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Stratos Lathe?

I think I've performed just about all those movements she performed. Just different.

But that is a beefy looking lathe. I'm a bit surprised she hasn't built a platform to get her height up some.
 
Steve Tiedman said:
I think I've performed just about all those movements she performed. Just different.

But that is a beefy looking lathe. I'm a bit surprised she hasn't built a platform to get her height up some.
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LOL, yeah. I said to my wife, "That lathe is too high for her."

I thought it odd that she used the finished foot to chuck the piece and then noted that it was wobbly. She attributed that wobble to something other than the tenon.
 
Whoa that thing is a monster! Just look at the chuck compared to the tailstock and headstock! And your right, why would you use the finished foot as a tenon?? My teacher would be all over her...:D
 
That's a heck of a lathe. With my 14" lathe, I can only dream of having enough working room over the ways to drop the handle of my tools that far.

EDIT: if I looked up the right lathe, the swing is less than a Robust AB. I guess that lathe just looks more massive because it's mounted so high and the turner is petite.
 
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She complained about chatter from being far over the tool rest but could have moved tool rest into bowl . . . nice bowl, though.
 
What impressed me is that the center of the work is almost to her shoulder, and that is the biggest container of moncyrstaline wax I've ever seen! It must have cost $60.
 
Paul Paukstelis said:
Well, we know Richard Raffan wasn't your teacher, since he uses the finished foot as a tenon quite often! :)
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I know, but he's Richard Raffan.

I'm pretty sure her tenon had no dovetail (depends on the jaws, of course) and not much wood to seat to. That's the real issue, not the fact it was finished.
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
I know, but he's Richard Raffan.

I'm pretty sure her tenon had no dovetail (depends on the jaws, of course) and not much wood to seat to. That's the real issue, not the fact it was finished.
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It doesn't take as much as you think. As long as the bead / groove / etc is the same size as the jaws, and the tip of the jaws seats in the groove, it'll hold surprisingly well. I hollow the inside of ~3" bowls for goblets - usually natural edge so there's bounce/air in the cut - using about a 1/16" or less bead.
Now, I wouldn't chuck a log on a bead and expect to rough it out, but for smaller things, finishing cuts, sanding - sure.
It's a good technique for those pieces where you can incorporate some decorative detail that also serves as a "tenon".

Here's a challenge / experiment: On a bowl of decent quality wood - make a tenon - try getting it down to about 1/16" (and the right diameter for your jaws) - and see how well it holds. Then try a bead the same diameter. If nothing else, it's helpful to know what you can get away with - you might need to know someday.
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
I know, but he's Richard Raffan.

I'm pretty sure her tenon had no dovetail (depends on the jaws, of course) and not much wood to seat to. That's the real issue, not the fact it was finished.
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You have better eyes than I do if you could see or not see if there was a taper on that tenon. I routinely turn items with an 1/8" dovetail tenon.
 
Yeah, there are a number of reviews on Youtube. I remember a video about a furnituremaker making a fairly intense piece of furniture, I think it was called the Nexus Table (but I can't find it).....I noticed the Stratos lathe, turned out he was a dealer for them. European. Seemed like a nice lathe.
 
Adrian Wilson said:
I remembered the name of the French turner I mentioned....Olivier Gomis. He has a Youtube channel, instagram etc. I THOUGHT he had a webpage for tools, including Stratos lathes, that he sold, but I can't find that now. Interesting ideas; not my thing, but pretty cool, and you get to see a lot of the Stratos in action. One example:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XlTkGEO564
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Quite impressive, a test of patience for sure. And glue joints. I hope he sold it for a ton of cash. Can't say I'd be the one to stand at that lathe to make it, though.
 
Same guy from the worm hole table making another table. Really no lathe work, but I do like his commentary starting at about the 10 minute mark, speaking to what goes through his head for designs, and his notion of art. Amen, brother.
View: https://youtu.be/O96DaY03oiI?si=_HLgUjWwULIAWzgs


And yes, that Stratos lathe is an impressive machine (as viewed from his first linked video).
 
Leo Van Der Loo said:
Here is some more info on the lathe.

hopewoodturning.co.uk

Stratos XL Woodturning Lathe - Hope Woodturning

A serious lathe with huge capabilities. A lathe you will never have to upgrade! 5-year German warranty Basic equipment: The headstock, bed, legs,
hopewoodturning.co.uk hopewoodturning.co.uk
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One more lathe on the international marketplace with a pivoting headstock. I sure wish the American marketplace were more interested in this feature.....and for the life of me, I don't see why the American marketplace hasn't made the pivoting headstock a desirable option. If I ever replace my Woodfast lathe, the pivoting headstock would be mandatory for me.....

