Nova dvr xp

[paul D. Porter]

I have not seen many comments about this lathe. Before I buy I would like to hear from the 2 percent of the owners who would not recommend this lathe.
And if to buy, where would I find the best price. Thanks all.

 

[n7bsn]

The only person I know that bought one, and didn't like it, was Trevor (GTW on many forums). I think he ended up with a Vicmarc 300)

Until Next weekend, Woodcraft has then on sale (some places will price-match)

One of the things I love, is the ability to run backwards. Makes hollowing out a vessel much easier

TTFN
Ralph (spent all afternoon with mine, but yes if I had $5K I would have a different lathe)

 

[MichaelMouse]

The ones who don't like it generally cite their distrust of the new and proprietary technology represented by the motor. "If it goes," they say, they'll get hooked for big dollars because there's only one supplier. The if appears rare. Electronics boards, the bane of all infinitely variable speed lathes, are another matter. They fail, and you can't just buy another off-the-shelf 2hp 3phase controller like you can with others. You are bound to the manufacturer. Others want analog speed input rather than literally digital, or quarrel with the factory choice of presets.

I've got the first-run 3000, not a DVR, and it's accurate to rotate and reset the head, has a splendidly long banjo and a great inclined rest. Features it shares with the DVR. Seems when this lathe is mentioned, someone always starts the "my spinmunch 2000 weighs twice what that does" business. Reminder that you are not obliged to bolt on a lightweight or flexible base. You can make it as stiff as you want or weigh as much as the whole earth with a few bolts. Its structural integrity is excellent.

 

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Michael. I do have the DVR and would buy it again in a heart beat. No trouble aligning the head when I turn it for outboard turning, big, long banjo. Plenty of power as I core bowls 16" and smaller. You can run this lathe either 110 V or 220 V. That is the one reason I bought it because I didn't have 220 in my shop but if I do get it won't have to upgrade my lathe.

 

[Matt Owen]

I've had my DVR XP for almost 5 years now, and still think it's a great lathe. If I could do it over again, I would buy it again. No regrets.

I have a mini lathe that requires belt changes to change speeds. I hate changing belts (no matter how "easy" it is). Don't have that problem with the DVR. It's a fantastic lathe at a great price.

Matt

 

[john lucas]

OK I'm one of the 2%. I owned a Nova 3000, great lathe. I've turned on the 16/24, great lathe. I've turned on the DVR. Mighty fine lathe. It had a few little irritating things that I would probably get used to if I owned it.
The rotating head alignment is an easy thing to fix. I simply drilled a hole at the joint of the headstock and bed when I had the headstock perfectly aligned. Then all I had to do to get it back was to simply put the same drill bit in that hole and lock the headstock down. That aligned the two parts perfectly every time.
I am one of the motor detractor. Nova is a great company and will back their machines. It's just that I've seen a lot of lathes come and go over the last 20 years and don't see any reason why the Nova DVR won't follow the same route eventually. With luck that would be a long time.
I want a lathe that can be repaired no matter what happens for a long long time. With the Powermatic that I have now I can either replace the parts with aftermarket parts (motor, electronics, bearings). Of I can have a machinist build any brocken parts that aren't available.
Everything on the Nova falls in that category except the motor and spindle. If those parts were to fail ( and everything does eventually) and the company no longer supplied them then the lathe is junk.
This could be a minor consideration if you don't plan on keeping the lathe a long time. I'm 61 and plan on continuing to turn for the next 20 years minimum (I'm crossing my fingers and toes now).

 

[Jim Carroll]

This could be a minor consideration if you don't plan on keeping the lathe a long time. I'm 61 and plan on continuing to turn for the next 20 years minimum (I'm crossing my fingers and toes now).

I like a man who is positive about life and their toys.

80 in a lot of eyes is still young.

