Vicmarc Ovalturning Device (VOD) first impressions

[n7bsn]

My new toy actually arrived a few weeks ago, due to a family emergency trip and a work trip I was unable to actually attach it to the lathe until this past weekend.

The delay was a little frustrating, but on the good side, that delay forced me to read/re-read the manual and watch/re-watch the DVD several times.

• The swing of the Oval reduces the total swing of a lathe by more then I thought it would. While I haven’t measured exactly, my impression is that it has reduced the effective swing from 16 inches to about 12 inches

• Precutting the “rough†oval is a really good idea. Vicmarc mentions this for reducing the weight of the blank, but it also really helps with the swing.

• A heavy duty scrapper, like the Easy Rougher is really nice. I have found that the extra long handle of the Easy Rougher to be a major asset.

• Another asset of the Easy Rougher, is that it can cut on both sides and the tip, without resetting either the tool rest or banjo. This allowed me to do some shaping, with out moving anything, other then the tool.

• A stop collar on the Tool Rest is a really good idea, not just due to holding the height under the stress of roughing, but also to allow you to maintain the tool height (which is really important for oval or elliptical turning).

• Setting up a sight-line is a really good idea. I went to the Big Box Store and bought a cheap laser leveling system. One possible issue in the one I bought is that it is “self levelingâ€. That is the laser system free swings. I noticed that for the first few moments after I turn on the lathe, the line bounces a lot, and this on an object that is really well “ovaledâ€. I suspect that the vibration of roughing will make this almost un-usable. A manual adjusting laser line level would probably be better.

• Since the VOD is weight limited, using a light “attachment†is a good idea, since really good chuck can weigh, well, a lot. It doesn’t make since to me to waste this weight limit on the chuck. So far all I have done is use a face-plate, screwed to the practice piece. But I suspect I will be using face-plates with waste blocks for much of the actual work items

• The learning curve is steep, but it helps if you don’t think you are going to be making an “oval†object as fast as yo might make a “round†one

TTFN
Ralph

 

[Richard Baker]

Ralph, did you make something oval? Can't see the pictures.

 

[waltben]

I've been using my VOD for about three years now. Many of your points are valid, but here's a little more info:

• The swing of the Oval reduces the total swing of a lathe by more then I thought it would. While I haven’t measured exactly, my impression is that it has reduced the effective swing from 16 inches to about 12 inches

• Precutting the “rough†oval is a really good idea. Vicmarc mentions this for reducing the weight of the blank, but it also really helps with the swing.

• A heavy duty scrapper, like the Easy Rougher is really nice. I have found that the extra long handle of the Easy Rougher to be a major asset.

• Another asset of the Easy Rougher, is that it can cut on both sides and the tip, without resetting either the tool rest or banjo. This allowed me to do some shaping, with out moving anything, other then the tool.

• A stop collar on the Tool Rest is a really good idea, not just due to holding the height under the stress of roughing, but also to allow you to maintain the tool height (which is really important for oval or elliptical turning).

• Setting up a sight-line is a really good idea. I went to the Big Box Store and bought a cheap laser leveling system. One possible issue in the one I bought is that it is “self levelingâ€. That is the laser system free swings. I noticed that for the first few moments after I turn on the lathe, the line bounces a lot, and this on an object that is really well “ovaledâ€. I suspect that the vibration of roughing will make this almost un-usable. A manual adjusting laser line level would probably be better.

• Since the VOD is weight limited, using a light “attachment†is a good idea, since really good chuck can weigh, well, a lot. It doesn’t make since to me to waste this weight limit on the chuck. So far all I have done is use a face-plate, screwed to the practice piece. But I suspect I will be using face-plates with waste blocks for much of the actual work items

• The learning curve is steep, but it helps if you don’t think you are going to be making an “oval†object as fast as you might make a “round†one

1. That's because of the way it moves your wood blank in order to make it oval. The end-to-end measurement on the long axis should be close to your swing amount. This is also why I put 2" riser blocks under my Stubby's headstock - to turn larger oval hat blocks.
2. ALWAYS precut your blanks (mount them and trace the oval by rotating them, then bandsaw the oval). There's very few species I've found that can be roughed without chipping or breaking because of the changes in cutting angles and torques applied.
3. I've found just about any conventional turning tool can be used with the VOD. I personally most use regular bowl gouges.
4. Ditto previous comment.
5. I set up the VOD so that my cutting line is on the case seam. That way I can easily see where I need my tool to be. For bowls, I use Johannes Volmer's 'light line' idea with a very old slide projector to project a line on the piece even in the center. The size gouge or other tool I'm using will determine where I set my tool rest.
6. I tried a laser level, but found them to be too bright. It may just be me, but the old slide projector I picked up on eBay and the line it projects works better.
7. Don't quite know about that, but what I love about the VOD is that I can make large oval pieces and not have my Stubby walk all over my shop if I set the counterbalance weights right. The largest hat block I've made thus far was 17 1/4" on the long axis and the largest bowl about 14". Although I usually only make a few pieces for an order of blocks, I just completed one for almost eighty - took a friend and I two months to finish!

