What size motor for a "togo" vicmarc VL100- Shows etc

[Michael Schneider]

Many years ago, I bought and built a bare Vicmacmarc VL300, adding a 3phase motor and VS controller, so I am very comfortable with electronics, motors, etc. I also have a VL150, so I have plenty of power for "in-shop" turning.

I added a VL100 a few years ago and would like to take it to shows.

I would like to turn up to ornaments, if possible, but just tops, pens, and spurtles would be okay.

I have no idea what power would be needed for that turning. I realize the ornament may take a bit more, and if that would be too I could drop to to smaller turnings to get light weight portable, .., but hopefully, it will be small, portable, and 110v for use on a generator or solar generator to travel with to shows.



I thought I would tap into the group's collective wisdom and ask for suggestions.

I don't want to say money is not an option, but for the right solution, would not mind paying for high value solutions.

If you don't mind, I would appreciate a motor hp/size estimate for ornaments and then pens, spurtles, and tops, ...


Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience,
Michael

 

[Chris Hoehle]

I'm interested to hear about your experience with bringing a lathe to shows so far. I stopped doing it a long time ago for a couple reasons- 1. The venues where it was allowed/encouraged were typically lower end venues such as farmer's markets. Stepping up to higher end art shows meant it was no longer something anyone was expecting (or allowing). and 2. Even without that somewhat natural evolution to higher end shows (in other words had I just kept doing things like farmer's markets) I'd like to think that I would have eventually stopped of my own accord because of was more of a distraction to sales than it was an aid. People (especially w/ kids) gathered around to "ooh" and "ahh" but rarely did that translate to buying something afterwards while the people that were interested in buying a piece pretty much did so regardless of the presence or absence of a show.

 

[Tom Gall]

@Michael Schneider I have a 1/2hp on my 1996 VL100. Rarely use it because I always use my larger lathe, but with the small swing and all the pulley options it has always had sufficient power .... especially for the items you mentioned. I bought a 1/2hp DC motor with a Minerak (sp?) VS controller with reverse ... just because!

 

[Michael Schneider]

I'm interested to hear about your experience with bringing a lathe to shows so far. I stopped doing it a long time ago for a couple reasons- 1. The venues where it was allowed/encouraged were typically lower end venues such as farmer's markets. Stepping up to higher end art shows meant it was no longer something anyone was expecting (or allowing). and 2. Even without that somewhat natural evolution to higher end shows (in other words had I just kept doing things like farmer's markets) I'd like to think that I would have eventually stopped of my own accord because of was more of a distraction to sales than it was an aid. People (especially w/ kids) gathered around to "ooh" and "ahh" but rarely did that translate to buying something afterwards while the people that were interested in buying a piece pretty much did so regardless of the presence or absence of a show.

Chris, it has been about 12 years. From 30 years ago until then, my late wife and I worked the boot together. I did not turn it all the time, maybe just 5-10 minutes per hour or every two hours. People would often return to watch. When she did not feel up for attending, I worked by myself but still set the lathe up in the booth, Most people knew nothing about turning, so it added value for them to see the process, even if the late was not running (just used an old jet lathe then). Even then, some shows did not allow active turning, but all allowed the small lathe, with chucked item, and shavings around the lathe.

I never let the lathe set empty. I kept a mostly turned part on it, usually on an ornament or small birdhouse. The item was in the partially finished stage, and I had 6-8 11x17 shots of various projects in progress were behind the lathe, so when someone stood in front of the lathe, they could touch the piece and shavings.

I always kept shavings a pile of shavings on the lathe (and a big bag of shavings in back. When I sold a piece, if the customer desired a box, I packed it in a box with the shavings from around the lathe, and refilled it as needed from the big bag. That was a nice touch for the customer.

I also offered a small bag of shavings with their purchase for some firestarter if they wished.

Seven years ago, I found a new-in-box VL100 from the 90s and picked it up. I had always wanted one, but they stopped making them before I had the money to buy one..

This summer, I received some requests from summer camps to come and demo, but I did not have a portable setup. That started the drive for this project. This winter, I have a candidate project to build a portable setup for that vl100.

For a booth today, You might be able to just put pictures of your works in progress and get the same effect, but having the small lathe, with an Item chucked up, and shavings by the lathe, helped with some sales, and drew people in to look.

I think adding a free bag of chips with the piece added value to the piece for them, for very little cost to us turners .


I can't say if they would do the same weather the lathe was there or not, but I like to thing it helped

I may go back to selling in booths, but I have been donating pieces to silent auction fundraisers for various charities that I support.


Thanks,
Michael

 

[Michael Schneider]

@Michael Schneider I have a 1/2hp on my 1996 VL100. Rarely use it because I always use my larger lathe, but with the small swing and all the pulley options it has always had sufficient power .... especially for the items you mentioned. I bought a 1/2hp DC motor with a Minerak (sp?) VS controller with reverse ... just because!

Thank you very much; I have an AC tech 1/2 VFD sitting on my shelf, and a friend has a 1/2 hp small three-phase to trade.