 

[LHauch]

Hi Paul,
I had the DVR/XP for over 3 years, it's a good lathe and when I purchased it, it was the only lathe I had room for in the corner of my garage (I had to be able to mount it on my workbench.) It also runs on 110V, which meant I didn't have to re-wire my garage electrical. It does require a dedicated circuit - you can run other things on the same circuit, but not while the lathe is running. The variable speed and 16" swing, along with an extension bed give me a quality 'big' lathe.
I have had one problem that required me to purchase the motion detection sensor board (about $50) - Tim Geist, US rep. was friendly, helped diagnose the problem over the phone and shipped the replacement parts quickly. That said, the lathe was down for 2 weeks.
There are a couple of things that I don't like about the lathe, but I will live with them until I can make room for a Robust American Beauty.
1) While it's variable speed, increasing the speed needs to be done on the headstock - there is no remote (unless I build my own - something I don't care to do at this point in my life.)
2) I would prefer having a speed dial instead of having to hold down buttons.
3) I would like to have a remote on/off switch - if something gets knock off center, (I have yet to meet a turner who has never had a catch) you have to reach around the gyrating piece to hit the off switch.
4) The bolt used for holding the tool rest in place comes loose fairly often, even after I took it apart and used red loctite on the threads to keep it from unscrewing.
5) The knob on the handle for adjusting the tool rest height can get in the way if you're trying to do a shear scrape.
6) The design of the tool rest leaves something to be desired - I've replaced my with a Robust tool rest.

It's still a great lathe for the money.
Cheers,

 

[Matt Owen]

It does require a dedicated circuit - you can run other things on the same circuit, but not while the lathe is running.

I've not had an issue with this. Mine is hooked up to a 20 amp circuit, and I run two 100W lights, my drill for power sanding, and my vacuum pump all at the same time with my lathe running, and I've never tripped the circuit.

Of course, now that I've said that, I will probably make the best turning I've ever done with a very expensive piece of wood, only to trip the circuit while holding with the vacuum pump and the turning will take off and hit every hard, sharp surface in my shop before shattering. Hopefully not.

Matt

 

[AlanZ]

I have no trouble running my DVR XP and my wife's Delta 46-460 concurrently on the same 20 amp circuit.

 

[n7bsn]

I've not had an issue with this. Mine is hooked up to a 20 amp circuit, and I run two 100W lights, my drill for power sanding, and my vacuum pump all at the same time with my lathe running, and I've never tripped the circuit.
,,,

Matt

Mee Tooooo

 

[rjones]

I am in the 2% range the lathe is OK. I have turned on one before but I do not like holding the button down and waiting for the seed to change. I could change the speed on the 3000 with belts faster(it felt like) than wait for it to come to speed or slow down. The not being able to just replace a motor. I think there other lathes out there is the same price range that are better
You ask someone in the 2%
good luck with your purchase of the dvr

 

[LHauch]

I've not had an issue with this. Mine is hooked up to a 20 amp circuit, and I run two 100W lights, my drill for power sanding, and my vacuum pump all at the same time with my lathe running, and I've never tripped the circuit.

Of course, now that I've said that, I will probably make the best turning I've ever done with a very expensive piece of wood, only to trip the circuit while holding with the vacuum pump and the turning will take off and hit every hard, sharp surface in my shop before shattering. Hopefully not.

Matt

Hi Folks, that's what happened to me - I had been running three lights, my vacuum pump and the lathe off the same circuit for over two years. Then one day something happened (still not sure what caused it) that tripped the breaker. Now, the vacuum pump, when I need it, is on a separate circuit (long, heavy duty extension cord from the other side of my garage.)
One of these days, I'll get an electrician in to add a couple of 220 circuits and a few more 110.
To quote Tim the Tool Man Taylor, "Woof, woof, more power".

Cheers,

 

[n7bsn]

I am in the 2% range the lathe is OK. I have turned on one before but I do not like holding the button down and waiting for the seed to change. ...

Sorry, but the OP was asking about the DVR-XP, not the DVR. The DVR-XP has 5 pre-set speeds and you can change those ranges with as little as 2 button pushes. Which would be going from speed 1 to speed 2(500rpm) or from speed 3 to speed 2. Going from speed 1 to speed 5 would be 9 button pushes, which in my case would be from 250 rpm to 1750 rpm. Four of the five speed ranges are programmable (speed 2 is fixed at 500 rpm).

