New Laguna lathe

[daryl moses]

Since Greg is too far away, I guess it's up to me to come after his Sycamore. I think you are just over an hour down the road. I have well over 100 species of wood in my shop but only a couple of small pieces of sycamore so I've never really given it a fair try.

Most of my turning is spindles and small boxes and things so if you mostly do larger things I probably don't have much to trade unless you could use some ebony or something for finials. I do have a HUGE quantity of big green white oak and hickory logs awaiting my sawmill or my firewood pile, if any of that would be useful. Also some logs of eastern red cedar. I have some small walnut logs and need to cut a maple and probably a big cherry when I get the time. Do any of those interest you?

Nice vessels, BTW.

JKJ

John, your welcome to come by and get all the Sycamore you want. I accidentally knocked one down last year while felling a diseased White Oak. I have several more here on the property some of which need to come down. You don't need to trade anything, I have trees falling all of the time, so I always have something to turn.
Give me a shout sometime!

[John Keeton]

John, I know it's a lot to ask but would you mind sharing some pictures of your sand box drawer setup? The one on your review helps but is pretty small and hard to see well. Also, did you make any adjustment or settings on the delta box? I can't find anything about it in the lathe manual but it does have switches on it so I wasn't sure. Thank you!

here is how mine came out of the box

Greg, you have seen my thread I just posted on the ballast box, but I failed to comment on the VFD. I did not make any changes in the setup - way beyond my skill level!!

[Greg Parrish]

Greg, you have seen my thread I just posted on the ballast box, but I failed to comment on the VFD. I did not make any changes in the setup - way beyond my skill level!!

Thanks. Me neither.

i did did go ahead and order a supernova2 with adapter. Figured since I already have 3 or 4 jaws it made most sense, even if I also pick up another jaw down the road. This just gets me something larger than the G3 that I can use now for reasonably lower investment.

[Van Huskey]

While not cheap at $299 Laguna does have 3" riser blocks for the 18/36.

[Greg Parrish]

While not cheap at $299 Laguna does have 3" riser blocks for the 18/36.

$269 on sale but pricey shipping. I'm looking to go another route but need to get my placement and desired height figured out first. I'm trying to keep it compatible with the table saw since plywood will have to skim over the lathe bed.

[Adam Petersen]

My 1624 was too low too. I'm 5'11" (& 3/4! ). I went a cheapo route and just cut off 2 x 4 about 6" and then applied 80 grit stick on sandpaper to the bottom. For my lathe, I used to be able to slide it around on my slick garage floor with ease. It's a bear to move now just by adding that sandpaper. I used to get upper, middle back pain after turning for awhile, gave me headaches. When I raised it that 1.5" the pain mostly went away. I also feel that I have better tool control. So, in conclusion, if you feel it's too low, don't wait too long to raise it as it'll make the experience much more pleasurable for you (YMMV).

[Thomas Canfield]

[QUOTE=Greg Parrish;2673285]Received my new 18/36 today. OMG it is so much better than the Nova Comet, and I know that isn't a fair comparison, but it is amazing the difference in experience the extra power makes. I have some fine tuning to do on the layout, location, etc but it's a start. I'll be building a sand box for it and probably raising it up a little too.

Congratulations. You did not say what you are doing with your Nova Comet. I have a Powermatic 3520B and the Nova Comet. The little Comet is great to take for class and also for small items, buffing, and letting friends use to learn. I don't let beginners use my Powermatic but rather learn on the lower power and Comet. I also keep waiting for your post of a bottom without the recess, but nice bowl. Sycamore is good wood to work.

[Greg Parrish]

[QUOTE=Thomas Canfield;2673688]

Received my new 18/36 today. OMG it is so much better than the Nova Comet, and I know that isn't a fair comparison, but it is amazing the difference in experience the extra power makes. I have some fine tuning to do on the layout, location, etc but it's a start. I'll be building a sand box for it and probably raising it up a little too.

Congratulations. You did not say what you are doing with your Nova Comet. I have a Powermatic 3520B and the Nova Comet. The little Comet is great to take for class and also for small items, buffing, and letting friends use to learn. I don't let beginners use my Powermatic but rather learn on the lower power and Comet. I also keep waiting for your post of a bottom without the recess, but nice bowl. Sycamore is good wood to work.

