Got me a new lathe!

[Scott Hackler]

I have been saving for quite a while for a Robust AB lathe and was still several thousand short, when I phone call from my buddy Jim Adkins came in and he offered to sell me his "extra" lathe. A VicMarc VL300 (3HP, 23.5" swing)! He won it a couple years ago and after deciding that his Stubby was enough for him, he sold me the VicMarc. So... My wife and I made the road trip to SE Missouri yeasterday and came back today. Not a lot of visiting time, but we made the most of it and enjoyed seeing Jim and his better half. Jim also included a VicMarc chuck, a Robust tool rest and a OneWay live center that he had purposely bought just for this lathe! More goodies for me!!

I got it into the shop tonight but was toooo tired to take the skids off, move it into place and bolt the extra 19" bed extension and outboard turning attachment to the lathe ....tonight. I will get that stuff done tomorrow. Its a beast of a lathe and with the add-ons it will be between 750-800lbs with an ability to turn a 38" spindle. I can't wait to chuck up something big and turn without worry of the lathe walking across the floor and using the variable speed!! Whohoo!. Thanks to Jim Adkins for a great time, good eats and a great deal on this lathe. It will get used at my place!

[Brian Kent]

Wow! That is one tremendous machine. Really looking forward to your sharing your experiences with it. Congratulations.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congratulations Scott! That is supposed to be a superb lathe!

[Bob Bergstrom]

Let's see, bigger chainsaw, chain hoist, 1" powder metal gouge. Bigger photo tent, trailor to haul logs, maybe a tractor with a bucket. One thing leads to another. The vortex just gets deeper and deeper and deeper. Enjoy the slippery slope.

[Roger Chandler]

Great score, Scott.......congratulations! That ought to keep you busy for a while!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Let's see, bigger chainsaw, chain hoist, 1" powder metal gouge. Bigger photo tent, trailor to haul logs, maybe a tractor with a bucket. One thing leads to another. The vortex just gets deeper and deeper and deeper. Enjoy the slippery slope.


Bob,

We'll just have to expect BIGGER things out of Scott!;):rolleyes::D

[Steve Doerr]

Great score Scott. We look forward to seeing some new and exciting turnings from you and your new beast.
Steve

[Leo Van Der Loo]

You got yourself a real fine lathe Scott, congratulations.

Yes bigger ability, just don't get hurt bigger :cool: :), we like to see your products for a while yet ;)

[Geoff Gaudet]

Envy. It lives here.:D

[David DeCristoforo]

Sweet! If the outboard tool rest I got from Jim Keenan is any indication, that thing is built like a tank!

[charlie knighton]

congratulations Scott, enjoy

[John Keeton]

Recent post by Scott - "I generally turn smaller (4-5") HFs and prefer a 1/2" hole and about a 3/4-1" base, tucked under. The larger the diameter the larger hole. One of the last larger HFs I made was about 8-9" wide and I had a 3/4" hole and probably about a 1 1/2" bottom."

Scott, that sure is a lotta lathe!! I suspect the size of your turnings may "evolve!" Congrats!

[Thom Sturgill]

So its an English loss and an Aussie gain? Wonderful lathe, look forward to seeing the output.

[Keith Outten]

Congratulations Scott,

You better take a week off from work so you can get acquainted with the new lathe and start ordering all those accessories :)
.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Scott,
Good turners should own great lathes and the Vic 300 is a standout machine. Do it justice.
faust

[Ken Glass]

Scott,
Well Done. Do I see an Egyptian influence in the skid you rolled it in with? LOL. What a great Lathe.....

[Doug Herzberg]

Scott,
Good turners should own great lathes and the Vic 300 is a standout machine. Do it justice.
faust

Scott, no one deserves it more. Enjoy.

[Dennis Nagle]

Very nice lathe. Better than most!

[Jon Nuckles]

I am picturing a 38" finial that is less than 1/32" in diameter! Congratulations, Scott

[Jim Underwood]

Congratulations! I hear that's one sweet lathe. Hope you have lots of fun with it!

[steven carter]

Way to go Scott! Looking for some big things, and some little things, and everything in between.

[Dennis Peacock]

Congrats Scott..!!!!! You'll like that lathe.!!

[bob svoboda]

Sweet looking unit! Congratulations and wishing you a world of enjoyment!

[Richard Madden]

Well, congrats on the lathe, but you suck!! Had I known Jim was willing to part with that lathe I would at least put my "bid" in for it! I may be seeing Jim in a couple weeks...might have to scold him about this. Anyway, enjoy, and yes, I am envious.

[Mike Goetzke]

Scott - congrats on the new lathe. Did Jim even use it? I'm a newbie have to ask what's under the lathe in the cabinet - motor/electronics/storage?

Thanks,

Mike

[Scott Hackler]

I am certain I got the "exclusive" good buddy deal. He didn't have to sell it (but I am glad he did). I think he figured that his Stubby suited him better and he didn't spend hardly any time on the VicMarc and he knew through our phone conversations that I was saving for a big lathe. He told me that it couldn't have had more than 20 hours on it. I believe it too. Plus it was a plot to get us to come visit (even though it was short).