Of course you still can hold the button down and change in small increments.

One thing I really like about the DVR-XP, if I turn the lathe off, then back on, it comes up at 500 rpm. So there is no change of accidentally leaving the lathe at 3000 rpms (after turning a pen or bobbin) and starting to rough a 14 inch bowl blank. Yes I always turn it off at the end of a session.

TTFN
Ralph

 

[kevinkabby]

Great small lathe

The only thing that I don't like about it is the headstock doesn't slide to the end.

 

[David Wilkins]

Ralph, you can reprogram #2 but it will only program to speeds under 500 rpm since it is the default speed at start.

I think the cord should be about ten feet longer, my version of a complaint regarding my dvr xp

 

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Ralph in that I have my 5 presets set to the speeds I normally use for say bowls, etc and can change them in like 10 seconds.

 

[paul D. Porter]

Appreciate all the feed back on the Nova Lathe. Mine should arrive on Thursday 4/10/10. Thanks for your help.

 

[rsser]

I've heard of 2 dead motherboards in my city and one o/s. One user has been waiting months.

That said, the driveline is smooth and powerful and the best thing about the lathe.

The machining and castings on mine were 'Chinese' standard. Centres wouldn't align and allow the tailstock to go over the bed join. The live centre is not self ejecting. The toolrest needed to be filed flat. The headstock needed repeated wiggling for the detent pin to pop up properly to hold it at 0 degrees. The size of the bowl you can get while swivelling out the headstock with the banjo supplied is very limited so you must have the outrigger. Even that could do with being 3" longer and the toolrest hole at least an inch shorter to allow more varied tool presentations.

But the worst in my book is that there is no electronic rampdown so when you finally locate and hit the soft off button in an 'oh shoot' situation, a medium sized bowl blank will take around 40 seconds to stop. That makes this lathe a dangerous device for bowl turners IMO.

I sold mine after a year.

 

[Alan Trout]

I have had mine for going on 3 years and all I can say is would I buy it again in a heartbeat. My castings functioned fine and the tail stock lined up with the headstock within .005" which is well within my tolerances. My headstock pin popped in without a problem and I love the freewheel at shutoff of the headstock. I miss that when I use other lathes. I also feel it is one of the safest lathes for the beginning bowl turner as it has the safety catch feature that no other lathe has. I agree that I wish the banjo was a little longer and one day I may either build a longer one or buy one and modify it to fit my needs. I also wish there was a remote factory available. There has been talk of one but if it is never released I will make my own. Which now that the electronics are out of warranty on mine I might do it anyway.

I have seen some boards that have gone bad but were fixed rather quickly in the USA. For fairness I have also seen motor issues with the Jet 1642 with the 2HP and they had to be replaced. I have seen bearing issues on PM 3520 as well and other things that have gone wrong on all of these machines such as bad AC drives etc. Coming from a machine tool background I can assure everyone that there is a defect rate even amongst the finest machinery in the world.

What many of us need to realize is that to some extent that the globalization of our machinery has enabled many of us to afford the hobby/art of wood turning with equipment that is much more capable then was affordable just a generation ago. For many hobbyist a generation ago all they could afford was a Craftsman tube lathe or a small belt driven Delta lathe that would set them back $300 or $400 dollars in 1970. In 1970 $1000 had the same buying power as approximately $5500 today. So buy that comparison that delta lathe cost more than the DVR XP and yet that DVR XP is a much more capable machine.

We are truly fortunate today that we have so many choices and there is large enough market demand for those choices and large enough market demand for innovation in lathes that we all benefit from. What is so nice today I can produce the same quality of work on my DVR XP as can be produced on a Oneway, Vicmac, or Robust. Are those lathes better than mine? Yes they are, but the DVR XP has allowed me to develop my skills at a price that I could afford and allowed me to even get involved in this craft/art.