You can see some photos of the hat blocks on our website.

 

[n7bsn]

Texian
I might have something on there now that will be an oval platter. But then again, just like anything else, I will probably make some firewood before anything nice

 

[n7bsn]

I've been using my VOD for about three years now. Many of your points are valid, but here's a little more info:
....
[*]Don't quite know about that, but what I love about the VOD is that I can make large oval pieces and not have my Stubby walk all over my shop if I set the counterbalance weights right. The largest hat block I've made thus far was 17 1/4" on the long axis and the largest bowl about 14". Although I usually only make a few pieces for an order of blocks, I just completed one for almost eighty - took a friend and I two months to finish![/LIST]You can see some photos of the hat blocks on our website.

Walt, how do you handle going "off chart", since the upper end is 5 Kg. Did you make more weights, limit the offset, or ???

I have a friend that is interested in me making her some hat blocks, she would like to expand her line if Tutor/ Elizabethan hats... just when I would be able to do that will be a good question

 

[waltben]

Walt, how do you handle going "off chart", since the upper end is 5 Kg. Did you make more weights, limit the offset, or ???

I have a friend that is interested in me making her some hat blocks, she would like to expand her line if Tutor/ Elizabethan hats... just when I would be able to do that will be a good question

I'd been swapping emails with Johannes Volmer for a few years when I was trying to find out when Vicmarc was going to release the VOD. About twelve years back I bought my wife a Bernina and she started making an Edwardian tea dress. She got about half way done and realized she needed a hat to go with it and asked me if I could make her some hat blocks. That's how I started turning, but I had to use a belt sander to make the round blocks oval. I found Volmer's website back then while trying to find a device that would do it better.

Anyway, I kept pinging on Vicmarc as to when they would be releasing the VOD and one winter they suddenly replied that Craft Supplies had one. I can't say anything but positive things about them, and I managed to talk them into selling me what must be a pre-production version. It's the same as the one you get today with a few finish differences, but I never got a manual. A couple years later, just before going to demonstrate the VOD at a Virginia club, I finally got one from Vicmarc. The charts for the weights aren't all that accurate from my experience. I've come to rely on setting them by empirical methods (as in 'adjust when vibration levels are objectionable').

The one thing you can rely on is how well engineered Vicmarc products are, including the VOD. I'll wouldn't be surprised if that 5kg weight limit is at least 50% under the potential failure limit. I don't usually go over 5kg (16 lbs) with even large brim blocks, but have occasionally. I use poplar for hat blocks and turn crowns in spindle orientation, brims in bowl orientation. The reason for spindle turning crowns is to lessen forces further away from the output shaft (even the bowls I've made aren't more than a few inches tall). I also don't use the faceplate that came with the VOD - Craft Supplies had a replacement output shaft made for 1 1/4 x 8 tpi so I could use my own. That way I can do several pieces with my own faceplates without having to work to finish and then switch.

The only real 'problem' I've ever had with my VOD was last December when turning a brim block for that big order. I must have picked up a bit too much debris on the output shaft and the faceplate stuck. The manual says to use one of the open end wrenches to hold the output shaft 'spider', but that thing is made of aluminum and all I was doing was reshaping it. Since it was a brim block and would have a hole in the center anyway, I turned a hole in the middle until I could put some Liquid Wrench on the output shaft. The faceplate came off after a few taps then.

I've also been able to use the last line of Procedure 7 (page 11) very well in demos - after following all the rest, "Ask all other persons to leave the work area."

 

[n7bsn]

Another point...

The object that might have been a platter, I decided I didn't like the rim, as it showed me that I was not maintaining the sight-line well enough (the rim width varied around the oval)

So I went to remove it, well, I had at least one solid catch. Solid enough that the face-plate is stuck to the VOD. So instead of the face-plate/object coming off the VOD, the VOD was coming off the lathe.

So I used a pin-spanner on the head end of the VOD and started trying to drive the face-plate off drive end. Only there is too much play in the VOD to get a solid drive.

Looks like I will have to remove the drive off the VOD's drive end. Fortunately the procedure to remove the drive is in the manual (another advantage of having to actually read the entire manual, more then once)

I don't normally use the UHM head washers, except with the vacuum chuck. But I think I will start with the VOD

 

[waltben]

I use those washers on both sides since my experience in December. Good luck getting your platter off - just don't use the wrench as in the manual and force it too hard or you'll be moving aluminum. If all else fails, try what I did and turn a hole in the center so you can put something like Liquid Wrench on the output shaft. You can always plug the hole with a contrasting color wood and finish your platter.

 

[n7bsn]

... I use poplar for hat blocks and turn crowns in spindle orientation, brims in bowl orientation. ...."

That's good to hear. The friend (Truly Hats) has been using Balsa to make her blocks, and I was thinking that Basswood would work as well, or better.

I plan to steer her away from Balsa, if I make new blocks for her

Tonight I will continue the process of removing the faceplate from the VOD

 

[waltben]

Basswood will work, but I can locally get kiln dried 12/4 poplar at a very reasonable price.