840 < Jet 1640 < Jet 1221vs < delta midi

 

[Lamar Wright]

My 1640 is very heavy and very stable. After coming from a Delta midi lathe no comparison. So far I have not turned over a 10" bowl since I'm new to bowl turning and taking small steps up. Like Al said I'm sure that a larger out of round piece there would be some vibration until you get it roughed round.

 

[William Rogers]

I agree with Al, more weight the better the lathe can handle the vibration. I have the Laguna 18-36 and added 280 lbs. of sand between the legs. More weight that helps, but is not the same as the weight being inherent within the lathe. However there are other considerations in addition to the size of your turnings. For me floor to spindle height was a big consideration. I raised my PM 90 and changed that from 42" to 45" and didn't like the higher distance. I wanted a lathe around 42" spindle height. That narrowed my choice. Determine what you require and see which lathes fit your requirements.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Adding weight to the base of a mid-sized lathe has been a quick solution for some of the issues
when trying to turn a larger out of balance blank. I keep an electric chain saw in my turning shop
to trim an odd shaped log after mounting between centers if it needs to be trimmed or balanced.

 

[hockenbery]

keep an electric chain saw in my turning shop
to trim an odd shaped log after mounting between centers if it needs to be trimmed or balanced.

Be aware that an electric chainsaw will throw oil. I too have used electric chainsaws indoors. They oil the chain and will shoot oil off the tip.
An alternative is an angle grinder with a Lancelot cutter - no oil but the possibility of severe injury if used improperly.

Both can be used as shaping tools. See some of Mark Lindquist‘s work.

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

Thanks guys, I thought about the Powermatic but I was struggling to justify the cost plus the 220 wiring for a weekend hobby. I started cutting my own blanks which makes my small lathe vibrate a lot until I get them to round and even then, there is always some vibration. So I was thinking maybe go little bigger for a while but this making me rethink that.

I will wait until I come back from my turning class in February, and may find someone in our club with similar lathe to try. Winter is here, so I won’t be turning as much since I turn outdoors and that gives me time to research it.