Ordering a Robust American Beauty!

[James Conrad]

My mind is pretty much made up, it's going to be a Robust AB for me. I had some input from Reed and talked with Brent. He put me in touch with a customer in the next town over so, Monday I'll get hands on one to just satisfy any doubts. After that, I'll get in line.

I'm planning on these options:


Regular Bed
3HP motor
Tilt away with assist
Lamp Set


I'd be interested in input from other Robust owners on their option choices, if their is anything they would do differently or not...

Thanks Guys.

[Roger Chandler]

My mind is pretty much made up, it's going to be a Robust AB for me. I had some input from Reed and talked with Brent. He put me in touch with a customer in the next town over so, Monday I'll get hands on one to just satisfy any doubts. After that, I'll get in line.

I'm planning on these options:


Regular Bed
3HP motor
Tilt away with assist
Lamp Set


I'd be interested in input from other Robust owners on their option choices, if their is anything they would do differently or not...

Thanks Guys.

James.....going right to the Rolls Royce of lathes :D Can't beat that! I turned on a friends, which is a long bed version with a 3 hp motor. That is a fine piece of equipment, and you will love it! Congratulations!

[Doug Ladendorf]

Oh man James, tell us about those doubts after you have had a chance to check it out! I got to look at them up close and talk to Brent in Pittsburgh and that is one sweet ride. Have fun !

[Joe Bradshaw]

James, I don't have the AB, but, I have the Liberty and it is great. My girlfriend got one after she had turned on mine a few times. Brent and Debbie are class acts. You will not regret it. Probably your last lathe.
Joe

[Mike Tilley]

James congratulations on your decision i'am sure you will be pleased. I went through the same thing for about three months looking at the Robust web site until I think my iPad would go there by itself and looked at a robust at a fellows home was hard deciding which way to go.
finally went with the AB 3hp with tilt away and shock assist.
just received an email from Deb today that it was shipped today don't think it will be here before the weekend but one can hope.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I've had my Robust about six weeks. Long bed 3 hp. I turn pieces around 50 to 60 pounds quite often. It is more stable than my 3520 was. I can turn out of balance prices at higher rpm. The stainless ways are a big plus for wet wood, but the banjo is cast and will require a little lube once in a while. I have two hearing aides and I found the resonance of a steel bed to have a higher pitch. If I am taking heavy cuts I will wear ear plugs. I have thought about sound dreading material in the bed. Don't think I want to fill it with sand. 850 I lbs seems to be heavy enough. I have had trouble with coring large bowls of white oak and cherry. The inverter has kicked out a number of times even though the motor is barely warm. I will call Bret and see if the inverter can be adjusted. All in all it is a beautiful lathe. I would have to write a lot more to tell all the positives. The American Beauty is the top of the line and I would not hesitate to buy it again.

[James Conrad]

Thanks Guys, I probably won't have any doubts after I see on in person. Congrats Mike on your shipment notice! Brent said they were 12 weeks behind right now.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Thanks Guys, I probably won't have any doubts after I see on in person. Congrats Mike on your shipment notice! Brent said they were 12 weeks behind right now.


I was 8 weeks when ordered in April and it seemed like forever. Still not like the Grizzly guys have waited. The Robust interest just keep growing. They have the ability to triple production at the present facility. They may have to with foreign interest also going.

[Reed Gray]

Bob, when you coring are you in low or high speed range. If you are in the high speed range, I would expect it to trip the breaker. In low speed range, it should not. Another possibility could be that you are coring too slow. 500 rpm minimum, unless maybe you are turning a 24 7/8 inch bowl.... Mine is the older 3 speed model, and I keep it in the mid range, and have no problems with it cutting out.

robo hippy

[Bob Bergstrom]

Bob, when you coring are you in low or high speed range. If you are in the high speed range, I would expect it to trip the breaker. In low speed range, it should not. Another possibility could be that you are coring too slow. 500 rpm minimum, unless maybe you are turning a 24 7/8 inch bowl.... Mine is the older 3 speed model, and I keep it in the mid range, and have no problems with it cutting out.

