Serious Lathe

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Wow! A lathe to compete with Oneway. Looks heavy duty is an understatement. I found the link when cruising Mr. Ramsons site gathering info on his 10' bed extension so I could copy his brain storm.( http://turningaround.org/ ) I've had a lot of requests to duplicate some Victorian period porch posts. I live near historic Cape May NJ and it's has a very strict historic society and not a turner around that can fulfill all the needs, but thats about to change. :D I just picked up all the steel and am gonna start it this weekend. All the steel came to a whopping $140 for the 10 ' extension compared to buying 2 50" extensions from powermatic at a price of close to $2000 delivered. Any who. Check out this lathe. A bit out of my price range, but it's fun to dream. I have no association with the company by the way.
http://www.serioustoolworks.com/wood-lathes.php

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Kurt,

Check out Robust lathes too! Their American Beauty is nothing to sneeze at.

[alex carey]

robusts are great and they are probably more versatile then the serious but my gosh, 1500#. The only other lathes I know of that weigh that much are the old school olivers.

[Mike Spanbauer]

Robusts aren't that heavy Alex, you may be thinking of the Serious Lathes out of Oregon (which are #1550 or something). Robusts run around 6-800.

The monsters of the lathe world are the old Oli's as you mentioned, some of which exceeded 20K with a set of moving steel plates for the tool rest, which was embedded in a gridwork in the floor. If only... /drool

mike

[alex carey]

sorry if i wasn't clear, I was talking about the serious lathe and how it weighs 1500#, which is what sets it apart from other less "serious" lathes.

[David Walser]

Kurt,

At the last Desert Woodturning Roundup (February 2009), Serious was one of the vendors. Believe me, the pictures on the website does not do the lathe justice. Not only is the lathe big and heavy, it's smooth as silk. I don't mean that the lathe spins smoothly, although I mean that too, it's that all the controls work smoothly. Crank the tailstock and the quill quickly covers its full 6" of travel. It's a bewitching combination of effortlessness and positive feel -- smooooth.

Like you, the Serious Lathe is out of my price range. (Even if it weren't, I don't know whether I'd buy it or the Robust, or the Stubby, or...) The company makes and sells something that is more within most turners price range, their camlock lathe tool handle. It's a stainless steel handle for all your skews and gouges that allows you to replace one tool with another lickty split (technical term). Just 1/8th turn releases the tool and another 1/8th turn locks the new tool in place. No more Allen keys. Very cool. I haven't bought one yet -- I still like my tools with a wooden handle.

Here's a link to the thread I started on the Serious Lathe back in 2009: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1046857#poststop

[Bill Blasic]

I had the pleasure of turning on a brand new Serious lathe a while back. Joe Herrmann and I took a road trip to Ligonier PA to revue the Serious Lathe for Woodturning Design Magazine (Current Issue). A massive piece of iron that went through its paces like a finely tuned race horse. I myself prefer cast iron and at 1580 pounds there is a lot of vibration dampening iron there. It is not cheap but it is all lathe.
Bill

[Dave Mueller]

I have seen pictures of large and long pieces being turned on both Robust and Vicmarc lathes (attached). It appears that any of the larger lathes will accept extensions for large pieces. I'm still quite happily stuck in the smaller bowl mode.

[Reed Gray]

If the Serious lathe had a sliding headstock, I might have gotten it.

robo hippy

[James Boster]

That's why I like my new to me Oliver 66. 5500# of vibration dampening cast iron.

[alex carey]

Dont Tease us James! Let's see some pictures of the beast.

[Curt Fuller]

The just don't make 'em like they used to!

[Jeff Willard]

The just don't make 'em like they used to!

Okay, who wants to be the first to attempt a trembleur on that thing-full length?

[James Boster]

Don't have any pics of it here yet. I'm still trying to get it set up at my shop. Here is a pic of it when I picked it up at sellers place:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m283/woodhick/oliver.jpg

I have degreased and washed it since and it looks much better. I don't think I am going to do a repaint just set it up and use it as is for now. Had to put it in a shed on the side of my shop as the shop is full of other old arn. I will get more recent photos when I get it hooked up.

[Karl Card]

this thread is crazy... 1580 lb lathe, hell I hope it dampens the vibration at that weight... then someone else comes in at 6600 lbs....

oh my.... I think Id like to see some pics of what is turned on these monsters...

[Jeff Nicol]

Don't have any pics of it here yet. I'm still trying to get it set up at my shop. Here is a pic of it when I picked it up at sellers place:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m283/woodhick/oliver.jpg

I have degreased and washed it since and it looks much better. I don't think I am going to do a repaint just set it up and use it as is for now. Had to put it in a shed on the side of my shop as the shop is full of other old arn. I will get more recent photos when I get it hooked up.
That thing just exudes memories of our past and all the hard work that went into making America great! I hope to get some old iron someday!

A seriously wonderful old lathe!

Jeff

[alex carey]

badass lathe, looking forward to the picts of you turning on it.