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variable speed lathe

C

C Edward Moore

Joined
Apr 25, 2004
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Location
Burnt Chimney, SW Virginia
Website
www.burntchimneystudios.com
I have decided to upgrade my small lathe that I use for demonstrations. In order to do this I plan to get a Vicmarc VL100 and equip it with a variable speed set-up.

Option 1. Purchase the lathe with motor and DC variable speed control system from Craft Supply. They have not had a chance to respond to my query yet, but I am guessing that the total price will be around $850. Or, the motor and control system will be $500 or a little more beyond the cost of the basic lathe.

Option 2. Purchase the basic lathe and then find a secondary source for the motor and control system.

So, now we come to my question. Can one find a good variable speed motor and control system that costs less than $550 and can be installed on a mini-lathe? If so, please indicate a good source from which to obtain them.

There are times in life where quality really matters and saving a few bucks is not really cost effective or satisfying. I strongly suspect that variable speed systems on lathes is one of these. Agree or disagree?

You can see my approach here as a retired math professor. First I established that there IS a solution. Now I am trying to see if there are other and possibly optimal solutions as well. :D

Your comments and suggestions will be appreciated. And I thank you in advance.
 
You might want to try these guys
http://www.dealerselectric.com/
I do see reasonably priced packages on their web sight, but they are all 220V.
There is something to be said with everything coming already done.
 
Varible Speed Lathe

:cool2: ED:

Try WOODCO PRODUCTS woodco@gte.net
I have purchased several motors with speed controls from Chuck Woodruff and have been very satiafied.

Happy and Safe Turning

CA
 
I installed a variable speed motor on my vl100. I paid about $200 for the motor and control from the Surplus Center. If I had to do it again I would have spent the extra money and bought a complete control instead of the circuit board. I did my own wiring and bought my own switches.

http://www.surpluscenter.com
 
I converted my yates american to DC drive for 200 bucks bought it from a another turner who never got around to using it.. One of the guys over at another forum converted his mini to dc very succsesfully (sp?)
 
Thank You!!

All,

I appreciate the ideas that you all have shared with me. My delay in responding was caused by the first Virginia Woodturners Symposium. I have just returned from helping with what I believe was an incredibly successful venture. I took my current small lathe and sold it there. Now there is room for the variable speed mini. Woodcraft of Richmond was a vendor at the Symposium and they had the Jet Mini with variable speed for $255, Verrrrryyy tempting.

I have never tried to purchase anything on EBay, but you have convinced me that it may be time to expand my horizons. I will also try Chuck Woodruff.

It has been my uninformed opinion that the Vicmarc VL100 was the best mini lathe available. That lathe with factory installed variable speed is a healthy $1300, and that is more than I want to spend at this time. I saw the new General Maxi-Lathe, model 25-100 M1, in the American Woodworker that just arrived. It showed a 6-speed 1/2 HP drive set-up. I wonder if anyone can compare the Vicmarc and General mini lathes?

Thanks again,
 
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That Jet Mini variable speed does NOT turn slow enough to make it worth buying. One of the advantages of a variable speed lathe is being able to turn the spindle @ < 500 rpm. For out of balance pieces, for finishing, sanding etc.
I feel Jet made a mistake in making both versions of the Mini w/ a low speed of 500 rpm. If I were to buy a Jet Mini today, it would be the nonvariable speed version.
 
Mini-lathes

There is a survey article about mini-lathes in the December issue of Popular Woodworking. The authors are Judy Ditmer and Kara Gebhart. They chose to include the Oneway 1018, but they pointed out that it was in a different class. I like mine and can agree with that.

They pointed out many of the flaws they found and I think all were fair observations. Thier choice was the Jet JML-1014VS, and for best value it was the JML-1014 without the variable speed.

I had expected the Vicmarc VL-100 and the General 25-100 M1 to fare better than they did, but the comments made sense and were of interest. The General has some plastic levers - which is stupid, and the Vicmarc required removing a plate held by two screws in order to change speeds - which is also not very bright. :( :( The Vicmarc also had unsolvable pulley problems.

There were a couple of issues that were not addressed. Bearings and smooth, quiet operation matter, but no comment was made. Accuracy and alignment also matter, but were not mentioned.

My post that started this thread was directed towards finding a good mini-lathe and souping it up with variable speed. I'm suspicious that the Jet without variable speed might be the place to start.
 
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