robo hippy
Reed.
I am on the lower pulley and follow many of you and Dale's suggestions. I cored previously on a 3520 B. I talked to Bret when I ordered the lathe and he said that the Govenment made Beldor increase the effiency of the three hours motor. It looks more like a five horse. The reason the newer AB only has two pullies is because of the size of the motor. I like the 50-1200 rpm of the lower pulley and only go up on bowls less than 10". I usually am coring at 600 to 700 rpm. I use a spray bottle of WD-40 and spray it into the grove to help lube the cut. I wonder if the newer motor still needs some tweaking to the inverter?

[Tony Rozendaal]

Reed.
I am on the lower pulley and follow many of you and Dale's suggestions. I cored previously on a 3520 B. I talked to Bret when I ordered the lathe and he said that the Govenment made Beldor increase the effiency of the three hours motor. It looks more like a five horse. The reason the newer AB only has two pullies is because of the size of the motor. I like the 50-1200 rpm of the lower pulley and only go up on bowls less than 10". I usually am coring at 600 to 700 rpm. I use a spray bottle of WD-40 and spray it into the grove to help lube the cut. I wonder if the newer motor still needs some tweaking to the inverter?

Just so you know you are not alone, I have experienced the same thing. Brent told me when I picked up the lathe to let the belt slip just a bit when coring. It acts as an audible warning that you are approaching stall. I still intend to call him about it, but as I get more accustomed to the lathe it seems to be less od an issue for me.

TO TENSION THE BELT, I only let the weight of the motor tension the belt, I do not put anny additional pressure on the motor before I tighten the lock screw.

[Reed Gray]

Well, I don't know. I would think it should work. I do know there are all sorts of 'adjustments' that can be made to the phase converter. Call Brent.

robo hippy

[Michael Mason]

I have not experienced the problem either. I have cored well over 150 blanks on mine since I got it, and I have locked it down a time or two or three, but no inverter issues.

[Reed Gray]

I am wondering if it is a problem with the blade binding in the cut. The McNaughton blades ALWAYS drift to the outside of the cut/path you are trying to cut. You end up with a blade that has a tighter curve than the cut it is making, so it binds in the cut unless you open up the kerf. Not a problem if you are only going 3 or 4 inches, but if you are going 6 or more, then it can be a real problem. If the blade is hot coming out of the cut, and has resin/sap burned onto it, or your cores have burn marks on them, then this is the problem. Lubricating the blade won't help it.

robo hippy

[Bob Bergstrom]

I am wondering if it is a problem with the blade binding in the cut. The McNaughton blades ALWAYS drift to the outside of the cut/path you are trying to cut. You end up with a blade that has a tighter curve than the cut it is making, so it binds in the cut unless you open up the kerf. Not a problem if you are only going 3 or 4 inches, but if you are going 6 or more, then it can be a real problem. If the blade is hot coming out of the cut, and has resin/sap burned onto it, or your cores have burn marks on them, then this is the problem. Lubricating the blade won't help it.

robo hippy


It it also seems that the older the blade the easier the core. As the tip becomes smaller and the wood polishes the edges of the blade it seems to work better. The tip on the lage blade is quite large.
Reed do you grind the tip on the big blades straight across as you do with the smaller? I've sanded the black oxide paint off mine and smoothed the bottom outside corner to relieve some friction points.

