Comparing the Nova Comet to their DVR is eggs to apples, ie no comparison at all.Mine lasted just over 2 years.
Comparing the Nova Comet to their DVR is eggs to apples, ie no comparison at all.Mine lasted just over 2 years.
Well I have a Nova 1624-II with the DVR upgrade. I am pretty happy with it except for two issues. I really dislike the blister buttons which are difficult to use and the legs are a little light weight so it can be a little challenging to turn an unbalanced piece. But I don't do the latter very often and it's not a big goal of mine for the near future and I really like the features of the DVR over other variable speed solutions. So if it's not broken I think your decision comes down to the simple question is there something about your DVR lathe that is so annoying you don't want to continue or has your turning evolved and the DVR can no longer take you there.
In the past, Teknatool USA was very hard to get hold of by email, but they would answer the phone speedily. YMMV.No help from the suggestions on the Teknatool website. Still waiting to hear back from a technician.
Asking for directions or reading a manual violates the Oath to the Manly Club.
The Laguna has a 3 hp motor compared to the 2 hp (220) of my Nova and has the larger swing but,
No disagreement here! Well said.Obscure comment here.......
My Woodfast lathe has 1 1/2hp motor, and I very seldom bog it down. If I do bog it down, I consider it too aggressive a cut, anyway!
If I were to get a new lathe, I wouldn't bother with the 3hp, and would go with the (now) standard 2hp......why?.....because powering through cuts has the disadvantage of disrupting grain beneath the surface, no matter how sharp the tool, or precise the presentation. Even when roughing, it's better to take lighter cuts made with precision and finesse.....if it's anywhere near where the finished surface will be.
Of course, I expect there will be disagreement.......but, that's my opinion.....
-----odie-----
Heh,heh,heh.....well, maybe if you turn big, a little more HP might be in order!!!!!
View attachment 31336
His faceshield is up. What if he gets a catch and the bowl comes flying off the "lathe"?
Ha,ha......he doesn't need a faceshield......he needs a roll bar!
Then he'll be tossed salad and become one with the bowl!His faceshield is up. What if he gets a catch and the bowl comes flying off the "lathe"?
Thanks Odie for your thoughts on 3hp vs 2. I never thought about the "disrupting the grain" angle. Do you do any coring? From talking with other turners I get the impression that 2hp is not enough to core effectively. Since I have not using a coring attachment I'm curious what others think of the hp needed to core?Obscure comment here.......
My Woodfast lathe has 1 1/2hp motor, and I very seldom bog it down. If I do bog it down, I consider it too aggressive a cut, anyway!
If I were to get a new lathe, I wouldn't bother with the 3hp, and would go with the (now) standard 2hp......why?.....because powering through cuts has the disadvantage of disrupting grain beneath the surface, no matter how sharp the tool, or precise the presentation. Even when roughing, it's better to take lighter cuts made with precision and finesse.....if it's anywhere near where the finished surface will be.
Of course, I expect there will be disagreement.......but, that's my opinion.....
-----odie-----
Thanks Odie for your thoughts on 3hp vs 2. I never thought about the "disrupting the grain" angle. Do you do any coring? From talking with other turners I get the impression that 2hp is not enough to core effectively. Since I have not using a coring attachment I'm curious what others think of the hp needed to core?
Mark, The NOVA Saturn is the replacement for the DVR-XP. the only difference was the control panel. They announced that they had a limited number of control boards available for the DVR-XP. I jumped on the offer and felt like I had a new lathe. A few months later I bought one for our club's DVR-XP too. At the time I was told that was the last one, but you should check with them. No reason they can't make them available, again, it's the same control panel as the Saturn.Dave, thanks for the tip. They're called bump stops or bumpers. A member here actually suggested them to me after a previous rant, but it's good to reiterate for others.
They help a good bit, but even with bumpers these buttons are a poor design. You mentioned a control panel upgrade. I wonder if there's something for my unit?
Mark, I upgraded my XP with the new control panel last September and really like the upgrade. When I spoke with Nova they did not mention that they had limited control panels so if you are interested it would be worth a call. For less than $200 it was a very worthwhile upgrade.Mark, The NOVA Saturn is the replacement for the DVR-XP. the only difference was the control panel. They announced that they had a limited number of control boards available for the DVR-XP. I jumped on the offer and felt like I had a new lathe. A few months later I bought one for our club's DVR-XP too. At the time I was told that was the last one, but you should check with them. No reason they can't make them available, again, it's the same control panel as the Saturn.
They don't pay much attention to their website's contact form, either.In the past, Teknatool USA was very hard to get hold of by email, but they would answer the phone speedily. YMMV.
I'm thinking I'd like to upgrade mine. I look up their instructions which said V6 mainboards and hope that the "V8..." I see on boot up refers to the mainboard version. I like the 10 persets and a knob for speed. Changing from 500 to 1250 5 rpm at a time is annoying.I got the upgrade as well. Found that the older DVR requires two new boards to work but the newer ones just need the external board. I got off easy with that. The only thing I dont like is the off button takes a bit of pressure to activate it, hopefully the will get better with time.
The knob also has a push in function that changes the speeds in much larger increments while pushing in, quite handy if you dont feel like messing with buttons while bringing the speed up to vibration point.I'm thinking I'd like to upgrade mine. I look up their instructions which said V6 mainboards and hope that the "V8..." I see on boot up refers to the mainboard version. I like the 10 persets and a knob for speed. Changing from 500 to 1250 5 rpm at a time is annoying.