  • Headstock, bed, legs, tailstock and tool rest all made from cast iron
  • Live center
  • Variable speed through 3 pulleys
  • 24 index system
  • Tool rest 400 mm
  • Faceplate 150 mm
  • Bed extension available
  • Pivoting and sliding headstock
  • Forward and reverse
  • Mobile control box with magnet
  • Handwheel
-o-
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
My Rikon 1824 has the rotating headstock, as does the bigger 3040.
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I was checking out the rikon on line, sure about the bigger one rotating? They just talk about the sliding bed. Reason I was looking is because I ran into a situation yesterday where I ended up standing on the back side of my lathe (pretty cramped) to turn a deep sided bowl. It was hard getting to the controls that way.

On the plus side that will probably make me move some stuff around in the shop again so I can move the sliding headstock on mine down to work off the end of the lathe.
 
If I was to design and build my own lathe, it would have a pivoting headstock. Maybe a sliding headstock as well, similar to what the Stratos has. Sliding and pivoting are kind of redundant, but I can see the need for both. I would want 3 hp. Like Odie, the need for 3 speeds on the headstock is mandatory, and if you have a lathe like that, you understand, but if you don't, you won't, but the mid speed range is what I use most. One speed range, a huge NO!. 2 speeds, well, it kind of works and there are a lot of lathes out there, but the 3 speed range is best. I do like the auxiliary bed for the banjo is kind of a must. The outboard tool rests with the post on the floor is a pain to move around. I also need a minimum speed of about 10 rpm. A must for sanding my warped bowls. Now, if some one can figure out an automatic transmission for changing speeds, that would make it far better. No, a Reeves drive just isn't good enough. As for cast iron vs. stainless, the only difference I can tell between my Robust, which has 3 speeds since it was an early one, and my old 3520A or my Vic 240, is that they make different noises. The steel tube bodies are fine. One thing I haven't done is to fill the steel tube with sand for dampening, but I don't think it is worth the effort. Oh, no cone extensions for access to the back side of the bowl when doing twice turned bowls. That is a big advantage of the Vicmark lathes where the chuck mounts flush against the headstock with no extensions. It does a marvelous job of reducing vibrations while the extendable cones add to vibration. Yes, if you engage the tailstock, the vibration goes away, but I don't like using the tailstock. Just an extra step for production.

robo hippy
 
Well, Nova did go with a variable speed a while back, but their minimum speed was way too high for me since I need about 10 to 15 rpm. Apparently, the only variable speed for lathe pulleys is the Reeves drive. At least the only one I know of. The older DVRs had 'pre set' speeds, but that was way too slow to change unless every piece of wood was the same.

robo hippy
 
Robo- I think Utopia for you would be found in powering a Reeve's drive with a DVR motor system. The strengths of one would counter the weaknesses of the other.
 
robo hippy said:
Now, if some one can figure out an automatic transmission for changing speeds, that would make it far better. No, a Reeves drive just isn't good enough. As for cast iron vs. stainless, the only difference I can tell between my Robust, which has 3 speeds since it was an early one, and my old 3520A or my Vic 240, is that they make different noises. The steel tube bodies are fine.
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The VFD's can be turned down to whatever RPM pleases you, assuming the minimum speed can be set, the only problem you might have is the motor could overheat if run to low for too long a time, because the cooling fan on the motor does not move enough air to cool it. There shouldn't be a problem on a wood lathe unless you do an excessive amount of sanding, if you do just touch the motor occasionally and you will know if it is too hot.
 
Y'know, you could get pretty much infinitely variable speed if you could power your lathe off a hydraulic pump and a Hydrostatic drive motor.. Only thing you'd need to figure out is how to cool the hydro drive and hydraulic oil (Although I suppose it could be powering a gear driven spindle, which you'd need anyways to step-up the max RPM of a hydro drive to spindle turning speeds, but Hydro drives can have a very slow output RPM so likely could achieve a very wide range of speeds.) OTOH that'd be awfully expensive - a Hydro drive motor might run you to a grand by itself, then you need the pump, filtration, cooling, hydraulic pump, and a means to power the pump, so I could see it costing upwards of 6 to 10 grand just to build such a beast.. not counting the lathe itself (ways, tailstock, etc,etc) and I suspect what Robo was shooting for was something along that line - so you could variable speed something like 10 RPM to 3000 RPM without ever changing belts, which doesn't seem like something a DVR or VFD would be capable of (You'd have to have a heck of an expensive motor to handle that wide range of frequency otherwise, if it was even possible)
 
Most wood turning lathes seem to be a compromise when it comes to design/features. A friend of mine has the VB36 and it’s the most solid lathe I’ve seen. The massive fixed head surely absorbs vibration better than anything else out there and it has a huge capacity. You can though still use it for spindle turning. For a bowl turner with deep pockets it’s a no brainer in my view.


Check out the pictures of some of the large turnings.


Having said all that, there is a guy on social media that has an VB36 and he’s a prolific Box turner, most of them under 3” diameter.