[Reed Gray]

I do have all of my tips ground down pretty much square. If the bottom of the blade is pretty much polished, then friction shouldn't be a problem. The idea of grinding down the tips is that there is less surface on the cutting tip, so less pressure. Some of my newer blades have more of a ) nose shape, but eventually end up square. As the tip gets smaller, there is also less cutting pressure. I have my gates/support fingers locked in place, and not free floating. I figured that since they always seemed to twist as soon as the cutting tip is engaged, that may create some friction, or at least change the leverage point that I use to aim. Polishing off the black may help. If I lubricate at all, I lubricate the gate and the bottom of the blade. If the wood is polishing the blade, then this says to me that it is binding in the cut. With the Oneway, when set up on center, the blade does not touch the wood at all. Same with the Woodcut.

robo hippy

My theory, and I will stick to it, is that the blades when made, they get the curve in all but about the last inch of the blade near the tip, which goes straight, rather than following the curve. I have laid out a bunch of them on one of the plastic circle template things that I bought from Craft Supplies. The results were the same with every blade. When coring, the blade will track more along that straight line than it will on the curve of the blade. I have one blade that I bent the tip inwards on, and now it drifts to the inside of the cut, not the outside. I have long considered bending my own blades so I can get the curves right/perfect. I have discussed this with Kel, and he does not agree. Last time I discussed this with Mike Mahoney, he commented "you might have a point".

robo hippy

[Ralph Lindberg]

.... They have the ability to triple production at the present facility. They may have to with foreign interest also going.

I was chatting with a "Kiwi" at Utah that said he was going to be Robust's NZ rep. So in the home of the Stubby and the Nova there is interest in the Robust!

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Going a ways back to the OP's original question - the only other accessories I ordered with mine are the vacuum adapter (made by JT Turning Tools - a great unit) and the multiple outlet box on the rear leg. Now that I've used it for three years (sadly, I just had to kiss it goodbye for the next six months - it's going into storage until the new shop is built at our new home) there is only one thing I'm going to order when I get ready to set it up in its new home - the 16" bed extension. When I setup the Jamieson style hollowing rig I'm limited to about 14 or 15" in length for the blank because of the room the back support takes up. The option is to make a floor mounted rear support ala the Brian McEvoy style rig (now Carter, i believe).
James, I predict that once you get a chance to turn on one, you'll be hooked. The ergonomics are superb - at least for me.
As for coring with the MacNaughton, I do that a lot. My lathe was among the first with the redesigned headstock for the new style 3HP motors. While I've occasionally stalled the motor, the inverter has never kicked out. I always core on the low speed pulley - for that matter, I generally keep it there unless I really need a little speed. I don't do very much spindle work, so it's rare that I change the belt.
I have noticed that, at least for me, the problem is at it's most frequent at the point where the cutter begins to self-feed. As long as I'm careful to maintain control when it hits that point, stalling has been pretty much eliminated.

[hu lowery]

I've had my Robust about six weeks. Long bed 3 hp. I turn pieces around 50 to 60 pounds quite often. It is more stable than my 3520 was. I can turn out of balance prices at higher rpm. The stainless ways are a big plus for wet wood, but the banjo is cast and will require a little lube once in a while. I have two hearing aides and I found the resonance of a steel bed to have a higher pitch. If I am taking heavy cuts I will wear ear plugs. I have thought about sound dreading material in the bed. Don't think I want to fill it with sand. 850 I lbs seems to be heavy enough. I have had trouble with coring large bowls of white oak and cherry. The inverter has kicked out a number of times even though the motor is barely warm. I will call Bret and see if the inverter can be adjusted. All in all it is a beautiful lathe. I would have to write a lot more to tell all the positives. The American Beauty is the top of the line and I would not hesitate to buy it again.





Bob,

I share your hearing difficulties. I have some areas of high frequency hearing completely dead. Sometimes there is a noise that overlaps that and other areas and because my hearing isolates the screech or howl it is almost unbearable. There is a material called seafoam I believe, not the engine stuff. This is a two part urethane type foam. The two parts, each in a gallon can to total two gallons, used to be quite reasonable, I think $40 many years ago so maybe twice that now. That is enough to fully foam fill a 55 gallon drum, should be adequate to fill the bed of the AB.

I think the foam would exert enough force to dampen noise if you used contractor trash bags or similar to line the inside of the bed. Probably work even better if you didn't use the bags but I can tell you for sure the foam will be a real bear to get back out if you ever need to if you let it stick to the inside of the bed. You would have to make sure the material didn't melt the bags but I have seen similar foam used as packing insulation too, with plastic sheeting protecting what was packaged.