Alan

 

[Matt Owen]

I have had mine for going on 3 years and all I can say is would I buy it again in a heartbeat. My castings functioned fine and the tail stock lined up with the headstock within .005" which is well within my tolerances. My headstock pin popped in without a problem and I love the freewheel at shutoff of the headstock. I miss that when I use other lathes. I also feel it is one of the safest lathes for the beginning bowl turner as it has the safety catch feature that no other lathe has. I agree that I wish the banjo was a little longer and one day I may either build a longer one or buy one and modify it to fit my needs. I also wish there was a remote factory available. There has been talk of one but if it is never released I will make my own. Which now that the electronics are out of warranty on mine I might do it anyway.

I have seen some boards that have gone bad but were fixed rather quickly in the USA. For fairness I have also seen motor issues with the Jet 1642 with the 2HP and they had to be replaced. I have seen bearing issues on PM 3520 as well and other things that have gone wrong on all of these machines such as bad AC drives etc. Coming from a machine tool background I can assure everyone that there is a defect rate even amongst the finest machinery in the world.

What many of us need to realize is that to some extent that the globalization of our machinery has enabled many of us to afford the hobby/art of wood turning with equipment that is much more capable then was affordable just a generation ago. For many hobbyist a generation ago all they could afford was a Craftsman tube lathe or a small belt driven Delta lathe that would set them back $300 or $400 dollars in 1970. In 1970 $1000 had the same buying power as approximately $5500 today. So buy that comparison that delta lathe cost more than the DVR XP and yet that DVR XP is a much more capable machine.

We are truly fortunate today that we have so many choices and there is large enough market demand for those choices and large enough market demand for innovation in lathes that we all benefit from. What is so nice today I can produce the same quality of work on my DVR XP as can be produced on a Oneway, Vicmac, or Robust. Are those lathes better than mine? Yes they are, but the DVR XP has allowed me to develop my skills at a price that I could afford and allowed me to even get involved in this craft/art.

Alan

I couldn't agree more. Well said, Alan. Even Rolls Royce has had quality issues from time to time.

Matt

 

[rsser]

How much you like this lathe depends on what turning experience you have and what you intend to do, along with the value proposition.

My bare model was AUD 3500 here in Australia but they've come down since I bought it and recently one could be had for 2500.

But then you are looking at most of the extras: bed extension, prob extension hinge, stand and outrigger.

In any case, the heavy metal parts show all the characteristics of Chinese manufacture. You may get a good one or you may get one that you have to fettle, or fiddle with repeatedly. Good luck with your lottery. Same applies to Nova chucks, vac coupling, sharpening centre etc. Do a thorough websearch.

My expectations were prob too high for this quality of buy. Have had two Vicmarcs and one Stubby. That said, at $2500 rather than $3500 you can put up with some fiddling and for a hobby turner that value proposition ain't too bad.

BUT, for a serious faceplate turner the lack of a remote and of electronic braking would, at a guess, make this a machine that could not be installed in a factory and meet occupational health and safety requirements. Not in a first world country anyway.

PS given the recent near downing of a 380 due to a RR engine failure, maybe there's a better analogy ;-}

 

[n7bsn]

Rsser
I am going to have to disagree with you on your entire premise, at least from the point of view of a US turner.
I've had two repairs on the club's lathes main board done, one took two weeks, the other I got a call on Tuesday about and Roger said they would be shipping it Wed, this repair took a 6 working days for it to get repaired.

My personal DVR-XP, has more hours then the club lathe, and has never had a issue, I suspect there is some problem on the (older) DVR the club owns.

When I got my NZ made unit, it had flashing issues all over the castings that I had to clean up. Also I had to ream out the tool-rest hole to allow the supplied tool rest to fit. Somehow I don't think the flashing issue is restricted to the ones from the China plant.

The lack of brakes is a personal issue, I know people that would dislike having one.

As for the pivoting head, never had an issue with the detent pin or doing out-board turning. But then I turn "in reverse" outboard (and usually hollow in reverse also). Like any pivot head lathe, you have to check the alignment when you swing the head back into place.

