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Nova DVR-XP or Stubby S750?

B

Bill2004

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Jan 14, 2007
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Hi everybody,

I am Bill from Alberta Canada, this is my first post, please bear me.

I've been turning for about a year not very extensively, most small stuff like pens & etc. Recently I've started to turn bowls, WOW, it is so great I really enjoy it. But my little Delta Midi is not very suitable for bowl turning, now you know what's gonna happen - I am looking for a major upgrade.

After so many mistakes made in power tool purchasing for so many year, this time I'll try to make it right. My plan is to purchase a bigger enough lathe and good enough to last my life, and probable my kids’ as well. I wish it will be my second and last wood lathe, the Delta Midi will be dedicated to pen turning and buffing. Some limitations apply: 1) the quality is primary; 2) size does matter, it has to be large enough for larger bowl and platter (>20"), but it can't be too big or too heavy to move due to the nature of my shop - small basement shop and no direct access; 3) versatility is very important, it will be mainly for bowls, platters, and some spindle work as well; 4) it should be available to Canada; 5) it should be reasonable priced for Canadian; 6) cost is always a concern especially for my BOSS

Based on above, those beautiful full size Oneway are out, because it is too big and too heavy to handle, and it is much more expensive to buy in Canada even it is made in Canada; Powermatic 3520B is out too, due to similar reason plus the price tag is not reasonable in Canada – I have to pay about US$3,800 to get one; Jet is not for Canadian; General is more for spindle turning; Vega is not available in Canada. After some research the list was down to three: Nova DVR-XP, Vicmarc 300 Shortbed (longbed is out), and my dream lathe Stubby S750. Nova seems very well made, easy to move around and larger capacity with outrigger, more importantly it fits the bill best (Boss will be happier), it will cost me about $2,500 Canadian dollar plus a free Supernova2 chuck; the Vic 300 is a nice machine, it would cost me somewhere $5,500 Canadian dollar plus a free VM 120 chuck, the problem with this one is the shortbed that would limit the possibility to turn longer work, also I doubt how to move it into my basement, so pretty much it is out too; Stubby S750 will cost me quite a bit more somewhere $7,500 Canadian dollar, but it is the most versatile lathe, I really like the design, and most beautiful part is it can be easily moved to my basement, the heaviest part is only 146lbs. So my final list is Nova and Stubby, I have a very tough decision to make here.

I am not asking opinion on which one is better lathe, because I know the Nova is not in same league as Stubby. My question is for a newbie like me, for same amount of money, does it make more sense to buy a Nova for $2,500 and spend rest $5,000 on wood instead of buying a $7,500 top machine?

I would really appreciate your input.

Thanks,


Bill
 
"<20 inch"

Then it's not the Nova DVR-XP, sorry, but the max bowl (deep) is 16. It will do 20 inch platters, but not deep bowls.

Other then that, I really love the DVR-XP I own.
 
Do the Stubby

I've owned a Stubby for about 2 years now. Lots of pro's - some con's - but the major point is that with the Stubby I've haven't had to think about the lathe. It just does what it is supposed to do which allows me to think about what I am trying to do. Perhaps that is a weird thing to say, but with the other three lathes that I have owned, I always had to think about their limitations as I was working on the piece. Just a well made piece of machinery. You won't regret the additional expense.

As for spending the money on wood, there always seems to be a supply of wood for the asking. It may not be the exotic stuff, but it turns well and with a little experience you can dye wood about any color you want.

In summary - do the Stubby.

All the Best

Dennis Belcher
 
Bill,

You already have all the answers. Nobody, may be except your boss, knows how important the $5K of wood.
Unless you plan to move to the nursing home next year, chances are DVR won't be your last lathe.
I have turned on the Vicmarc at Arrowmont. IMO, it is a good lathe; but the price gap between it and the Stubby should be much wider. It should be closer to the DVR. I have the DVR with outrigger. But if your passion is mainly to turn big bowls, then I would prefer a heavier lathe.

Gordon
 
I bought my 3000 from a guy who was buying a Oneway. Maybe there's an lesson there. Or two. First is the new lathe. There will always be a new lathe, and if it's not greater swing it'll be continuously variable digtal readout laser guided.... If you think the smell of a new car is intoxicating, you haven't smelled cosmoline.

Second lesson: there's always a market for the old one.

Here's my question for you. How much wood greater than 400mm do you run across? Where I live trees are a crop, not pets, and 14" mbh is a veneer log, so really big stuff is uncommon. Not to mention unsaleable as a useful item. If you think the eleven pieces you will turn in the next three years of greater than 400mm diameter warrant three times the investment, have at it.

I'd get the Nova.
 
Welpers, the 3000 is a nice, reliable lathe. It will suit almost all your turning needs for quite a while. The supernova2 is a decent chuck also but you shouldn't count it in your decision.

The Stubby, however, is a racehorse. It is arguably one of the best lathes on the market (along with Robust, Oneway, and a couple of others). If you're a hobby turner and have good use for that extra $5000, definitely go for the Nova. You'll be happy with it and rarely limited on what you can do.

