Anyone have this lathe? It looks pretty solid. Also considering the Nova Neptune. I am looking for a 2nd, mobile lathe I can use for demonstrations. I am a bit leery of the Neptune's electronics, and it is $4 more than the Axminster.
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Axminster AP530WL Bench Lathe
- Thread starter Rob Scaffe
- Start date
14" swing and 18" between centers. About 1.5hp (1100 watts). Electronic variable speed. A known, and I think respectable brand decal applied. I'd say if the warranty and satisfaction guarantee are good, buy it. It looks like it rolled out of the same factory that made all the rest of the Vicmarc VL100 clones over the past 25 years or so, Jet, etc. I bet it would serve your traveling purpose just fine. I'm not in the UK so I have no experience with it.
‘Axminster makes quality products and stands behind their warranty. The lathe looks good, however when I looked up that model it says 230V and a M33 spindle thread. will that work for you?
My main lathe is a oneway with M33 spindle, Axminster and oneway chucks so that is perfect. Still thinking about the 230 volts, 115 would be better, that's the only downside and a plus for the Nova. Thanks
At the Rocky Mountain Woodturners Symposium they were running Robust lathes off of the step up transformers.
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Also might want to make sure it is configured for U.S. 60 Hz frequency - In the UK I believe 230v @ 50Hz is kind of the standard , while in U.S. it's 120v @ 60Hz so may want to do a little deeper dive into what specs you're looking at? (Axminster is a UK company, hence my suggestion of concern...)
On their site they note it is not compatible with North American 220v. Yet it must have worked if Robust was using it. I will look into this , it would be an ideal solution.
115 V to 230 V transformers are available. A search probably will find a suitable one for you.
If I recall correctly, a 50 Hz transformer of a given power capacity will work equally well at 60 Hz whereas the reverse may not have as large a power capacity.
I have sent a message regarding this to them.
I have had the Nova DVR3000 for about 23 years and it has ran without fault with their electronics. I also have the Nova Neptune and it is one sweet lathe and it runs off of either 115 V or 220 V. All you do is change the plug and the lathe know what power source you are using.
Dave Landers
Beta Tester
Yeah, we have to do this because we don't have 220 in the demo rooms. You loose some power in the conversion but that usually isn't an issue for most demonstrations. I wouldn't want to rely on something like this for continuous use at home.
A company called Wahuda tools used to make the axminster little lathes. I have one and it has been flawless. That said they don't look like that anymore so maybe they changed supplier. It came in 1.25 spindle though which is why I bought it so that doesn't help you either. Just ignore me, I'm rambling. (I really need to wear a respirator when finishing)
They replied today that their machines are 50Hz only. Inverters typically have parameter settings for this, but I will take them at their word.
Placed an order for a Neptune. The voltage issue as well as the swiveling headstock will be an advantage. I have a Vicmarc spindle adapter I can use for cross compatibility with my other lathe
Thanks
Rob
Placed an order for a Neptune. The voltage issue as well as the swiveling headstock will be an advantage. I have a Vicmarc spindle adapter I can use for cross compatibility with my other lathe
Thanks
Rob