Stratos Lathe?

[Don Wattenhofer]

As I told PM when I was asking about the 50 rpm shut off speed for the B model, I have sanded out thousands of bowls in that speed range, and had no problems. "Oh no, that is impossible, and tests in our labs show that your motor will overheat and you will fry your electronics."

Lab tests? YA right

Baldor has inverter duty motors with a separate 120V fan attached on the end that runs continuously at 3450 rpm.

I was aware of that but that is an extreme problem that would only happen in factory conditions and as ROBO said he never had a problem with heat

 

[Isaac Litster]

You have better eyes than I do if you could see or not see if there was a taper on that tenon. I routinely turn items with an 1/8" dovetail tenon.

I believe that is a Nova chuck, and if it is, and those are the 50mm jaws, I don’t think they have a traditional dovetail on the inside. I have those jaws, and it has a “tooth” on the top of the inside of the jaws, not a dovetail

 

[Isaac Litster]

When you all decide on the ideal lathe, can you make and test in before 2026 so I can have it be my final lathe? 🙂

 

[Mark Hancock]

One more lathe on the international marketplace with a pivoting headstock. I sure wish the American marketplace were more interested in this feature.....and for the life of me, I don't see why the American marketplace hasn't made the pivoting headstock a desirable option. If I ever replace my Woodfast lathe, the pivoting headstock would be mandatory for me.....

• Headstock, bed, legs, tailstock and tool rest all made from cast iron
• Live center
• Variable speed through 3 pulleys
• 24 index system
• Tool rest 400 mm
• Faceplate 150 mm
• Bed extension available
• Pivoting and sliding headstock
• Forward and reverse
• Mobile control box with magnet
• Handwheel

-o-

Here's a lathe to consider, Titan 315G. Designed by a German woodturner/engineer.

 

[odie]

Here's a lathe to consider, Titan 315G. Designed by a German woodturner/engineer.

Yes, the Titan has been mentioned before on the AAW forums a couple years ago. As far as I know, this lathe isn't available on the American marketplace yet.....or many of the other big heavy-duty swivel head lathes that are available internationally. It still bugs me that we are spoon-fed that the sliding headstock is a better option. The solitary reason for this, is because it supports the current premium lathes that are available to us here on the American marketplace.

The main reason I prefer a pivoting headstock over a sliding headstock, is the latter requires the repositioning of the turner, and any of his tooling that is in direct conflict with that change in the bowl's location. Sooner or later, the American marketplace will wake up to this basic fact.

A pivoting headstock is such a simple concept, but it does require extra effort for the mechanical engineer.

-o-

 

[robo hippy]

My 3520A was a very early model, and it had a small fan under the phase converter to keep it cool. Of course, the baffles on the converter were a perfect place for chips to go, and I had to put some screen over the top of the baffles to keep them from stopping the fan. This was discontinued shortly after I got mine. I think I also had a solid cast iron tool rest and it snapped also. They went to steel after that.

robo hippy

 

[JeffSmith]

A pivoting headstock is such a simple concept, but it does require extra effort for the mechanical engineer.

-o-

It’s a ‘horses for courses’ situation. If you believe a pivoting head solves your problem, it probably will. I’ve been using sliding headstock machines for a couple of decades now - the setup is quick and simple and allows full access for what I need to do. The clamping mechanism on my lathe is truly robust with a clamp that’s basically the size of the headstock footprint. Adding a pivot necessitates finding a good secure way to support the toolrest in addition to machining a well designed pivot and locking system. As with anything that involves engineering to achieve, the cheapest solutions are often the most problematic and should be avoided.
In the long run, get what solves your problems and allows you to do the work you wish to do at the best level of comfort and security.

By the way, an acquaintance several years ago bought a Titan Magma lathe - what a beautiful, well-designed piece of equipment. He passed a while back and his club in Olympia was tasked with helping his widow liquidate his shop. I didn’t hear what it sold for, or even how he managed to import it…but it was a nice lathe with all the bells and whistles.