Provided you have the space to stand at the end of the lathe I’d personally still prefer a sliding headstock to a rotating one as it, and the tool rest setup seems more rigid to me. I had a rotating headstock on my old lathe and the tool rest setup with the head rotated was very poor. Tool rest setups do vary though so each to their own.
 
Brian Gustin said:
Y'know, you could get pretty much infinitely variable speed if you could power your lathe off a hydraulic pump and a Hydrostatic drive motor.. Only thing you'd need to figure out is how to cool the hydro drive and hydraulic oil (Although I suppose it could be powering a gear driven spindle, which you'd need anyways to step-up the max RPM of a hydro drive to spindle turning speeds, but Hydro drives can have a very slow output RPM so likely could achieve a very wide range of speeds.) OTOH that'd be awfully expensive - a Hydro drive motor might run you to a grand by itself, then you need the pump, filtration, cooling, hydraulic pump, and a means to power the pump, so I could see it costing upwards of 6 to 10 grand just to build such a beast.. not counting the lathe itself (ways, tailstock, etc,etc) and I suspect what Robo was shooting for was something along that line - so you could variable speed something like 10 RPM to 3000 RPM without ever changing belts, which doesn't seem like something a DVR or VFD would be capable of (You'd have to have a heck of an expensive motor to handle that wide range of frequency otherwise, if it was even possible)
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Wonder if a hydrostatic drive off a John Deere riding mower would work powered by an electic motor at constant speed. ??
 
Bernie, you might be on to something. A 1750 rpm motor would mimic the sweet spot of the mower engine and the hydro drive is capable of both slow and high speed with ample torque. Send pics!
 
Bernie Hrytzak said:
Wonder if a hydrostatic drive off a John Deere riding mower would work powered by an electic motor at constant speed. ??
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That's pretty much what I was thinking.. Or, an old Wheel Horse or Cub Cadet (Sundstrand or Eaton hydro) and all you'd really need to consider is the input speed (Different hydros may be spec'd for different Input RPM's - I.E. Direct shaft drive might need 3600 RPM, while pulley driven may have different specs) of the electric motor, plus enough torque/H.P. to pump the GPM needed under load Then I suppose it is just a question of how fast the output shaft can be turned (or gearing ratio to connect to spindle shaft) - Either way such a lathe would probably be an expensive beast and require a lot more maintenance. (oil changes, filtration, keeping cooling components clean, etc.)
 
Well, as far as minimal speed goes, the motor does not heat up when I sand, and in fact, it runs cooler than when I am turning. I never checked my 3520A when I had it, but when I got my Beauty, I had Brent walk me through the process of turning the speed down to that 10 to 15 rpm range. As near as I can tell, the only force on the lathe motor when I am sanding is that it is breaking. I sand with the drill in reverse, and I can spin the bowl just with the abrasives on the pads. I have never heard of a lathe motor overheating from sanding, and until some one proves differently, I think the overheating thing is a myth. Checking the motor on my Beauty while sanding and it is cool to the touch, and far cooler than when I am turning bowls. The only other use I know of for that slow of a speed is for some finishes which are thicker and need to spin slowly to prevent puddles. As I told PM when I was asking about the 50 rpm shut off speed for the B model, I have sanded out thousands of bowls in that speed range, and had no problems. "Oh no, that is impossible, and tests in our labs show that your motor will overheat and you will fry your electronics." I don't think the DVR motor goes below 200 rpm. At least the old ones didn't. The Reeves drive just seems to need a lot of work, and I did demo on one a long time ago, and said to myself, no way. I don't know for sure about the motor on the Vicmark lathes, and I do have a 240. I don't think they use the 3 phase motors, and the minimal speed is at almost zero. That set up is ideal as far as I am concerned. Only down side to the Vicmark lathes is they don't slide. I have the 240, and it has a pivoting headstock which I love since it does the same thing that a sliding headstock does. I did look at the VB36 before buying my Beauty, and thought it looked very stable, but it was mostly intended for bowls and not for spindles, and I do some spindle work.... Who knows, I may design my own lathe some day, just to see what I come up with. "If it ain't broke, take it apart and fix it anyway."

robo hippy
 
Don Wattenhofer said:
The VFD's can be turned down to whatever RPM pleases you, assuming the minimum speed can be set, the only problem you might have is the motor could overheat if run to low for too long a time, because the cooling fan on the motor does not move enough air to cool it. There shouldn't be a problem on a wood lathe unless you do an excessive amount of sanding, if you do just touch the motor occasionally and you will know if it is too hot.
Click to expand...
If you're willing to spend the money Baldor has inverter duty motors with a separate 120V fan attached on the end that runs continuously at 3450 rpm. Useful if you're running the main motor more or less as a servo motor at low rpms. Of course , rather than spend the money it's very simple to put a separate fan on any motor.
 
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