Worth Another Look - Long

[Hayes Rutherford]

Dale, a great review and the "two lathes in one" with only a few extras makes good sense. I fully agree about the bulky headstock of the Powermatic, and you have stirred up my wanting a different lathe.

While a buildup of curlies is certainly impressive, I fear sending them in yet another direction. I would have to free up valuable space where a variety of tools I depend on being within easy reach, dust collection, and lighting, would have to be re-designed. So for me its not only lathe ergonomics, but shop ergonomics as well and I think that is why the sliding headstock is as popular as it is. So for now, I remain envious and will suffer with my Powermatic(lol)

[Reed Gray]

Dale,
I know Vickmark has a pivoting head stock lathe. Have you ever tried that one? I have only seen pictures, but it looks to be built like a tank.
robo hippy

[Dale Bonertz]

I have not turned on it, Reed. I have seen it at our symposium and it is built like a tank. Seems really really solid. I was surprised at how stout the mechanism is for rotating the head. For those who have limited space I would think that lathe should be on the short list for sure.

[Reed Gray]

Well, for sure, if I was going for a pivoting headstock, that would be my lathe of choice. Curiosity is a dangerous thing to the pocket book. Right now though, I need a 10,000 sq. ft. shop...... Having spent so much time on short bed lathe/sliding headstock lathe, turning bowls on a long bed lathe just doesn't feel right. Maybe I need (what's need got to do with it) to take a spin on a VB36...

robo hippy

[Dale Bonertz]

What long bed lathe are you referring Reed? Lost me there.

[Reed Gray]

Oh, the sliding headstock lathes are both long bed and short bed, so you get a good spindle lathe, and a good bowl lathe. I did a demo up in Salem with Nick Stagg and it was 2 ways to turn a bowl. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. It was the 12/36 Oneway. Later I figured out that was because I was used to standing close to the lathe and totally using body movement with my arms in at my sides rather than doing the Stuart Batty push cut with arms extended. Almost the same feeling when I took a 3 day workshop with both Stuart and Allan at Nick's house. The style works, I could be better at it if I used it, but just don't like holding my arms out that far. I give my shoulders enough work when I am swimming laps at the pool.

robo hippy

[Dale Bonertz]

I hear you. I can mount my exterior short bed on the inboard side for long spindles if needed. I remember asking myself that question on longer spindles and this lathe. Then I thought in the fourteen years I have been turning I haven't turned many spindles and even then the longest was maybe 12". So I concluded with this set up that I can, albeit a little extra work moving the bed, turn a spindle that is longer than about 36 inches which the inboard side can do with the swing away holding the tail stock. I turn bowls primarily and a few hollow forms so longer spindle work does not concern or interest me.

[Dale Bonertz]

I didn't want to mislead folks so I measured the distance for chuck to tail center. I can do a spindle about 30" not 36" using the swing away for the tail stock. If I mounted the short bed extension then about 40" spindle and if I mounted the swing on the bed extension then about 50" spindle. But as I said I don't turn long spindles so not a concern of mine but for those who do and are thinking about this type of setup - now you know.

[Michael Schneider]

Thanks for the picture. I had not seen the swing away installed on a vicmarc before. Does it effectively extend the length of the bed? If so, by how much? I would need the extra length for a heavy piece, just the occasional long thin piece. If so, How much does it increase the distance between centers?

Thanks
Michael

[Dale Bonertz]

Michael,

I don't know what happened to my post that I sent on my phone, that was a couple of weeks ago. It adds about 10 inches to the bed length. When it closes it sits on a built in ledge so it aligns with the bed. Very heavy duty. I measured the lathe and what you can do for spindles and it is 30" with using the swing away (depending on holding method and tail center used 30" to 32"). If you attach the bed extension on the end of the lathe it will add another ten to fourteen inches depending where you locate the tail stock on the extension. Put the swing away on the bed extension and you can another 10 inches. So lots of options and configurations and you can turn spindles from 30" to 50 to around 53 inches.

I understand Hayes but with my shop the ergonomics work great. My shop is 10' wide and 30' long. I have hung fabric shower curtains completely around the lathe to keep chips off of my tools hung on the walls. I have them on conduit so I can slide them out of the way when not turning and to make clean up easier. Lighting and dust collection needs to be adjusted any time one moves or remodels his/her shop which seems to happen more often than one assumes it will, at least for me. I am continually evolving in my shop and making it more usable and ergonomically freindly. It sucked having my old lathe closer to the wall, even at a slight angle. It made cleaning a challenge and I like being able to walk all the way around my current set up. It is easier to get to things and it actually opened up more wall space to organize and get to tools now that I can walk and work around the entire machine.