I haven't figured out an easy way without a vacuum chuck which I don't have on these bigger items. Not sure how to turn the bowl around to contour the bottom.

the nova is going to get sold to help offset the Laguna cost and to clear up space for another tool that needs a home.

[Greg Parrish]

Unfortunately while running the lathe in reverse the factory face plate damaged my spindle threads. I tightened the face plate and tightened both set screws. looks like the set screws were turned backwards over the thread. Not sure if this means something is faulty, or if it's par for the course and I need to live with it. Never had this issue on my comet though.

[John Keeton]

Greg, your Comet does not have the torque the Laguna has, nor did you probably run a heavy faceplate on it. I NEVER use the set screws in chucks or faceplate. Just don't need the risk. You still have enough threads, so you should be fine. Just use a file to dress the damage.

[Greg Parrish]

Greg, your Comet does not have the torque the Laguna has, nor did you probably run a heavy faceplate on it. I NEVER use the set screws in chucks or faceplate. Just don't need the risk. You still have enough threads, so you should be fine. Just use a file to dress the damage.

Thanks John. I did start cleaning it up with a file to make it usable again.

So you still use reverse but don't use set screws? Just tighten the faceplate with the included handle/bar. Never had one unthread while turning or sanding in reverse?

[John K Jordan]

Thanks John. I did start cleaning it up with a file to make it usable again. So you still use reverse but don't use set screws? Just tighten the faceplate with the included handle/bar. Never had one unthread while turning or sanding in reverse?

Like John Keeton, I don't use the set screws. I don't do a lot of large bowls but I have turned them in reverse on occasion (and sanded, of course) and have never once had a chuck unthread in the years I've been turning. When I install the chuck, I always do it the same way: thread the chuck on by hand then give the chuck a sharp twist with my hand at the last 1/8-1/4 turn. This puts the chuck on firmly and it always needs the spanner wrench to remove it. (I NEVER mount or remove a chuck with the key as I've seen other do. I don't like the stress it puts on the components.)

Note that some lathe spindles are machined so there is a flat with no threads where the set screws would bear. You could do that with yours with a file or a small hand held grinder. I can imagine the hesitation to grind on the spindle on a new lathe but at the moment the thread in that area doesn't look like it's earning its keep.

JKJ

[Steve Mathews]

Not to be an alarmist and I'm by no means an expert but while reading my lathe manual I found that lathe spindles are usually hardened. Based on the discoloration of your spindle where the set screw was rubbing it looks like some of its hardness was affected unnecessarily. Regardless, a set screw shouldn't damage the threads that way. I don't think it should've happened with a hardened spindle. Maybe the manufacturer will replace it under warranty.

[Greg Parrish]

Not to be an alarmist and I'm by no means an expert but while reading my lathe manual I found that lathe spindles are usually hardened. Based on the discoloration of your spindle where the set screw was rubbing it looks like some of its hardness was affected unnecessarily. Regardless, a set screw shouldn't damage the threads that way. I don't think it should've happened with a hardened spindle. Maybe the manufacturer will replace it under warranty.

Interesting point. I'll give them a call on Monday to discuss. You can certainly see the discoloration. I only ran the lathe in reverse for a few minutes to see if the tear out I was getting might have been due to grain direction/orientation. Tried the cut on the right side of the lathe which didn't help the tear out but apparently that little bit of friction caused the face plate to start unscrewing. Normally I only sand in reverse though.

remember where you saw it? I just skimmed the manual and didn't find any mention of the spindle material or hardening/hardness. Thanks.

[John K Jordan]

remember where you saw it? I just skimmed the manual and didn't find any mention of the spindle material or hardening/hardness. Thanks.

From the Robust lathe sheet about all of their lathes: Spindle: The spindle is pre-hardened 4140 Chrome Moly alloy with an 1 1/4"-8 spindle nose drilled and readily equipped for vacuum. There is a groove for a safety set screw and a #2 Morse taper. A metric spindle, threaded 33 x 3.5 is also available on most models.

Note the groove machined specifically for the safety set screw to eliminate the problem.

Robust lathes are in fact considered on the high-end of quality. Your manufacturer should be able to tell you how yours is supposed to be made.

JKJ