Vicmarc VL-300 review

After being able to use my Vic for a couple of months now, I have posted a detailed (plenty of pics) review of it. The article can be read at:

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Reply to
Brian Blazer
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Brian:

An interesting review but I bet Vic Wood is going to be surprised to hear that he is building the lathes. Also, if the motor is being driven by a VFD, it is not going to be turning at 1750 rpm -- it is going to be turning at the speed the VFD says it should.

Also, if there really is a 3 - 5 second delay between start and when the spindle begins to turn, that can probably be changed by a change to the parameters in the VFD. With most machines, the spindle starts turning immediately but accelerates slowly to the set-point.

Bill

Brian Blazer wrote:

Reply to
Bill Rubenstein

i too have ownd one of these since the summer of 2002 and have found that any thing breaks or comes lose there are no spare parts in the usa and the factory does not respond to your email! On the tailstock there area a series of allen screws that work with the quill.DONT MESS WITH THE ALLEN SCREWS. When the quill gets a small knick in it on the grove rfrom the allen screws it fails to go in and out properly. and binds. and becomes useless Two of them lossened up and scored the quill. some thread lock would have stopped the entire problem,. When the assy that locks it to the base snapped on me again not one avail for replacement in the usa and again no response to my email. I also had three sets of on/off switchs go bad and had to replace them Now the remote switch assy is doing the same darn thing. First it was thought it was dust in the small box they are in even when i silconed it closed they continured to go soft/bad Roger at craftsupplies in provo was able to dig up a used quill and assy for 1/2 price, and has replaced all the bad switches and I just dont use the remote any more since it has to be rewired somehow to make it work again makes me wonder about the future and my next purchase from vicmark. A happy vicmark owner but concernd about the aftermarket supply suport.

Reply to
Don

My mistake about Vic Wood. It will be corrected.

The delay is not from when you press start until the spindle turns, it ix from when you turn the machine on, until the start button will work.

Reply to
Brian Blazer

Hi Brian, Thanks for sharing your two month's experience with your Vicmarc VL300. I know that it is an outstanding machine and I'm glad that you are happy with it.

I agree with your assessment, but not completely with your premise. Please follow up after one and two years and I hope you can refute my take now.

Vicmarcs have long been widely known and thought well of by semipro and amateur turners in N. America. I've had a VL100 for years. They have been pictured in catalogs, shown at symposiums, used in demos and praised on forums. I consider them very well known, but I question whether they are gaining in popularity with turners or with retailers.

I think this is owing to a recent perception that has been discussed openly by many about the incredibly poor PR and backup provided for a fine lathe and not to lack of advertising. Deserved or not, the poor perception is there and likely won't go away soon. This not to say that many owners and that includes me, aren't pleased with their Vicmarcs, but I wouldn't buy one today, too many other options.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Reply to
Arch

Speaking of Vicmarc, they were once making the Volmer oval chuck. I don't see it on their website. Is someone else making this chuck now? Dan

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

Dan: Once they started soaking them in LDD, the chucks stayed circular and it eliminated those faulty oval chucks. *G*

Leif

Reply to
Leif Thorvaldson

Brian

Reply to
Brian Blazer

You crack me up. Hope you're not planning on dipping *me* in any LDD!

...Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Miller

Leif, Hey, this LDD stuff MUST work! After all, you don't see many oval chucks lieing around! ;) Dan

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

the jury is still out... just how long DOES it take to air dry a steel chuck??

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

Dan, Your mention of the Volmer lathe sent me searching the web. Totally confused, the best I could figure is that classic chucks slide and Volmer's roll, using some kind of circles, but I probably got even that wrong. :)

If there is any simple way to explain oval chucks, please try. I don't understand the math, much less its applications and I would never think about buying, building or even understanding much about an oval chuck. Inquiring dummies like me do like to know something about anything related to woodturning, even if it's only that things exist... just for the sake of knowing.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Reply to
Arch

Arch, Most turners do what Holtzaphel called 'simple' turning, that is, they make circularly turned pieces. Oval turning is part of what is called 'ornamental turning.' There is an ornamental turners society:

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chucks are not eccentric chucks, a common mistake. Eccentric chucks,also called offset chucks, do simply that, offset the workpiece off center.It is still turning a circle, or part of a circle (arc). You canapproximate an oval or ellipse with an eccentric chuck, but you have toremount the workpiece a number of times, and then sand away the ridges. An oval or ellipse chuck moves the workpiece off center continually in sync with the rotation of the shaft. Various mechanisms have been used. The result is a true oval or ellipse. The task is always the same, in one revolution of the main shaft, move the workpiece from center, to offset, back to center, back to offset, and finally back to center again. Clearly, a simple offset chuck doesn't do that.

There is an Ellipse Turner's Association website:

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Volmer oval chuck uses a mechanism of timing belts running between theheadstock, to a secondary shaft offset for the desired amount ofellipsivity. The ratio between the sprockets is one to two. It has the greatadvantage of high rpm, and low vibration. My oval lathe (the mechanism is integral to the headstock, so it is not a removable 'chuck') uses the same basic mechanism as Volmer's but my mechanics are different when I realized that his chuck couldn't be sized to a larger unit.

You can see my oval lathe construction project at:

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few turners have asked me about oval chucks and where to get them. Vicmarcused to make Volmer's chucks, hence my request for information. Dan

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

Dan, Good post for the references and your easy to understand overview. It's all I know and all I need to know. Thank you.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Reply to
Arch

Several years ago, North Island Boat in Anacortes was going to buy a lathe to turn oars (or sweeps, I guess). Were those lathes an adaptation of the oval chuck and a duplicator?

Old Chief Lynn

Reply to
Lynn Coffelt

Oar blades aren't elliptical in cross-section, at least none of the many I have seen are. I'd guess that they were buying a duplicating router that slowly rotated the stock, much like the ones that carve gunstocks. Dan

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

Wow, I should have looked on your web site first! Those .mov's make your elliptical chuck's operation much clearer than words! Thanks Old Chief Lynn

Reply to
Lynn Coffelt

Thanks! The whole deal looks like a well painted Rube Goldberg design when the parts are flying about. Funny thing is, it is perfectly balanced and there is almost no noise nor vibration.

Dan

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

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