Michael

 

[Mike Novak]

Penn state has a 3/4hp vs kit for a very reasonable price

Variable Speed Midi Lathe Conversion Kit with 3/4HP Motor: for Turncrafter , Jet and Delta Lathes

Convert your Multi Speed Turncrafter,Jet,or Delta Midi Lathe to a Variable Speed Workhorse. With this variable speed kit you can experience infinite and instantaneous speed control with a simple the turn of a knob. Easy to set-up. Click here to see if this fits your lathe Kit

www.pennstateind.com

If you really want to go lightweight you could look at a servomotor like Harvey uses. Servo would probably be 1/2 or less the weight of a regular motor. You say you are comfortable with electronics, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get part numbers from the Harvey manual and cross reference to a smaller drive, maybe 1/2 hp as servos are rated for much higher peak hp than regular motors. Probably would cost 3x what the penn state motor costs….

 

[Chris Hoehle]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Michael, sounds like you got a lot more traction out of having a lathe in the booth than I did! I like the shavings idea, I've started saving a few bigger ones from heavy hogging on kiln dried wood to use as shipping material.

 

[Michael Schneider]

Penn state has a 3/4hp vs kit for a very reasonable price

Variable Speed Midi Lathe Conversion Kit with 3/4HP Motor: for Turncrafter , Jet and Delta Lathes

Convert your Multi Speed Turncrafter,Jet,or Delta Midi Lathe to a Variable Speed Workhorse. With this variable speed kit you can experience infinite and instantaneous speed control with a simple the turn of a knob. Easy to set-up. Click here to see if this fits your lathe Kit

www.pennstateind.com

If you really want to go lightweight you could look at a servomotor like Harvey uses. Servo would probably be 1/2 or less the weight of a regular motor. You say you are comfortable with electronics, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get part numbers from the Harvey manual and cross reference to a smaller drive, maybe 1/2 hp as servos are rated for much higher peak hp than regular motors. Probably would cost 3x what the penn state motor costs….

Thanks Mike,

I will look into that,

That would be a good project for a Raspberry Pi for the controller. I think I will toss on the Ac Tech that I have now, get that going, then do the Raspberry Pi and Servo to compare on a later project.

I did not realize servo motors had gotten so cheap. I used to do hardware and software controller design many years ago, but I have written CAD/CAM software world for 35 years. It will be fun to get a touch of controller design again.

I am very grateful for you sharing this, this will be fun

Michael

 

[Michael Schneider]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Michael, sounds like you got a lot more traction out of having a lathe in the booth than I did! I like the shavings idea, I've started saving a few bigger ones from heavy hogging on kiln dried wood to use as shipping material.

Chris,

It is so audience-dependent. I wish there was a magic recipe.

My late wife always included a short handwritten Note with every box she shipped out, or gave to a customer to carry out. That note included our website and contact info if they wanted customer pieced., so people often kept it and passed on the info (a 10% code was included on the back so we know what type of marketing worked). She wrapped the note with paper twine and Raffia ribbon and set it on top of the shavings before sealing the box. When she sold the item at a show, she wrapped the box with the same twine with our shop name stamped on the side of the box.

The handwritten note, wrapped in twine, on top of the shavings received many comments from customers. They seemed very likely to leave a review when sold online. (I can't take any credit at all for that one; she was the brains of the outfit, I did marry up with her ).



Michael

 

[Richard Coers]

Penn state has a 3/4hp vs kit for a very reasonable price

Variable Speed Midi Lathe Conversion Kit with 3/4HP Motor: for Turncrafter , Jet and Delta Lathes

Convert your Multi Speed Turncrafter,Jet,or Delta Midi Lathe to a Variable Speed Workhorse. With this variable speed kit you can experience infinite and instantaneous speed control with a simple the turn of a knob. Easy to set-up. Click here to see if this fits your lathe Kit

www.pennstateind.com

If you really want to go lightweight you could look at a servomotor like Harvey uses. Servo would probably be 1/2 or less the weight of a regular motor. You say you are comfortable with electronics, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get part numbers from the Harvey manual and cross reference to a smaller drive, maybe 1/2 hp as servos are rated for much higher peak hp than regular motors. Probably would cost 3x what the penn state motor costs….

You get what you pay for with that Penn State option. Read some reviews in places that are not edited like they are on Penn State's site.

Comments on PSI MIDI lathe variable speed conversion

I'm thinking of getting the variable speed motor conversion for my Delta Midi lathe from PSI and was wondering if anyone had tried it and what the experience and recommendation would be??

sawmillcreek.org

 

[Steve Tiedman]

I built up two VL100's nearly 20 years ago, both with 3/4hp Leeson DC motors (wired for 120v) and Minarek drives. A quality 3/4 is more than enough for that fine little machine.

 

[Michael Schneider]

I built up two VL100's nearly 20 years ago, both with 3/4hp Leeson DC motors (wired for 120v) and Minarek drives. A quality 3/4 is more than enough for that fine little machine.

Thank you Steve

 

[robo hippy]

I would not take a lathe to an arts and crafts show. In part because of the mess they make, and in part because of the crowd that will gather. For a club type demo at a state fair or some thing similar, then it would be nice to have a real bowl lathe, but the mini lathes are easier to move around, and 220 is not always available.

robo hippy