 

[Steven Ganci]

Lots of good lathes with sliding and pivoting headstocks available in Europe that are not sold in North America, such as the Stratos models, Magma Titan, Hapfo Performer, Killinger, and several Steinert lathes. We have excellent lathes available here in the U.S, but for ergonomic (neck and back issues) reasons I would like a full sized lathe with a pivoting headstock.

The Steinert VGM300 is probably my dream lathe but it's way out of my price range:

Steinert® VGM300 Lathe

The new Steinert® VGM300 hand lathe is an essential for our three heavy machines V B36, G amma and M aximo. The wishes and experiences of…

drechslershop.de

 

[Graham Dolby]

Simon Hope is the UK dealer for Stratos and several of his videos were shot at Stratos. He demos his thread cutting jig and Paul Howard demos his jigs there.

 

[Graham Dolby]

If the opportunity arrises, look at Nova and their DVR drive.

I have a Nova Saturn and the one thing I really like is that there are 8 pre-set speeds so you don't have to faff around adjusting the speed until it reaches the speed you want.
I really wanted a Oneway but there was no way that I could get that monster into my basement☹️

 

[Steve Tiedman]

I really wanted a Oneway but there was no way that I could get that monster into my basement☹️

See the last item in the Oneway FAQ about getting a Oneway into your basement.
https://oneway.ca/faq

 

[Bill Alston]

It’s a ‘horses for courses’ situation. If you believe a pivoting head solves your problem, it probably will. I’ve been using sliding headstock machines for a couple of decades now - the setup is quick and simple and allows full access for what I need to do. The clamping mechanism on my lathe is truly robust with a clamp that’s basically the size of the headstock footprint. Adding a pivot necessitates finding a good secure way to support the toolrest in addition to machining a well designed pivot and locking system. As with anything that involves engineering to achieve, the cheapest solutions are often the most problematic and should be avoided.
In the long run, get what solves your problems and allows you to do the work you wish to do at the best level of comfort and security.

By the way, an acquaintance several years ago bought a Titan Magma lathe - what a beautiful, well-designed piece of equipment. He passed a while back and his club in Olympia was tasked with helping his widow liquidate his shop. I didn’t hear what it sold for, or even how he managed to import it…but it was a nice lathe with all the bells and whistles.

There have been quite a few pivoting head lathes available over here and the tool rest support on many of them have been truly dreadful. Getting the head back in line often also requires a double Morse taper mandrel. Far less to go wrong with a sliding head in my opinion.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

There have been quite a few pivoting head lathes available over here and the tool rest support on many of them have been truly dreadful. Getting the head back in line often also requires a double Morse taper mandrel. Far less to go wrong with a sliding head in my opinion.

Point taken, but it takes about 30 seconds to realign the head with the double taper tool.

 

[Jim McLain]

It’s a ‘horses for courses’ situation. If you believe a pivoting head solves your problem, it probably will. I’ve been using sliding headstock machines for a couple of decades now - the setup is quick and simple and allows full access for what I need to do. The clamping mechanism on my lathe is truly robust with a clamp that’s basically the size of the headstock footprint. Adding a pivot necessitates finding a good secure way to support the toolrest in addition to machining a well designed pivot and locking system. As with anything that involves engineering to achieve, the cheapest solutions are often the most problematic and should be avoided.
In the long run, get what solves your problems and allows you to do the work you wish to do at the best level of comfort and security.

By the way, an acquaintance several years ago bought a Titan Magma lathe - what a beautiful, well-designed piece of equipment. He passed a while back and his club in Olympia was tasked with helping his widow liquidate his shop. I didn’t hear what it sold for, or even how he managed to import it…but it was a nice lathe with all the bells and whistles.

I worked directly with Martin at Magma Tools when I imported my Titan 400. They air freighted it into Dallas and ground from there. Surprisingly it was not that much more than ground freight of a Oneway or Robust. I have had it for 8 years now and still love it. Posted a short reel on the indexing system on my instagram the other day.