Vega Bowl Lathes??

[Tom Yip]

I have a medium-sized lathe for some good spindle turning but most of the time I turn bowls... so I'm looking for a lathe with large swing, and a bowl lathe seems to be a good match for what I wanted. So far I can only find Vega 2600T which is made in USA, but I don't know if it's still in the business of making lathes as I can't find anything on their website. How easy is to get parts and get it fixed if something goes wrong? I would love to take a look at the user manual but I can't find that on the web...

Also, are there any other good bowl lathes available in the market (new or slightly used)?

I'm also thinking if is there anything that a bowl lathe cannot do... Coring? Indexing? Thanks for the advice and recommendations!

 

[Richard Coers]

The Vega bowl lathe is made of standard off the shelf hardware. In my opinion it was made like something in a farm shop. No castings, not even many threaded parts. The one I tested had some hex nuts welded to fabricated steel parts instead of threaded parts. Early ones were fixed pulley speeds, newer came with variable speed. I'm not a fan.

 

[hockenbery]

a lot more expensive
VB3 - it’s a beast
oneway 2416 - an elegant beast

out of production used ones come on the market occasionally
Nichols lathe -
union graduate - it’s a lathe people love or hate

I know several owners of these lathes who are happy with them.
we have a 2416 with a 17” outboard is an ideal bowl lathe.

 

[Tom Yip]

Thanks for the tip Richard and Mr/Mrs Hockenbery! Guess I have one less option to research, which is good. I have been seriously thinking of getting a OneWay as well. All the new accessories I bought recently are OneWay. Just that it doesn't have a sliding headstock. If I get a OneWay and wanted to turn both bowls and spindles then I'd have to get a long bed model, and I'll be in a less comfortable posture turning bowls.

Now thinking about it.. why not just making a pair of riser blocks and maybe getting a bigger banjo from Oneway/Robust for turning large pieces? Adding a 4" riser block to my 16" lathe and I'll get 24" swing! I've thought of outboard turning as well, but the lathe bed is too low for me anyways. So using riser blocks seems to be a better option, unless it's absolutely a bad idea to use riser blocks.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

The Vega bowl lathe is made of standard off the shelf hardware. In my opinion it was made like something in a farm shop. No castings, not even many threaded parts. The one I tested had some hex nuts welded to fabricated steel parts instead of threaded parts. Early ones were fixed pulley speeds, newer came with variable speed. I'm not a fan.

The lathe that everyone wants now, made in the USA, also has no castings. My third lathe is a Vega 2600. It is an excellent bowl lathe. Much better than the one people are paying now well over $10.000 Mine has variable speed, and pulleys. One of the best lathes available at the time they were in production and still a great lathe.

 

[hockenbery]

get a OneWay and wanted to turn both bowls and spindles then I'd have to get a long bed model, and I'll be in a less comfortable posture turning bowls

With the long bed you can put a 17” bed on the outboard. You can stand in front Of this.
rough between centers inboard
Mount on the outboard for hollowing.
a second banjo is nice to have but a swinger makes moving the banjo quick.
swing the switch pendant an flip the reverse switch.
if you are doing several you can just leave the Chuck on the outboard.

out board on a oneway is threaded the same as the inboard.

a lot easier than sliding a headstock.
the big table is also available for the outboard if you decide to turn big stuff.

 

[robo hippy]

There is one problem with using riser blocks, and the same applies to bandsaws, but I think that fad has died down some with all the new bandsaws on the market. Adding 4 inches of height, which means 8 inches of diameter means you have a lathe with motor and bearings that are designed for turning 16 inches, not 22. Having that extra throw makes a lot of sense if you are going to be turning bowls that size often. I prefer to err on the side of caution, and would want a tool designed for that purpose. If that is the only way you can afford it, then it does make some sense. If you are only going to turn a few bowls that size, then there will be few problems. If you want to try out a bowl that size, ask a friend in the club if you can come over for a play date. Only turned on a Vega once, and it was a good lathe. I am fairly sure they are out of business now, which is unfortunate.

