So given that the VB has brought me so much pleasure and successfully produced what I asked it to, are there any things I would change about it? Well yes. The controls are in a box that having a magnetic back can be positioned almost anywhere that is a flat iron or steel surface. The problem is that most surfaces are curved. Useful positions, like below the tool rest, could be supplied with a flat area large enough for the box to be stuck to. I have a steel pillar next to my lathe holding the ceiling up and that is most useful. Given that there is a footswitch this is a minor point, but a provision of such flat areas would be so easy it seemed worth a mention.

VB36 Master Bowlturner Lathe

Another minor point is the indexing head. Numbers milled, or punched in by each hole would make using it a good deal swifter and easier.

The massive cast tool rest ensures bounce free cutting but the very broad ends of these will not allow access into narrow holes like the lampshades or small dining bowls that I make. Tapering the end off more would not affect the stability of the rest in use but would make it much more versatile, and pleasant to use.

A larger point is the horse power question. Presently the machine is supplied with a two-horse motor. That would seem to be enough for such a capacity, but the flexibility of the electronic speed control, and friction in the heavy oil bearings saps some of this power. Not that you'd notice on anything under 18inches, but this machine is designed to turn twice that diameter. At twenty inches it is already possible for an experienced turner taking massive cuts to stop the lathe from 800rpm. At thirty inches it is possible to stop the lathe with a burnishing cloth. Now in 2001 VB has introduced a new 3hp option available as a retro fit or on new purchases.

Apart from this, actual capacities have not proven a problem. A two-foot diameter capacity with the bed fitted, and three foot over the tool rest beam without the bed, are enough for most things. On a few occasions I have removed the rest beam and turned from a freestanding rest. For the sculpture, "The Kiss", in which I wanted to turn the image of the sun at the extreme end of one arm, I mounted the piece on a cradle of scrap wood and attached a counterbalancing arm and weights. I have done this sort of work off and on over the years and established a few safety rules about who may be in the workshop and where one may walk while it is rotating. On this occasion I carefully left the counterbalance too light so as not to be tempted to raise the speed beyond about 250. This whole assembly came to four foot across and spent less time turning than it did being assembled and disassembled but was worth that time for the experience, and to tell the story.

The Kiss (click for enlarged view)

Another joy the VB has afforded is to enable me to offer courses in extra large turning. Many of my students who have completed basic courses here, or who have experience in their own workshop, have become excited at the idea of turning a really large bowl, even if only once. I was bitten by this bug in the eighties and converted an old dockyard lathe with egg shaped bearings and stinking of gearbox oil to take the forty one inch piece of beech had I gotten my hands on. The task of single handedly getting this balk cut and onto the lathe is another one of those uneconomic adventures that I wouldn't have missed. How many bags of shavings do you think you would get out of a forty by twelve-inch bowl? Can you imagine roughing the corners off a chain sawn blank with a 1/2" bowl gouge (they didn't come bigger then) when the "clunk" of the cut comes round less than once per second and knocks the tool back so far that you wonder where to hold it for the next "clunk" due in half a second. This sort of work is so much easier on the VB. Granted most of those who tackle such projects limit themselves to a two or three foot bowl rather than struggle with a free standing rest. A thirty inch blank is already a daunting sight to stand in front of. Even for those who come to my courses as complete beginners, and they are many, to work on a VB is pleasure to remember and nothing has yet made me regret buying one.

What about value? Is the VB36 quality at any cost and only for those with more money than sense? Some of course do feel that any lathe outside their own budget is pure indulgence, while others are comparing lathes in the three and four thousand pound price bracket. In this field the VB stands out as costing less than some lathes with cheaper bearings and less stability or dreadful aesthetics. My lathe earns its keep and I know a few other professional turners who have decided that on comparison, a VB is worth every penny.

If I were starting again from scratch seeking to make the sort of work that gives me joy, my first turn would be to VB to supply the lathe. Indeed, for the courses I run I now have two.

Tobias Kaye
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