In the summertime I have put the two components of seafoam in a refrigerator long enough to chill down to extend working time.

Hope this is of help,
Hu

[Bob Bergstrom]

Thanks Hu
i too have trouble with the higher pitch. Must easier to understand men than women. Not sure that is all bad sometimes. Thanks for the tip and i will look into it. I wouldn't want it leaking out of the tube and running down the legs of the lathe.

[Bill Boehme]

My mind is pretty much made up, it's going to be a Robust AB for me. I had some input from Reed and talked with Brent. He put me in touch with a customer in the next town over so, Monday I'll get hands on one to just satisfy any doubts. After that, I'll get in line.

I'm planning on these options:


Regular Bed
3HP motor
Tilt away with assist
Lamp Set


I'd be interested in input from other Robust owners on their option choices, if their is anything they would do differently or not...

Thanks Guys.

I also got the mobility kit since I move the lathe around in my studio (AKA, garage). Later I got the steady rest and the outboard turning rig. I am planning on getting the bed extension and the foot operated switch. I bought the Robust live center last year and it is really good.

[James Conrad]

Sounds good Bill. Thought about the mobility kit, I doubt I'll move it around once set, but it looked handy. I'll probably add an extension down the road.

Thanks!

[Curtis Myers]

The gas shock is not needed in my opinion. Without the gas shock it is a little heavier to lift up, but still a one hand operation. With the gas shock it is a little harder to push down.

I find the ruler in the quil very handy at times. I do not use it much but when I need it, its nice.

I made my own tools rest using scrap plywood.

I looked at a lot of big steady rests and found Robust to be lighter, stronger at a cheeper price then most. They use round tubing for the outer support and industrial wheels (not roller blade wheels). Brent advised me to get the legs offset at 1 o'clock, 5 o'clock, and 9 o'clock (vise 12, 4 and 8). This allows for laser and camera use during hollowing.

As far as the mobility kit, I got a dolly set from Northern Tools for $49.99. It has 1500lbs capacity. I use my small car floor jack to lift the lathe and set dollies under one end then relocate the floor jack to the other end. The floor jack has wheels so I just use it to move the lathe when needed.

I got the Trent Bosch articulating arm stabilizer for hollowing. It mounts in the banjo and has 1" tool capacity with reducers if using smaller tools. I went this route so I can hollow at the end of the lathe and not have to bend over at all. It is really nice to work at the end of the AB. Your also out of the line of fire if the work takes flight.
I also got the Trent's Visualizer. No more measuring when hollowing.
Trent Bosch is a Robust dealer and his stuff fits seamlessly on the AB. e.g. the Visualizer monitor fits right into the headstock recess, hollowing at the end of the AB with it's tilt-away using the Trent's stabilizer is quick, convenient, safer and overall better ergonomics for my aging body. I really enjoy this setup.

Check out the signatures on the headstock and tailstock.

318334318335318332318336318333318337

[Curtis Myers]

I forgot to comment on the Lamp set
I have a magnet based lamp. Sometimes I need to move it back so I set it on the motor. Other time I need it on the other end of the lathe, sometime lower. With a magnet base I can do that. A good magnet base lamp is about $100 - $135

All the Best
Curt

[James Conrad]

Thanks Curtis for the detailed info and suggestions. Got hands on this morning with an AB, I'm sold!

[Steve Doerr]

I agree with Curtis with regard to the bowl steady. It is very sturdy and is a very wise investment. I also had Brent set the arms at i, 5 and 9 o'clock to enable me to use a laser while hollowing. I did not get the additional power strip. What I did was got an inexpensive power strip attached a few magnets to it and use that and can place it wherever I need it. The light is something that I did not get but am thinking of getting one from Robust or buying from a third party.

Good luck, you will not regret your decision.