Not sure about Al's comment about outboard being easier than the sliding headstock. Flip the lever, slide it down, flip the lever back. Tailstock and banjo the same. There are now some excellent tilt away options for the tailstock set ups as well.... I have no experience with turning outboard. My lathes have always been in a corner, so outboard was not an option. I do find it strange that many with sliding headstocks still turn with it in long bed orientation rather than sliding it to the end. That being able to stand up straight makes a huge difference at the end of a day.

robo hippy

 

[JeffSmith]

The lathe that everyone wants now, made in the USA, also has no castings. My third lathe is a Vega 2600. It is an excellent bowl lathe. Much better than the one people are paying now well over $10.000 Mine has variable speed, and pulleys. One of the best lathes available at the time they were in production and still a great lathe.

The only lathe I can think of that fits this description is the Robust, and has several cast parts - headstock, tailstock, tilt-away, banjo are all cast in the US...only the legs and bed are weldments. Titan lathes from Europe are full weldments, I believe.

 

[Richard Coers]

The lathe that everyone wants now, made in the USA, also has no castings. My third lathe is a Vega 2600. It is an excellent bowl lathe. Much better than the one people are paying now well over $10.000 Mine has variable speed, and pulleys. One of the best lathes available at the time they were in production and still a great lathe.

I'm certain that one made in Milwaukee is far superior to the Vega. You get superior strength and torsional resistance with round and gusseted tubes compared to square and rectangular boxes. The bearings on the Vega were face mounted ball bearing pillow blocks. No line boring to put the bearings in line. Just slide in the shaft and hope the torquing of the 8 bolts on the Vega don't move the alignment. The other one is far superior with what I recall having 4 bearings. The other one doesn't need to be weighted down with concrete, It has a tailstock that automatically lines up with the headstock and doesn't need to be bolted onto the lathe, nor does it need to be aligned with set screws like the Vega was. After a lifetime of engineering Caterpillar machines, I feel there is really no comparison. I tried the Vega, but put my money on a Oneway with the big outboard attachment. I'm confident I can get the same money back from what I paid for the Oneway in 1998. I really don't believe the Vega holds the value as well. I know I won't change your mind since you love the Vega, just stating an engineer's opinion.

 

[Doug Freeman]

@Emiliano Achaval Surprised you didn’t bring up your Stubbys.

 

[Dean Center]

Richard,
I was under the impression than Robust lathes were made in Barneveld, which is not in the Milwaukee area. You live in the general vicinity, so I'll take your word for it, but can you confirm?

 

[GRJensen]

Richard,
I was under the impression than Robust lathes were made in Barneveld, which is not in the Milwaukee area. You live in the general vicinity, so I'll take your word for it, but can you confirm?

Actually, Dean Center is right ... Robust lathes are manufactured in Barneveld, Wisconsin, a community about 30 miles southwest of Madison. Robust does have some casting work done by contractors in other nearby cities.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'm certain that one made in Milwaukee is far superior to the Vega.

Were you thinking of the beer that made Milwaukee famous?

 

[Tom Yip]

I almost pulled the trigger for a Robust lathe. Everything is great - The only 2 things that I can nitpick are 1) the standard bed is just a few inches too short. I cannot turn a 34" baseball bat unless I get the long bed model. Also, it doesn't have the option to add a safety cage. The price tag is close to 10K after adding some common options and shipping. I can see why it cost this much, and so does the engineering tradeoffs for the Vega. Afterall, it's a bowl lathe, as long as the spindle runout is minimal, and the the entire structure that connect the spindle to the tool rest does not vibrate much, then it's a good. Alignment between head/tail stock and the precision of the bed is at a lower priority when production cost is a concern. I wish I get a chance to try them both and compare

I'll get the Robust if I can get one of my kids hooked to turning, so I can pass it down to someone when I can't use it anymore.