The regular US price on the DVR-XP is about $2250, sale prices are much lower (I paid less then $2000 for mine).

I also know more then a couple of production turners that use them, they also may be the most common "club" lathe around, strictly because they have power and a small footprint. Their light weight makes them easy to move, a big plus for clubs

 

[Alan Trout]

Ern,

I did not make my post to get you riled up, but evidently I did.

How much you like this lathe depends on what turning experience you have and what you intend to do, along with the value proposition.

Are you trying to say that in some way that I have little experience or that in some way I have low expectations because I Own a DVR XP? I know more people that have had good luck then bad with their Teknatool products.

BUT, for a serious faceplate turner the lack of a remote and of electronic braking would, at a guess, make this a machine that could not be installed in a factory and meet occupational health and safety requirements. Not in a first world country anyway.

No I am not a serious faceplate turner but a pretty serious turner that does mostly hollow vessels. I also wonder what OSHA would say about using and arm brace for hollowing? Most of our lathes would not be allowed in a factory setting for many reasons.

Having owned a machine shop and working as a factory rep in the machine tool industry I am pretty picky. I am also very picky about the work that I produce. Just ask anyone that has seen my work. I am very serious about the work that I do and take pride in the quality of my work.

Ern,

I know you have a problem with Teknatool products. I have seen your post on many boards and every chance you get you tell everyone how horrible their products are. That is fine just don't start telling me that if someone owns a Nova lathe that they must have made a less intelligent purchase decision or must not be an enlightened turner. Not only is this not accurate, it is not true.

I also Own and Australian Woodfast that I enjoy very much and probably will buy another really large lathe one day. I have no bias from one lathe to another I teach on a Jet 1642 I have used PM's, Oneways, and Vicmarc's so yes I have used many different machines. In reality I like them all and could use anyone to my satisfaction.

By the way do you know where the Vicmarc castings come from?

Good Luck

Alan

 

[rsser]

Well, the OP Paul asked about the 2% so I'm one of them; of course this is not a survey so it may be 0.2% or 20%. Who knows?

Good to know that the NZ made lathes had some faults too. I don't want to can Nova just for going to China.

Lack of electronic braking not an issue? Well it will be when you need it. Of course you take care not to mount a defective blank. We all do. But often it doesn't appear til you've done a bit of turning. You hear a bit of rumbling, or some ticking, and then you have an 'oh shoot' moment. By all means, dive under the lathe bed if you have the quick response times that makes champions of ordinary sportsmen. With a remote control you just hit the red button on the box that you've mounted close to hand. Is that not a better option? Or would you prefer to void your warranty and do a kludge remote?

As to checking centre alignment after swinging out the headstock, with mine and a friend who has a NZ made unit, we are talking about wiggle wiggle wiggle, hit the detent pin, wiggle some more, all while bringing up the tailstock that has had to be left a bit slack to go over the bed join. Is that fun or would you prefer to be turning?

OK, in those terms it's just a sample of 2. But this is what Paul was asking about.

I've gone back to a Vicmarc 175. Lay down misere. But I don't know that you folks have that option.

 

[rsser]

Ern,

I did not make my post to get you riled up, but evidently I did.

Are you trying to say that in some way that I have little experience or that in some way I have low expectations because I Own a DVR XP? I know more people that have had good luck then bad with their Teknatool products.

No I am not a serious faceplate turner but a pretty serious turner that does mostly hollow vessels. I also wonder what OSHA would say about using and arm brace for hollowing? Most of our lathes would not be allowed in a factory setting for many reasons.

Having owned a machine shop and working as a factory rep in the machine tool industry I am pretty picky. I am also very picky about the work that I produce. Just ask anyone that has seen my work. I am very serious about the work that I do and take pride in the quality of my work.

Ern,

I know you have a problem with Teknatool products. I have seen your post on many boards and every chance you get you tell everyone how horrible their products are. That is fine just don't start telling me that if someone owns a Nova lathe that they must have made a less intelligent purchase decision or must not be an enlightened turner. Not only is this not accurate, it is not true.

