Restored Vicmarc VL100 6 speed lathe and custom base stand - $450

[Scott Kershaw]

I will be attending SWAT Woodturning Symposium this coming week, August 22-25, 2024, and would be tickled to me in person to get this lathe into a passionate turner's shop for personal use or teaching.

This is a restored Vicmarc VL100 woodturning lathe that I restored from the ground up after school district shop program liquidation. See serial number and year of manufacture on placard. Located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Motor is 110V, 1/2hp from original Craft Supplies USA kit in the 90’s. Motor is extremely clean, quiet and runs cool. Have added forward and reverse switch. Quick change 6 speed belt system integrated into base stand (NOT variable speed). Lathe is MT2 spindle and tailstock. Spindle is 1” x 8 tpi and threads are impeccable. Upgraded with modern quill in the tailstock as instructed by Vicmarc support. Includes original banjo and tool rest. All painted parts have been sandblasted, primed and painted with similar hammered enamel as factory paint (Vicmarc paint manufacturer is not available in the USA and matched as closely with a commercial product as I could). Base stand constructed based upon the original metal stand Vicmarc made. It is contructed from 3/4" plywood, wired for E-stop, on and off as well as F/R (have not labled F/R switch). Base is resting on 4 large footprint rubber feet to keep lathe in place with long 110V power cord protruding out the back. Base stand is ventilated on each end for motor cooling. See photos for details of restoration. More photos to be posted in the comments as needed.

Please message here or email kershaw.scott@gmail.com for additional contact details or questions. Many thank in advance.

 

[Scott Kershaw]

Additional photos:

 

[Glenn Lefley]

Wow you have did an awesome job. Too bad you aren't in Canada. What a deal of a price.

 

[Scott Kershaw]

Wow you have did an awesome job. Too bad you aren't in Canada. What a deal of a price.

Thank you very much!!! I hear it’s a beautiful time for a road trip, Glenn. 😜 Have a great day.

 

[Jim Reynolds]

Scott,

Bravo on the fine restoration. Someone is going to be very happy to be the next owner of this lathe.

I own the same model of lathe, but not restored. I was intrigued by your statement.

Upgraded with modern quill in the tailstock as instructed by Vicmarc support.

Would you be willing to elaborate on the nature of this upgrade? My assumption is that you made the tailstock quill self ejecting, but want to verify this and would like to know what this entails.

Thank you!! and congratulations again.

 

[Isaac Fisher]

Nice job! Message sent.

 

[Scott Kershaw]

Would you be willing to elaborate on the nature of this upgrade? My assumption is that you made the tailstock quill self ejecting, but want to verify this and would like to know what this entails.

Yes, Jim! I can elaborate on the "upgrade"/modification. I can write a 1000 words or more how but I feel like a few photos will greatly enhance any attempt at an explanation. My photos are on my home computer. I will post an explanation later this evening or tomorrow. I appreciate your patience!

 

[Scott Kershaw]

Nice job! Message sent.

Hey Isaac! I will reply a bit later this evening when I can type better than on my phone.

 

[Jim Reynolds]

Scott,

Please minimize your effort to satisfy my curiosity, unless doing more brings you happiness. This is absolutely not urgent, please get to this when it is convenient.

 

[Scott Kershaw]

Please minimize your effort to satisfy my curiosity, unless doing more brings you happiness.

Jim, all things Vicmarc bring me happiness! Perhaps someone out there may be having the problem I had and may not know the next steps to fix it. I'll spell it out below:

 

[Scott Kershaw]

Regarding the tailstocks on the VL100s of the late 90's, there were modifications made by Vicmarc because of an Achilles tendon on the tailstock casting. Vic and Marco have been extremely helpful in guiding me to restore my lathes to not only working condition but stronger and better working condition than originally designed. Here you see the crank handle end of an early VL100 tailstock. The quill was held in by a C-ring in a thin slot at the end of the tailstock. The cast iron would break out rendering the quill unusable.





Now here, screen shots from the Vicmarc manuals comparing the change in how the quill was mounted in the tailstock. The first photo shows removing the C-clip. The second shows how the quill is seated between two allen key studs locked to the outside of the tailstock by nuts against the casting.







I will post a bit more with photos in a reply

 

[Scott Kershaw]

You can see that the 1995 VL100 that I restored had the tailstock casting remaining intact and I will use it just as aggressively as I would any other lathe tailstock and quill - not external nuts on the tailstock. The lighter blue lathe the shavings on it has the modification that Vic and Marco guided me through - external nuts on allen key studs locking in the quill.






The quill for the current VL150 is nearly a perfect fit on these old VL100s. I did have to mount the quill "nut", the piece which is fixed in the tailstock that allows the threaded quill to protrude and retract, on my other lathe and very gently abrade the external surface until it slid in the old VL100 casting. The steel is very robust and does not flex from the threaded stud pressure and the lock nuts on the outside of the tailstock secure the studs in place.

Aren't you glad I didn't write 5000+ words instead of the 5 photos?

 

[Scott Kershaw]

The lathe has sold. Thank you for your interest!