 

[Tom Yip]

@Emiliano Achaval Surprised you didn’t bring up your Stubbys.

From what I heard, it would take a year to get a Stubby these days. I actually have thought of that too, another great brand and it's design is more robust than a Robust Just that now there is no distributor for the US so logistics and maintenance can be an issue. I emailed the company in Australia last week and so far I haven't heard back from them.

 

[Rick Crawford]

From what I heard, it would take a year to get a Stubby these days. I actually have thought of that too, another great brand and it's design is more robust than a Robust Just that now there is no distributor for the US so logistics and maintenance can be an issue. I emailed the company in Australia last week and so far I haven't heard back from them.

Email Rod directly...he's the boss.
rod@ampengineeringsolutions.com.au

 

[John Jordan]

With the long bed you can put a 17” bed on the outboard. You can stand in front Of this.
rough between centers inboard
Mount on the outboard for hollowing.
a second banjo is nice to have but a swinger makes moving the banjo quick.
swing the switch pendant an flip the reverse switch.
if you are doing several you can just leave the Chuck on the outboard.

out board on a oneway is threaded the same as the inboard.

a lot easier than sliding a headstock.
the big table is also available for the outboard if you decide to turn big stuff.

There is nothing difficult about sliding a headstock.

 

[Dean Hedstrom]

If you can find a Vega grab it. I recently acquired one and it is rock or maybe concrete solid. Richard makes a good point about lack of engineering fitness. (I'm an engineer as well and my firm designed a lot of industrial equipment.) You do not need ABEC Class 7 bearings to support a 50 pound burl at 200 RPM. My Vega has some mileage on it and shows no indication of drive train wear. Not much can go wrong that a competent mechanic is unable to fix. I have heard that vegawoodworking.com can supply parts. May only be a rumor. I replaced the factory Toshiba VFD with an Allen-Bradley drive mounted under the bed and industrial style selector switch, speed pot, and E-stop buttons. (Because I had stuff in inventory and using the drive front panel for start-stop and speed control is not ideal.) I've occasionally hefted the tailstock to support large stock. I added jack screws for alignment. I especially like standing square to the bowl axis for interior turning. I've turned on a Oneway, nice lathe, but it seemed awkward to me. My next choice is a Stubby. My mentor patiently waited and yes, shipping and importing added some frustration. The Stubby is far more refined than the Vega. I may get one on order and wait out the delivery. --DKH

 

[hockenbery]

There is nothing difficult about sliding a headstock.

Using a sliding headstock is not hard.
I know you understand how an outboard works but lots of forum users are unfamiliar with the concept.

to set up the outboard i have to move the switch and flip the reverse.

to set up a sliding headstock you have to move the switch, move the tailstock, move the banjo, unlock the head stock, move the headstock, lock the headstock. I agree nothing difficult just more stuff to do.

if I don’t have a banjo on the outboard it gets more complicated. I then have to move the switch, flip reverse, move the tailstock, move the banjo to the outboard.
Some days moving a banjo is difficult

 

[Bill Szydlo]

I have a medium-sized lathe for some good spindle turning but most of the time I turn bowls... so I'm looking for a lathe with large swing, and a bowl lathe seems to be a good match for what I wanted. So far I can only find Vega 2600T which is made in USA, but I don't know if it's still in the business of making lathes as I can't find anything on their website. How easy is to get parts and get it fixed if something goes wrong? I would love to take a look at the user manual but I can't find that on the web...

Also, are there any other good bowl lathes available in the market (new or slightly used)?

I'm also thinking if is there anything that a bowl lathe cannot do... Coring? Indexing? Thanks for the advice and recommendations!

