turning large(r) wood on light(er) lathes?

[Joe Mioux]

I have a Nova 1624 and I like it. however, I don't like turning larger pieces of wood on it for several reasons.

one: the lathe is light and turning unbalanced or not symmetrical wood obviously can cause lathe movement, but how does it affect the machine long term? Can the the bearings or castings be damaged?

I realize i can add ballast to the lathe, but that doesn't solve my other concern and that is the structure of the lathe itself. Can damage be caused to lathe or more importantly to a turner while turning. Also, are these lighter lathes engineered for extra ballast in order for the turner to turn larger pieces.

two: my head rotates, while other lathe heads slide to the end of the bed, I am not sure I would want start a heavy piece without the piece being supported with a tailstock.

are my concerns real or just my imagination of "what can go wrong will go wrong at precisely the wrong time". thinking?

joe

[Curt Fuller]

Joe, I think you're wise to be concerned. From a safety standpoint I think it's important to understand the limitations of the lathe you're using. Just because you can fit a hunk of wood between the centers doesn't mean the lathe can handle it. If you're trying to turn a piece of wood that's close in diameter to the maximum swing of the lathe you should know that it's probably pushing the limits of the lathe even under the best of conditions. If the lathe is moving from the inertia of an unbalance piece of wood, it's trying to tell you to stop and do something different before one of you gets hurt.

[Alan Trout]

Joe,

when I got my DVR I knew I would put some fairly big pieces of wood on the lathe. but I would not be making a lot of pieces over 12 to 14 inches in diameter. That is one reason that I picked the DVR. I decided I would build a stand that could support a lathe that could handle some larger pieces of wood. The stand I ended up building with the lathe and accessories is over 800lbs. The stand can be seen here, http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=99001 I have put some fairly heavy and out of balance blanks on the lathe 75+Lbs. and it has never been a safety issue and IMHO it will never hurt the lathe itself. While I have not turned any large diameter items with my outrigger, I did rotate the head with a very heavy blank mounted to a faceplate to check the stability of the lathe with the head rotated 90 degrees. It is a non-issue, the lathe is very stable.

The Nova line of lathes are a bench mounted lathe and they were always intended to be mounted to as heavy a stand that the owner wanted or needed for their particular purposes. Of course they might not be intended to take the same abuse as the large Oneway or Robust. But if they are ballasted correctly they can take some very large pieces without safety concerns or damage to the lathe.

Our demo lathe for our club is a Jet 1642 which I have used several times and I have turned on a 3520. I much prefer my DVR to the 1642 and I am giving up nothing in my biased opinion to the 3520 other than some swing over the bed. However I am sure I would not be as pleased with my lathe's performance if I did not have it mounted to substantial stand.

If you want to turn some bigger things go ahead and add some ballast to your lathe and use it. Of course always check the stability of the lathe with a particular piece and if it does not seem safe don't do it. I think you will also find your experience with your smaller items to be more pleasant with ballast on the lathe.

Good Luck

Alan

[Dick Strauss]

Joe,
Having a truly variable speed lathe helps to solve the problems you site. That is a large part of why they've become so popular You can adjust the speed in small increments to solve the vibration issue on the vs lathes.

I agree with Curt...If the lathe is vibrating a lot, something has to give...whether it is the lathe breaking or the piece flying off and breaking you is yet to be decided!

If I understand correctly, Alan has a variable speed Nova lathe and you don't. So, he might be comparing apples to oranges in my book.

Safety first!

If a lathe and turning aren't dancing well together, try slowing down the music!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Joe - I have a Jet 1642 EVS 2 hp lathe and added a ballast box with 7 bags of concrete in it just to be able to turn larger out-of-balance blanks. Even with the variable speed - it can be a challenge even at low speeds. If you are working with a blank and it is causing your lathe to move and you can't stop it - you are asking for trouble as something is going to give. It is amazing the amount of torque a spinning chunk of wood has behind it and you don't want to be in the way when it decides to leave the lathe!

[Alan Trout]

No it is not really apples to oranges. I would say it is like comparing a Red Delicious to a Granny Smith. The bed structure, tailstock, banjo, and head indexing, and head hold down are identical. The only difference is the head itself. The 1624 is exposed to the same forces as on my lathe. The 1624 has a excellent selection of speeds that can handle 99+% of situations one might encounter. While I agree with Dick there are instances that the variable speed helps with some vibration issues. I use my lathe pre-set speeds 99+% of the time and that is all I need.

Safety is always the first consideration. However exploring the limitations of your lathe is part of the experience as long as you are cautious. There have been plenty of large bowls and platters turned on the 1624 without incidence. The key here is being cautious, I am not telling anyone to do stupid stuff but also I think the way people learn is exploring what is possible.

I have a friend of mine that turned 40" column bases on his Nova 3000 (basically the older model of the 1624) with the head rotated 90 degrees with a floor mounted tool rest. It worked out great and handled it without any issues. Of course it was mounted on a very substantial bench.

Having the proper size faceplate, tenon, chuck, and chuck jaws are also a very important safety consideration with large pieces as well as out of balances pieces. While I prefer a tailstock for large out of balance pieces there have been a lot of huge pieces turned on just a faceplate when properly sized, attached, and used.

Good Luck

Alan

[Bill Blasic]

Joe,
I would read what Alan has written at least twice as it is excellent advice and he knows what he is speaking of.
Bill