I got the outboard attachment finally set up and everything put where it needs to be. That outboard rig was a bugger to install. I just couldn't get the holes lined up (close tolerances). Put the end on the cord, plugged it in and really enjoyed turning the speed knob up and down! It's so darn quiet and not a hint of vibration. My shop was in shambles so I spent some time putting the various stuff (well some of it) away and called it a night.

Here are the all together photo and one of the monster out board attachment. Thinking about flipping that out board around to the right side and it would reach the chuck. Like having another banjo. But after cussing the first install, I will leave it for now. She's ready for some turning now!

Mike, the motor is in the bottom left and the VFD is in the right side. A little storage under the motor but not much.

[Eric Holmquist]

Congratulations! You deserve to have a nice lathe like this to make your great turning even more fun to do!

[Sonny Kemp]

Congratulations Scott,I too noticed that help under the skids.It is amazing what you can do with a couple pieces of pipe and a ''prize pole''.Enjoy

[Scott Hackler]

Yeah, the old PVC pipe/ Egyptian roll around was Jim's idea. He got it out of his shop that way and I just kept the 2x6s on the bottom and used the same method to roll it into my shop. After, of course, unloading it from the truck with strapping and my skid loader.

[Harry Robinette]

No curls yet, What afraid to get it dirty. Outstanding and really glad you got it Scott. You did such a beautiful job with your Nova can't wait to see what you come up with using this. Big is allot harder to do then that little stuff.

[Mike Cruz]

I was wondering when that beaut would hit the market... You're a lucky man, Scott. And I'm sure that change jingling around in Jim's pocket is making him smile, too.

[Fred Belknap]

That's a sturdy looking outboard rig. Never used or seen one I was wondering if the thread was left hand on the handwheel side or do you turn in reverse.
I don't think anyone has told you ​"YOU SUCK":D

[Scott Hackler]

Fred the threads on the hand wheel are the same as the headstock side, but because of the rotation of the orientation of the turner, you would put the motor in reverse to turn. There is also a clamping collar that holds the handwheel from unscrewing. You can use the same type of clamp to secure a VicMarc chuck as well (but I don't have a second one of those). I did a quick measure and 4' diameter is easily possible on the outboard side. Wouldn't that be scarey??? :)

Gonna start saving for a vacuum chuck next.

[Sid Matheny]

Happy for you Scott, just don't try to go to big to quick. Enjoy!

Sid

[Kathy Marshall]

Congrats Scott! That's a purdy setup! Looking forward to seeing your 1st piece from that baby!

[David C. Roseman]

Nice, Scott!

I think you're gonna need a second tag line in your signature: "No, it's not big enough."

David

[Dick Strauss]

I've long admired Jim Adkins' work and it sounds like he is a nice guy to boot. Hopefully you've made a lifelong friend.

Boy, look at that fit and finish...you can't even see where the bolted on extension meets the base bed (thus the reason for your difficulties bolting it on). I here that the tapered roller bearings in those guys last forever. Good for you...what a beautiful lathe!

Be safe,
Dick

[charlie knighton]

Scott, the feet on the lathe looks like it would be very sturdy even with normal width (not spalyed). how do they adjust for leveling???????? i have not seen that type of feet on a lathe.

[Marc Himes]

Looks like a great Lathe. I have seen several of them on Videos done by the Pros. May it serve you well and give you years of turning pleasure.

[Steve Mawson]

Pretty neat Scott however you are just one week late. I was through Wichita on Jan. 16 so I could have stopped by to look over this great new machine. Oh well I will let you know when I am coming south again and perhaps I can take a look then. In the mean time I will keep a look our for 3 foot diameter logs.:D:cool:

[Scott Hackler]

Scott, the feet on the lathe looks like it would be very sturdy even with normal width (not spalyed). how do they adjust for leveling???????? i have not seen that type of feet on a lathe.

Charlie, the splayed out legs go up into the base unit and are adjusted by jacking up the ends removing the bolts in the legs and raising/lowering them. I am lucky that Jim and I are close enough in height (Jim is a little taller) that I didn't have to adjust the height. Part of the extreme weight of this lathe is the base. it is constructed of plate steel that is a hair under 1/4" thick! Without the outboard and bed extension installed I needed to nudge it a tad to make it perfectly parallel with the wall (OCD kicking in there!), I almost couldn't move it over!

[Dok Yager]

Congratulations Scott! That's a great lathe. Enjoy it and keep her spinning BIGGER projects.

[Scott Hackler]

Here is the first "victim"! Jim gave me a couple half logs of maple that had a little figure in them. One wasn't sealed because he ran out of Anchorseal so I decided that I better get it roughed before I loose it. It was already starting to check and crack so what started out as a 15" rough out, ended up as a 13 1/2" rough out to get the cracks gone. AND I made one heck of a curly mess on the floor, lathe, wall, vacuum...... :) It's in the Dna now and will get wrapped up in the next day or so for drying. I sure liked the speed knob and actually found myself using the knee stop bar ... a lot... just to see progress. That is a cool safety feature that doubles as a great way to stop the lathe without reaching over for the control box. And boy was that Missouri maple HARD!

[Mike Cruz]

Nice pile-o-curlies, Scott!

[Rob Price]

Now that's a pile of shavings! The lathe looks nice as well ;)