Richard Raffan's basic guide to woodturning lathes

[@DiemenDesign]

Good basic info Richard. When people ask, esp. online what to purchase, I tell them to find a club so they can get some basic hands-on experience before they spend money.

[@glencrandall7051]

I am an experienced turner and have a couple of lathes and realize this video was not produced for persons of my experience. However I believe it covered all the basic material and will be useful to anyone just starting out in woodturning. Thank you for sharing Richard. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂

[@leftymcshea6876]

A great video for someone interested and perhaps somewhat hesitant to ask too many "newbie" questions. Well done Richard.

[@morningsong7885]

Another video full of good to know stuff! I will never look at a lathe with the same eyes again... Thank you for that, Mr. Richard 😊

[@GeraldJensen]

I teach woodturning at a technical college ... in March I'm scheduled to teach a beginner's class. This video will surely come in very handy!

[@walter67435]

I bought the cheapest Grizzly "mini lathe" they offered on the advice of a youtuber, about 14 months ago. Immediately I had to track down a problem with the worn brushes in the "new motor," but ended up replacing just about every part of the lathe and adding direction and speed control, which has been a lot of fun for me. These days my issues surround getting the new nova "insert type" chucks to go on and off without wobble. How often have you had to track down vibration or other mechanical problems in a lathe of higher quality, and what of underpowered motors which slow down as you start to cut? In my experience it has been a very good teacher about how I'm holding the tool.

[@alun7006]

Great overview. I did a bowl-turning course to try it out before I commited to buying a set-up, and the lathes we used were Vicmarcs. Similar to this one but a little bigger, with a rotating headstock. VERY nice indeed. I ended up buying an Axminster as the Vicmarcs are just too expensive for me, but they're certainly aspirational.

[@youenn2180]

This lathe is considered one of the best , mine is a french one from Lurem , made for woodworkers who occasionally need to turn wood , its great advantage is the swivelling headstock that allows you to work with the piece facing you , what at the same time makes the whole less precise but it works well...

[@JohnWilliams-iw6oq]

I stopped watching this early on in the piece but not because this is a bad video, it's simply not what I'm looking for even though it is obviously of great value to any newcomer to wood turning. More power to you Richard and thanks for the great videos.

[@hfbowerndesigns810]

Thanks for sharing the info Richard Take care Cheers Harold

[@jackthompson5092]

Great beginners video Richard.

[@dannyboy9784]

Great video Richard, thinking about selling my NOVA 1624-44 and getting a VICMARC....they look SOLID!!!!!!!!!

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I"d certainly pick a Vicmarc over Nova anytime, not that Novas are bad, just not as used friendly or as well made as Vicmarc, particularly when it comes to chucks.

[@dannyboy9784]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thanks Richard for the advice, certainly in the plans for a vicmarc lathe....need to setup my workshop with 220v first.

[@dannyboy9784]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning How long is the bed extension you have? what's the total distance between centers?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@dannyboy9784 My bed extension is 500mm. The distance between centres on the basic VL150 is about 350mm so I can turn a maximum length of around 850mm. I'm sure you'll find all the measurements on the Vicmarc website.

[@dannyboy9784]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thanks Richard, I watch all you videos, big fan of your work and style and the simplicity you approach your projects and the fact that you don't edit your videos is awesome....we get to see the real LIVE experience.....Cheers, from Toronto Canada.👍

[@josephpotterf9459]

Thanks Richard

[@markhunt6177]

I use a WoodFast mc908 lathe. Perfectly happy with it. It has variable speed and is quite robust. Not very common here in the USA.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

They were excellent lathes, especially on top of the Craft Supplies stands. I had three for a decade before the Vicmarcs came along.

[@johnmitchell1614]

Hi Richard, what is the button below the speed control knob on your Vicmark? Best regards.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

The black button is reverse.

[@darz3]

Is there a general rule for the height of the spindle, elbow height?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Elbow height is generally recommended for the height of centre.

[@brianhawes3115]

Is your lathe considered a midi? My first lathe was a mini that had a head stock and beadways made of granite, very handy up here as I live on the coast

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

It's probably considered a midi. It swings 300mm which is more than adequate for most projects for most turners.

[@bushratbeachbum]

Granite?!! Wow! Was it home made or a commercially sold one?

[@brianhawes3115]

@@bushratbeachbum it was commercially made, super heavy, black granite, no rust, except the chuck and tool rest

[@MD-en3zm]

I was told never to use my spindle lock for removing chucks as it would damage the indexing mechanism. Is this just nonsense? It would certainly be easier to just use it for that and to lock the wood in place for various things (sanding, etc.). Right now I’m using a bar through the handwheel (my lathe is a record coronet herald if that matters, but it’s pretty similar in basic features/sizer to the vl150).

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I never use the indexing head for indexing so that's not an issue for me. I've used the indexing pin as a spindle lock on the dozen or so Vicmark lathes I've used day to day and never had a problem with them even being sloppy. If a lathe has both a spindle lock and indexing head, then it makes sense to use the spindle lock to lock the spindle.

[@MD-en3zm]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning I just have the indexing head - but I suppose I might as well use it to lock the spindle as I don’t even really know what you’d use the indexing for.

[@markhunt6177]

I pretty much only use my lock to get a piece off the wormscrew.

[@RYwoodview]

What is your lathe, Richard?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

This is a Vicmarc VL 150.

[@malbun3275]

Hi Richard Another great video for the newbie turners,very well covered.thanks for sharing Regards

[@WhoGnu08]

I would like to add an advisory against lathes that have advanced electronics. Just like with a car that has a lot of the latest and greatest gizmos, a lathe with microelectronics is bound to end up in the shop for expensive repairs.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Sounds like you might have had a few problems that most people haven't. My experience and observation is that the EVS control on most modern lathes is very reliable, although never as worry-free as shifting a belt by hand on simple step pulleys.