If that $5000 is burning a hole in your pocket and you want to buy the last lathe you'll ever own, go for the Stubby.

Now, as to spending $5000 on wood.... You'd be better off renting a Uhaul and loading it up from the nearest hardwood log yard, even if this is a few hundred miles south. That or I'll mail you quite a selection of chunks at my famous, low, low prices.

Dietrich 😀
 
If your like me and have tons of ideas for wonderfull off center face work you got to go with the stubby. Every other lathe I've looked at I instantly see the limitations of what I want to do with it and what I can do with it.

You must have some serious space if you even thinking about getting 5 grand in wood. Out here on the left coast are fire wood is not as usefull to turn as the right coasters get...but you can contact the lumber mills. It's fairly easy to get pallets of redwood, maple, walnut, mertle, and various fruit and nut woods sent to you. Generally the stuff turners are interested in the mills consider scrap.
 
Bill,

Do you have a friend near the border? Is there anyway to buy a PM 3520B and have it shipped there. The pieces would fit in a van without a problem. The piece break down unlike the 3520A. You probably can get it through customs without too much difficulty.

The price differences in lathes are awfully large here. If you can't get a PM, get the Nova and spend the rest on an outrigger tool post, a couple chucks, and some tools.

Yes, you might think fondly of the times into the future when you could have turned that (insert diameter here) bowl, but really how many times will you do that? I moved up from a 14" Delta to a Powermatic 20". With the 14, I was turning 15" diameter bowls on the outboard barely. With the powermatic I'm turning 14-15" bowls, but much more comfortably. I have found that it's hard in my area to score wood greater than 16" in diameter. It may not be in your area, but I have a 14.5"x7.5" bowl drying right now that is really so big and deep I'm not sure who it could go to that will actually use it unless they're catering a party for 50 during the Super Bowl.

Personally, I think the Nova DVR while a good lathe is over priced. If you can acquire a Stubby, Robust, Oneway, or Powermatic used, I'd seriously consider that as well. Your shop location does limit choice of lathes, but the ability to move a lathe downstairs is only a short trip over to the college Hockey team and some of that funny colored Canadian money 😛. Strong, young backs can lift a lot.

I wouldn't spend the excess money, if there is any, on wood. I'd look to my tools. With a large lathe, there is sandpaper, power sanding equipment, sharpening equipment, hollowing, chucks, bandsaw, dust collection, and a number of other things to consider before wood. You should be able to go to your local dump and cut up some logs with a chainsaw to get good green wood.
 
Nothing will do but a Stubby

I think the Nova's need a lot of work to get to where a Stubby is. It's like driving a Kia compared to a Mercedes. It's really quiet. It's really heavy and being cast iron has a lot of vibration dampening. You can throw a piece on that's way out of round and not worry about the torque flipping your home made stand on which is what you'll have to do if you get a Nova. They use Cutler/Hammer/Eaton controllers so they are the best and easy to get any electrical person to work on if it was ever needed. The Nova has proprietary inners so good luck getting someone other than Teknatool to work on it. Never liked rotating heads as it puts stress on the lathe in a way that it's not intended(got that from a structural engineer who turns) When it's time to sell or should we say when you pass away and the wife or kids decide to sell they will get probably so close to Market Value that it will work out to be more than what you paid for it. They hold their value that well. In the past 3 years I've only seen and heard of 2 used Stubbies for sale, both from wives of the deceased. Oneways and Nova's I see for sale quite often on various forums and from perusing the various club electronic newsletters. Do I need to keep going? Oh, Bill R. with StubbyUSA and John Jordan are great to deal with also.
Brian :cool2:
 
I upgraded from a jet mini to the dvrxp and am very pleased with it's performance. It will probably not be my last lathe. Not because I don't like it but because I'm sure something will come out that I won't be able to live without. I think that's part of the fun in woodworking - a aquisition of tools and the never ending looking and shopping for what is new.
 
WOW, your guys are just great. Sorry for not replying sooner. I really appreciate all your help.

First let me make few things clear, the reason I ruled out the conventional full size lathe like PM3520, Oneway and Vicmarc 300 is 1) those full size lathe will be very difficult to move to my basement, since my basement entry has a 90 degree turn at very top, it is almost impossible to move a long heavy item down to the basement like those full size lathe's bed, believe me I tried before; 2) my dedicate turning area is little less than half of my shop, it is about 12"x12", my new lathe will share the space with my bansaw, a work table, my delta midi, a drill press, plus wood storage, etc, the footprint of lathe is very critical, the Stubby is super in this matter, I am very impressed.

Thanks again for all your invaluable input.

Bii
 
"Now, as to spending $5000 on wood.... You'd be better off renting a Uhaul and loading it up from the nearest hardwood log yard, even if this is a few hundred miles south. That or I'll mail you quite a selection of chunks at my famous, low, low prices."

Dietrich :
Yes, I may need mail order some from you but the shipping and custom duty need to be figure out first, I’ll contact you late. The wood source may be a problem for an Albertan, there are not many hardwood around here like in east coast, but I’ll check all lumber yard to try my luck.

