Due to the proprietary nature of the drive motor on the DVR, I too was
concerned about my investment for later years. Teknatool assured me
that DVR is their new technology and they are committed to improving
and supporting this technology. For the present, I have a 500/100 rpm
configured DVR and absolutely love it. It is going to be difficult to
justify buying another lathe unless it is for greater swing over bed.
The 240v conversion is very easy and will add torque to a lathe that
already has sufficient torque for the 14 x 7 inch bowl blanks I turn.
(I have not made the 240v conversion yet but I have the clear
instructions for the change.) I have NEVER regretted owning a DVR and
find the strengths to far outweigh the weaknesses. I, too, agree that
one of the (few) weaknesses is the slow(er) speed change. Believe me,
it is not a SHOW STOPPER! I also recommend that you join the MSN Nova
Owner's group. You will find a large contingency of Nova owners that
have expeienced every possible event known to Nova Users.
Buy and Enjoy!
Larry E

"Lyn J. Mangiameli" wrote in message link.net...
I've tried to stay out of this, because I don't yet have the latest
versions of the boards and so am reluctant to talk about what I haven't
experienced. That said, there is a lot of room here for confusion and
let me try to do what I can to clarify things with what I do know.

First off, there have never been any clearly demarked "versions" of the
DVR, except for some differences in international configuration (mostly
voltage and spindle size). Multiple subtle and some not so subtle
changes have occured over time,but have never been graced with public
version designations.

The very first DVR's shipped to the US, probably under serial number
1000, has some physical differences in that they used a black plastic
end cover to the headstock and were constructed to be single voltage
lathes.One of the earliest changes was to replace that plastic cover
with a red sheet metal cover. Shortly after, the boards were changed to
offer jumpers that could be removed, that along with some minimal
wiring and plug changes would allow adapting the lathe to either 115 or
230 volts.

These early lathes all had boards and firmware configurations that set
the default speed at 1500, the speed advance by 10 and the minimum speed
at 250.On my lathe, there is no dynamic breaking, though I have heard
of some lathes of this era having that feature. I use a lathe with this
configuration, and have reported on it extensively in a review for More
Woodturning and which early drafts can be found in the archives of this
group.

These early configurations also had several accessories associated with
them, such as an extraction nut, a six inch aluminum faceplate.They did
not come with a handwheel. In response to customer feedback, Teknatool
soon dropped the extraction nut, replacing it with an improved version
of what has previously been an optional handwheel. This is a great
handwheel, that can be used on its own, or have an even larger wooden
grip added to it. Teknatool,pretty much at the same time replaced the
six inch aluminum facepate with a smaller approximately 3 inch steel
faceplate. IMO these were both good choices, and the handwheel in
particular greatly enhances the usability of the lathe.

Multiple sometimes very minor changes in software/firmware programming
have occured. The default speed was reduced from 1500 to 600 to 500. I
think this is a good direction for safety reasons, as it reduces the
chance of thoughtlessly starting up the lathe with a large blank mounted
and having it at way to high a speed. In reality, though, I have never
had a problem with my default being 1500.

The speed and steps of speed advance when you are holding down the speed
change button have been increased in both size (I believe they went from
10 up to 20) and rate of change. I can't comment on this with certainty
though, as again, I don't presently have the latest boards. The increase
in rate of speed change, is likely nice, but not really a big deal for
once you get used to the lathe, you will get pretty good at dialing in
exactly the speed you want from the beginning. Still, it is likely an
improvement for such things as speeding up the lathe quickly for
friction polishing, etc.

The reduction in minimum speed will for many be the most desirable
change with the newer boards. For people making small bowls, boxes,
spindle work, etc. the 250 speed was of little problem. However, for
those of us who like to work with large blanks, like to do deep
hollowing with cutting tools like the Profome, and most of all, like to
do low speed sanding and application of finishes, the 250 minimum speed
has significantly detracted from the usability of the lathe. If these
things are important to you, you will almost surely much prefer the 100
rpm minimum speed that is incorporated into the later boards. However,
for finish application, you will still find that 100 rpm is way too
fast. Most of us reluctantly live with this drawback to gain the other
many advantages which come with the DVR.

There are a lot of other changes that have been taking place with board
changes that few will even been aware of, at least by name. There have
been changes in speed control, current limiting, and the like, some of
which were overall improvements, others which traded one set of problems
for another.

At this particular moment, most lathes in stock will likely have boards
with software revision 4.13c. The latest software revision in the
pipeline is 4.13d. I will be obtaining within the next couple of months
the latest version of the boards and software. After a little time with
it I will then post an extended user report and update to my original
review on the DVR.

All this talk of software revisions and board changes should not, IMO,
become too much of a focus in one's purchase decision. Teknatool has
every intention of allowing existing DVR owners to be able to upgrade
their DVR with new boards or headstocks, for moderate cost. Of course
unless there is little sense in getting new boards until a significant
change in usability can be achieved. I suspect that Teknatool has not
been advertising the software revisions at this point because they are
waiting until they can present current owners with a substantial step up
in usability. For a few, the drop in minimum speed to 100 will represent
that increase in usability, but for most, and perhaps when compared to
potential changes still in the R&D pipeline, the big jump in usability
has not yet been released.

So, I will be able to speak with a bit more authority on this in a
couple of months, but for now, I'd say any of the configurations that
have a red sheet metal headstock cover plate will be quite functional,
and all versions will allow for easy upgrading in the future.

Lyn

Oh, as an aside, in that More Woodturning article are photos of the
boards exposed and half out of the headstock casting. Changing the
boards does require some time and effort, but is easily accomplished wth
a minimum of commonly available tools.

william kossack wrote:
As I continue to research what lathe to buy I've made some disoveries
about the DVR

There are 3 different versions of the DVR
the first was made a couple years ago
the second was made up until recently
the insides of the frist 2 can apparently be interchanged but not with
the most recent version. Or is it that the guts can't be interchanged
or that the computer cant be interchanged? I'm not sure.

the man difference that I have been able to find is the default starting
speed on the first is 1500 rpm, on the 2nd and 3rd is 600 rpm but the
3rd can run at 100 rpm (100 rpm is really slow for a lathe). There are
some cosmetic differences in the headstock. The computer is also
supposed to be faster on the 3rd version meaning that it reacts faster
and settings can be changed maybe a bit faster.

Another difference is that I think only the 2nd and 3rd versions can be
converted to run at 240 volts. At that power the lathe has more torque
at lower speeds. Again I'm not sure about this so if anyone know
differently please fill in.

The real question is what other differences exist in the newer version
of this lathe. For example, are they making it better or more cheeply.
I have not heard too many complaints about the quality or the
capabilities of any version of the lathe. But are they fixing mistakes
or problems in the earlier versions. Or are they trying to increase
their profit margin on the product. Except for american car compainies
and microsoft!-) companies don't make changes in products just to change
them because there is cost associated with these changes and hassles in
supporting different versions in the long run....unless support is
dropped such as in the microsoft business model

I am still looking.