I also have a medium size lathe that I use for spindle turning. Recently I purchased a Vega 2600 to compliment it and it has worked our wonderfully. Yes, as others have said it does not have the fit/finish of new lathes but it is a solid machine and ideal for bowls. It will not work as a general purpose lathe since the speed is maxed out around 2500 and it is not set up for spindle work. For bowl turning it has been great. Others have mentioned the unique "tailstock" but I find it very useful. It is easy to remove and to put back on. Vega is still in business but they discontinued the 2600. I spoke with someone from Vega and they were extremely helpful. We spoke at length about replacement parts should the need be and they said everything could be replaced with standard components. They also mentioned that each tailstock is welded to be spot on with the headstock and if I notice a problem it would be due to debris between the lathe and tailstock. Removing the tailstock is easy and makes turning the inside of the bowl easy as well as hollowing. The Vega also has a small footprint. I've found it to be a perfect compliment to another lathe that can handle the spindle turning operations.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I was contacted by Brent English, owner of Robust Lathes. I'm glad he did. He helped me set the record straight. The Robust lathes have several parts cast,( Casted? Sp?) close by their factory in Wisconsin, right here in the good old USA. I have turned on various Robust lathes. At Arrowmont and right here on Maui, Wayne Omura has one American Beauty. They are excellent lathes. If you buy one, it would be the last lathe that you will buy in your lifetime. And, your kids and grandkids will be using it too. In my opinion, it is the best Made in the USA lathe available. I did not name the lathe I was referring to in my earlier post because I wasn't 100% sure about the casted parts. I was wrong and I apologized for posting something I wasn't completely sure about. One of my rules here, in social media and life in general, is that I do not comment if I don't know about it. Now that Brent knows that I like his lathes, I will send him my shipping address in case that he wants to send me an American Beauty. I'm not getting any younger and the tail stock hydraulic helper is something I truly would love to have.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

@Emiliano Achaval Surprised you didn’t bring up your Stubbys.

You have to be a hardcore woodturner in order to want to get a Stubby. The wait now is 6 months. Wayne Omura just placed an order for a 1000. Most turners want something now, delivered to their house. The perfect turner wanting an Omega lathe is one that bought a small to a medium lathe. He then takes a few classes, perhaps goes to visit a friend that has one Stubby 750. Now, he understands that the wait is well worth it. The new VFD that I purchased for the club's Vega 2600 lathe, which sits in my shop, is working great. I would like to know, to hear from someone that understands more about it than me, why is this $289 vfd working as good as one that costs $1000 or more?

 

[Tom Yip]

You have to be a hardcore woodturner in order to want to get a Stubby. The wait now is 6 months. Wayne Omura just placed an order for a 1000. Most turners want something now, delivered to their house. The perfect turner wanting an Omega lathe is one that bought a small to a medium lathe. He then takes a few classes, perhaps goes to visit a friend that has one Stubby 750. Now, he understands that the wait is well worth it. The new VFD that I purchased for the club's Vega 2600 lathe, which sits in my shop, is working great. I would like to know, to hear from someone that understands more about it than me, why is this $289 vfd working as good as one that costs $1000 or more?

Thanks for the advice and info @Emiliano Achaval . I just received an email from Rod Caddaye. I don't mind to wait for 6 months as I already have a lathe to use right now. Do you know where I can find some more info about the S1000? I tried to Google for a user manual or spec sheet, and I can't find anything new or has the info I need.

Basically, my questions are:
1. Do I need to make any electrical/VFD modification as electricity for Australia is 230V 50Hz.
2. On top of the standard package, other there any accessories that I should purchase?
3. Are there any other cost I need to pay attention to on top of the cost of the product plus shipping?

Thanks!

 

[Tom Yip]

Rod replied to me with the spec sheet. Please see attached. As for electrical modifications, he said all it needs is a different plug. He said shipping cost will include taxes and customs fees as well.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

If you don't have a heavy-duty faceplate, Rod makes some really good ones. He sends you one, but when you put a 400-pound blank, you might want a larger one, LOL I love my 1000. You will be very happy with it.