Baggin' the small iron! (somewhat long)

Greetings, all!

For the past two years, I've been hauling a friend's Delta Midi to shows where I demonstrate. I got so attached, I built a folding table for it - sized so the spindle sits at my elbow height, with captive nuts in the table top spaced so four screws would hold it rigidly in place.

Last month, as my birthday passed, my spouse presented me with the page from Woodcraft displaying the Mercury mini lathe, and told me it had been back-ordered. :-( She decided I was due for my own mini, and had casually asked last summer which I would choose. I'm hooked on variable speed, and liked its small size, so I said the Mercury.

Yesterday, it arrived!! :-) I'm very pleased with how smoothly it runs, but can't tell you yet how it works, because I need to mount it to a bench first. Right out of the box, it sits unbalanced - problem: the fan housing on the motor (or more specifically the screw holding the fan housing in the

6:00 position) extends below the bottom profile of the lathe feet. The instructions included call for the unit to be raised 1-1.5" to allow airflow under the motor and to keep chips free from the fan. This will solve that problem, and the odd arrangements for mounting - bolts must be passed up from beneath into female threads cast into the lathe body. No problem for those permanently mounting theirs to a bench, but I want an "easy on-easy off" approach for craft shows.

I decided to create a set of feet to raise the lathe the required 1" and allow me to attach to my existing captured nuts in the table. It was then that I discovered just how much smaller the Mercury is than the Midi - the feet must overhang by 2" on each end to reach the existing holes. And, even with the 1" riser, the spindle is 5" below elbow height.

So, now the dilemma. I have about $50 worth of Baltic birch in the folding table (I modified plans from Wood magazine - it folds to about 3" thick and locks down rock solid. I even built in a means to support a polycarbonate safety shield in the front). Do I keep this table, and build a 6" high box which I bolt to the underside of the lathe? Do I build a new table to fit the Mercury, and pass the old table on to the owner of the Midi? Do I build the bench I've seen somewhere to hold the Mercury - the one that clamps into a Workmate?

Your suggestions would be appreciated. In the meantime, I'll have to set my new toy aside, and get busy on my N3K - I have a three-week long show in a local coffee house starting October 18, and about 20 boxes roughed and waiting.

Thanks for your help!

Ron Williams MinnDak Woodturners Moorhead, MN

Reply to
Ron Williams
Loading thread data ...

Reply to
william_b_noble

polycarbonate

Reply to
Phil Anselm

Hello Ron,

I've had the Mercury for three years. Initially, it was the 1/4 hp version in which the motor is small enough to clear the mounting without spacers. I later got the 1/2 hp motor for mine and had to add some space to be able to tighten the belt properly, because the new motor hit the mounting surface. I originaly mounted mine on a 2 x 8 board just longer than the lathe. I purchased a stand fro Eagle Hardware, now Lowes, that had all sorts of holes and slots in the top. I set the lathe with its wooden base onto the table where I wanted it and drilled two holes up from the bottom for a 3/8" bolt and use a wingnut and washer to secure it. Before I purchased this stand, I clamped the base board to may Workmate and it worked very well. Unfortunately, the stand doesn't fold up but it is very solid. When I got the 12" bed extension, I had to replace the board with a longer one. It made the lathe a bit heavier to carry but a lot more useful.

It is a great little lathe and I use if for a lot of things. I turn my Chinese Balls on it, because it has less power. A ball slipping in the chuck only stops the little lathe. On the Nova DVR 3000, a slipped ball means a broken one because of the power.

Fred Holder

Reply to
Fred Holder

In article , snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net says... ...snip...

...snip...

Fred:

I see this as a definite down-side for direct drive machines such as the DVR. With my belt-driven machine I can and do adjust the belt tension to cause slipping before something terrible happens. I'm running a 2 hp motor which could flip me upside-down if it wanted. If I need to replace the belt more often because it sometimes slips, so be it. It hasn't been needed yet, though.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Rubenstein

Reply to
Fred Holder

Hello Bill,

I don't consider it a down side for direct drive machines, but something to be aware of when planning a project. The Chinese Ball becomes very fragile and it doesn't take a lot to break it. I have turned a lot of Chinese Balls on the DVR, but because of the amount of power available with a catch I find the Mercury is better for that task.

Fred Holder

Reply to
Fred Holder

Hi Ron I have a Mercury and got over the stand problem by mounting the lathe and riser blocks on a board and then mounting the board via bolts and T-Nuts to a stand which is adjustable vertically to suit both myself and SHMBO. I left the area under the lathe open as a place to keep tools while they were not being used.

When we first set up the lathe we noticed that the bearings were running very warm. We asked Teknatool about this and they advised that the lathe should be run for at least two hours at 3000 rpm to bed the bearings. We did this and the thing has run considerably cooler ever since. This is not in their instructions.

I have recently been told that Teknatool have dropped the Mercury from their range. I don't know if this is only in Australia or totally but it seems odd because its a great little lathe. Anyone know anything about this?

Graeme

Reply to
graeme campbell

InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.