I also Own and Australian Woodfast that I enjoy very much and probably will buy another really large lathe one day. I have no bias from one lathe to another I teach on a Jet 1642 I have used PM's, Oneways, and Vicmarc's so yes I have used many different machines. In reality I like them all and could use anyone to my satisfaction.

By the way do you know where the Vicmarc castings come from?

Good Luck

Alan

I'm not riled Alan.

And if you look at my posts re Teknatool/Nova on the major Oz WW forum you'll find critical assessments, not just statements about how horrible the stuff is. I've posted favorably on the SN2 and Titan chucks that I have. I've never said it's all crap, only that the QC is something of a lottery and that there are some simple easily rectified design shortcomings.

I can't see where in my posts above I've said anything like someone is dumb to buy the DVR XP; I have been saying that there are some dumb design aspects to it.

A friend who was what you call a machinist helped me assemble my unit. He's qualified to make judgements on the quality of the machining and he was underwhelmed; the cause as he saw it was simple lack of care.

ADDED: in case you care about the accuracy of your generalisation, here are some links to Australian posts I've made about Teknatool/Nova -

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/teknatool-nova-titan-chuck-117432/

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/chuck-mount-nova-live-centre-system-owners-114346/

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/what-do-i-buy-shed-tools-57382/

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/switching-jaws-55873/

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/chuck-16000/

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/chuck-99494/index3.html

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/selling-stubby-96783/index11.html

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/chuck-99494/index4.html

 

[Alan Trout]

Ern,

I did not see any of your comments in your links as positive or negative pretty neutral and informational only. but I have seen plenty that are complain about the DVR XP or chuck run-out etc. Which I have 4 nova chucks 2 made in china and two made in NZ which the China made chucks have less run out and none are anything to be concerned with. I also own a Oneway chuck which is a fine piece and have used Vicmarcs as well. All good units.

I can't see where in my posts above I've said anything like someone is dumb to buy the DVR XP; I have been saying that there are some dumb design aspects to it.

How much you like this lathe depends on what turning experience you have and what you intend to do, along with the value proposition.

BUT, for a serious faceplate turner the lack of a remote and of electronic braking would, at a guess, make this a machine that could not be installed in a factory and meet occupational health and safety requirements. Not in a first world country anyway.

Well there was innuendo in you post that you could not be a serious faceplate turner and own a DVR XP. Also that it depends if you have experience or not depends on how much you would like the lathe i.e. if you do not have experience you will like it and if you have a great deal of experience you will not. Some things you see as dumb design aspects some see as positives.

I don't mind at all telling about your problems but the way it was presented was IMHO not fair to the person that started the thread or to the manufacturer.

Good Luck

Alan

 

[rsser]

You clearly didn't read those threads very carefully. I posted run-out figures on my 2 Nova chucks, cp a Vicmarc 100 and said there was nothing to worry about. (In the thread started by a US user of an Nova chuck who gave up after three out-of-true examples).

I said that the Titan was a great piece of kit.

I praised the interchangeability of (most) Nova jaws across their chucks while criticising one aspect of their design.

I praised the driveline of the DVR XP, as I did here.

The OP asked Before I buy I would like to hear from the 2 percent of the owners who would not recommend this lathe and that's what I've been responding to.

Anyone making a big buying decision has the great resource of the web to help inform it. I recommended above doing a thorough websearch. There are plenty of other folk critical of Nova quality and some have said publicly that they would not buy Nova again because of it. Well Paul's made his decision and I wish him the best with it.

This is my last post on the matter.

 

[Alan Trout]

Ern,

I think you have clearly misunderstood my point.


Good Luck

Alan

 

[paul D. Porter]

thanks a bunch

I now own one and am very pleased. For good or bad my wife doesn't hear me in the basement truning anymore. My old AMC. Co.long gone out of business made quite a racket in its last days. But still turned wood round!

I would hope the web master might remove my Thread since so many have answered my question.

 

[Matt Owen]

Congratulations! Have fun.

Matt