Thanks,

Bill
 
Gordon Seto said:
Bill,

You already have all the answers. Nobody, may be except your boss, knows how important the $5K of wood.
Unless you plan to move to the nursing home next year, chances are DVR won't be your last lathe.
I have turned on the Vicmarc at Arrowmont. IMO, it is a good lathe; but the price gap between it and the Stubby should be much wider. It should be closer to the DVR. I have the DVR with outrigger. But if your passion is mainly to turn big bowls, then I would prefer a heavier lathe.

Gordon
Click to expand...

The Vicnarc 300 shortbed sale price is $4,999 CDN plus a free VM12 chuck from KMStool in BC, plus shipping and tax, it shall end up more than $5,500 CDN, may close to$6,000, it is still quite a bit cheaper than stubby

Bill
 
Wood in the Prairie

Bill2004 said:
",,,
Yes, I may need mail order some from you but the shipping and custom duty need to be figure out first, I’ll contact you late. The wood source may be a problem for an Albertan, there are not many hardwood around here like in east coast, but I’ll check all lumber yard to try my luck.
,,
Click to expand...

Bill, please do check, I grew up in Montana (not that far from you) and hardwoods do grow (and grow well) in the river valleys. We had Russian Olive, Maple, Apple, Box Elder, Elm, etc available to us. We also had tons of Cottonwood (but I have doubts it would turn well). When Dutch Elm hit the town, there was tons of Elm being cut.

Additionally, there are dead trees being taken out of wind-breaks and parks all the time. Another good source

The problem will be, you are competing with the other woodworkers in your area, that already have contacts.

TTFN
Ralph
 
Bill, contact Randy at Vega and he will give you a price and shipping qoute. When I called to see about Dealers in canada he told me I had to buy direct from him.
I haven't dropped the hammer on this yet but hopefully in the near future.

Fred
 
And don't rule out those "soft" woods. Aspen, cedar, fir, tamarak, pine all turn wonderfully.

Dietrich

P.S.(a friend got a stubby for exactly the space reason. It's made me reconsider my dream lathe choice of a Oneway)

P.P.S.(Hey Brian, where the heck are all these used Oneways for sale? I've only seen one on the market in 5 years)
 
Dietrich,
2 were in Ma. 1 in NC, 1 in SC, 1 in Co. 1 in KY. Thise are the ones I remember when I was trying to decide a few months ago, I decided to stick with my dream lathe and went with the Stubby. I even looked at a used VB36. Those Oneways, I found all those for sale within about a month span. You just have to look around on the net and put out some feelers. I searched a lot of Club newsletters that are posted on the web. Besides the VB36 I looked at there was another one on Ebay for sale also. Stubby's on the other hand are hard to find. Has to be a reason.
Brian
 
Hi everybody,

Thanks again for all inputs. Decision is made - Stubby S750 it is. Wish me luck.

Bill

P.S. Brian, I am a structural engineer but not yet qualified as a woodturner.
 
Bill,
You won't regret it. I'm so impressed with this lathe. I also own a Oneway 1018 but feel it will probably just gather dust now as I use the Stubby even for the small stuff. I just ordered the Keith Clark steady rest and deep hollowing system to go with it also. Hope to see you on the Yahoo Stubby Group for Stubby. Brian :cool2:
 
Ok, Bill. Here's your next step.

Before you even get your ship date, contact your nearest AAW chapter (there are three in Alberta) and let them know both that you are a new turner and that you have a Stubby on it's way. You're gonna have folks beating down your door to help you install your lathe and start playing with it. You'll also be able to get some mentoring in before the black beast arrives.

If you think this forum is friendly and helpful, you ain't seen nothin yet.

Dietrich 😉
 
nova drv is fine but has limitations.

I have a Nova DVR 3000 and love it. I turned a 125 lb. slab of hickory into a 19" by 10" deep bowl at the West Virginia State Fair last July. I had to reverse turn the thing and set the head to 22.5 deg.. this allowed me to get my tool rest into the bowl "goofy footed". (The outrigger was useless for somthing this wide and deep at the same time.) Worked great and very clean. The lathe would stop every 3-5 min though, overheated {go figure}and need 5-10 min. to cool down for the next 3-5 min. .... I can't see turning anything bigger or heavier though. This is the limit for my machine. Are you ready for the big league??? go for the Gusto or Put it off for a few more years. If you need to turn big, go stuby. if not, I stand beside my DVR all the way.
 
I got a solution to all the questions. Buy me a Stubby and I'll send you my vintage Nova with the round ways. It's got variable speed, reverse, dynamic braking, AND not a 1/2 or a 3/4, but a whopping 1 hp motor!!!!!

I'll be waiting by the mailbox,
Dietrich 😛
 
Update - Stubby S750 ordered

Hi everybody,

$1,000 deposit paid yesterday. Received confirmation from Bill today, I am officially on the waiting list and my Stubby S750 will be shipped sometime Feb. :cool2: I am very excited and can't wait to try it out. 😉 Just think you may be interested and I really like to share my feeling with you guys. 😀

Thank you for all your invaluble input,

Bill
 
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