Well folks this is a follow up to my thread on 'Looking for my Last Lathe' in which I made a decision to go with a Vicmarc ASM 240 lathe. I had had some issues with my Revo Laguna 24-36 and begun searching for a lathe with the goal of it being the last one I would buy. First off let me start by saying that the customer/technical service guy I ended up dealing with at Laguna was fantastic--he did everything he could to get me straightened out--but I had basically made up my mind to buy a different lathe and did so. I ended up selling my lathe to a fella who worked as a service tech in the bottling industry--he was a certified electrician, and he determined the issue I had with my Laguna was that the power input to the VFD was not tightly connected and therefore caused issues, he was able to handle that issue, and says he has had no problems since he re-wired the VFD--and he did say that the VFD Laguna used was a low end one--and he would use a KBAC if he re-did it.
The 24-36 is a good bit heavier than the 18-36 and has a bigger locking plate for both the banjo and the tailstock--the banjo is really a good design with the exception that the locking lever for the tool post gets in the way of the tool rest occasionally- but it is adjustable--the gold standard in banjo's continues to be the Oneway I have a Robust and the original one on my NOVA DVR and a Oneway, and it is by far the best.
Now, onto the Vicmarc 240. I like this lathe a lot. First the couple of Cons--the power conversion unit is in a seperate box intended to be mounted separately from the lathe--goofy-it should be incorporated into the lathe body like on their 300 model. Another con is the belt changing operation--it requires that a 3mm allen screw is removed and then a small threaded knob unscrewed to open the latch covering the top pulleys, and then a cover plate must have a knob unthreaded to gain access to the lower pulley set--then a knob is loosened to allow lifting of the motor to loosen the pulley belt--at this point the belt easily can become entwined with this motor release knob, and it is a Royal PITA to get it loose again. Finally I have learned that I can easily stall this lathe out as well as my Laguna--this was surprising to me, based on the up front conversations I had with Woodworkers Emporium and Vicmarc themselves--at this point I am wishing I had gotten the VL 300. It has 3 HP vs the 2HP the 240 has--It will be very interesting to see what happens when I try to core a bowl with this 240.
PROS The pivoting headstock is super well designed, you pull a pin at the back of the headstock and then pivot it with the pin sitting in the hole until it slips into the next pre-drilled hole to give you a fixed position again--very nice--I am actually able to hollow a bowl by rotating it to the first position--22.5 degrees I think, and not bend over to do it--VERY nice! Another feature, that is just plain ignorant that Robust and Oneway will not even custom do for you, is the digital speed readout=having this feature is simple and inexpensively done--trust me I know form Mfg. background--and having it on this lathe has confirmed that I just don't know how fast a lathe is spinning without one--so despite some opinions it is my decided opinion that this is a good feature, and those who omit it are just **** ******** *** (words deleted by moderator). The banjo clamping is rock solid on this lathe. Much better than on the similarly designed Robust banjo clamping system--this one has the same round clamping plates--but for whatever reason is clamps more solidly--just as much as the Oneway banjo actually.The motor and bearings are extremely quiet, and despite the headstock being very short--from front to back, it is extremely stable in all my working with it. All in all the speed control is very dependable, and you can set whatever speed you want from very low---like 25 RPM to max speed or anything in between.
I feel that I would really like a Magma Black Titan lathe--but you have to say no to freight charges at some point, and for me that is a max of under a $1,000. I like the Vicmarc lathe a lot, but I am wondering if my handicap--having no nerves from about mid-calf down somehow limits my feel, but I swear I don't take as big of a roughing cut as my mentor-Nick Cook--and I don't stall my DVR--which makes me think the direct drive thing in the NOVA lathes is a good thing--I stall this lathe and the Laguna 24-36 I had very easily, and I have measured them (the shavings) and the big roughing cuts I make are only slightly larger than 1/16" so I don;t know why that should stall a lathe--my NOVA is wired to 220 and that is supposed to give it 2HP, and I never stall it....
Any questions about the Vicmarc or the Laguna 24-36, just let me know!!
The 24-36 is a good bit heavier than the 18-36 and has a bigger locking plate for both the banjo and the tailstock--the banjo is really a good design with the exception that the locking lever for the tool post gets in the way of the tool rest occasionally- but it is adjustable--the gold standard in banjo's continues to be the Oneway I have a Robust and the original one on my NOVA DVR and a Oneway, and it is by far the best.
Now, onto the Vicmarc 240. I like this lathe a lot. First the couple of Cons--the power conversion unit is in a seperate box intended to be mounted separately from the lathe--goofy-it should be incorporated into the lathe body like on their 300 model. Another con is the belt changing operation--it requires that a 3mm allen screw is removed and then a small threaded knob unscrewed to open the latch covering the top pulleys, and then a cover plate must have a knob unthreaded to gain access to the lower pulley set--then a knob is loosened to allow lifting of the motor to loosen the pulley belt--at this point the belt easily can become entwined with this motor release knob, and it is a Royal PITA to get it loose again. Finally I have learned that I can easily stall this lathe out as well as my Laguna--this was surprising to me, based on the up front conversations I had with Woodworkers Emporium and Vicmarc themselves--at this point I am wishing I had gotten the VL 300. It has 3 HP vs the 2HP the 240 has--It will be very interesting to see what happens when I try to core a bowl with this 240.
PROS The pivoting headstock is super well designed, you pull a pin at the back of the headstock and then pivot it with the pin sitting in the hole until it slips into the next pre-drilled hole to give you a fixed position again--very nice--I am actually able to hollow a bowl by rotating it to the first position--22.5 degrees I think, and not bend over to do it--VERY nice! Another feature, that is just plain ignorant that Robust and Oneway will not even custom do for you, is the digital speed readout=having this feature is simple and inexpensively done--trust me I know form Mfg. background--and having it on this lathe has confirmed that I just don't know how fast a lathe is spinning without one--so despite some opinions it is my decided opinion that this is a good feature, and those who omit it are just **** ******** *** (words deleted by moderator). The banjo clamping is rock solid on this lathe. Much better than on the similarly designed Robust banjo clamping system--this one has the same round clamping plates--but for whatever reason is clamps more solidly--just as much as the Oneway banjo actually.The motor and bearings are extremely quiet, and despite the headstock being very short--from front to back, it is extremely stable in all my working with it. All in all the speed control is very dependable, and you can set whatever speed you want from very low---like 25 RPM to max speed or anything in between.
I feel that I would really like a Magma Black Titan lathe--but you have to say no to freight charges at some point, and for me that is a max of under a $1,000. I like the Vicmarc lathe a lot, but I am wondering if my handicap--having no nerves from about mid-calf down somehow limits my feel, but I swear I don't take as big of a roughing cut as my mentor-Nick Cook--and I don't stall my DVR--which makes me think the direct drive thing in the NOVA lathes is a good thing--I stall this lathe and the Laguna 24-36 I had very easily, and I have measured them (the shavings) and the big roughing cuts I make are only slightly larger than 1/16" so I don;t know why that should stall a lathe--my NOVA is wired to 220 and that is supposed to give it 2HP, and I never stall it....
Any questions about the Vicmarc or the Laguna 24-36, just let me know!!
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