Looking for advise out there on what to do with my lathe.
About 3 years ago I purchased a Nova 3000 without variable speed. I
have regretted it ever since. I sure do get tired of moving the belt
to change speed. I am also thinking of buying the outboard toolrest
offered by Nova. I somtimes would like to turn larger than the 14
inches dia. I can now turn. I have held out buying the outboard
toolrest thinking I may just may upgrade to a new lathe. Should I
upgrade this lathe with a DC motor for variable speed and outboard
toolrest or invest that money in a new and better lathe?

I should add that I almost never turn large chunks of wood, which would
be out of balance when you start to turn. I do mostly segmented turning
and purchased blocks of wood.

Bob Cook

"George" George@least wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Looking for advise out there on what to do with my lathe.

Almost forgot - read and perhaps ask at http://groups.msn.com/NovaOwners/

In article .com,
" wrote:

inches dia. I can now turn. I have held out buying the outboard
toolrest thinking I may just may upgrade to a new lathe. Should I
upgrade this lathe with a DC motor for variable speed and outboard
toolrest or invest that money in a new and better lathe?

If you're generally happy with the thing, a VS motor will be an
improvement, and will cost a lot less than a new lathe. At present it's
more of a tossup than it used to be as to DC VS or 3-phase AC and a VFD.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

wrote:
Looking for advise out there on what to do with my lathe.
About 3 years ago I purchased a Nova 3000 without variable speed. I
have regretted it ever since. I sure do get tired of moving the belt
to change speed. I am also thinking of buying the outboard toolrest
offered by Nova. I somtimes would like to turn larger than the 14
inches dia. I can now turn. I have held out buying the outboard
toolrest thinking I may just may upgrade to a new lathe. Should I
upgrade this lathe with a DC motor for variable speed and outboard
toolrest or invest that money in a new and better lathe?

I should add that I almost never turn large chunks of wood, which would
be out of balance when you start to turn. I do mostly segmented turning
and purchased blocks of wood.

I have a Leeson variable speed motor on my Nova 3000 (original model) so
have both belts and variable speed. I'd say to just replace your motor
- don't have to replace the whole lathe. Also, the 3000 will swing 16",
not 14". So far, that's been plenty big enough for me. Turning larger
would be nice, but I wouldn't do it much because good larger wood is
harder to come by here. Unless you're planning on doing larger pieces
on a regular basis, it may or may not be worth the effort/expense. The
Leeson does do reverse though, so an outboard setup would fit right in...

....Kevin
--
Kevin Miller
http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
Juneau, Alaska
Registered Linux User No: 307357

you can now get a much better variable speed setup for your nova at a
modest cost - if the lathe otherwise meets your needs, pick up a USED
3 phase motor - maybe 1.5 to 2 hp, whatever size will fit - you can
get a VFD controller used for $50 to $150, or you can get a new one
for a bit more - that will give you a far superior setup to the
vairable speed that came with the Nova - if you do use a DC motor, you
will want a feedback controller rather than a simple open loop
controller - but I would not use a DC motor any more -- AC variable
frequency is so much nicer.

bill (www.wbnoble.com)


On 27 Nov 2005 12:51:08 -0800, "
wrote:

Looking for advise out there on what to do with my lathe.
About 3 years ago I purchased a Nova 3000 without variable speed. I
have regretted it ever since. I sure do get tired of moving the belt
to change speed. I am also thinking of buying the outboard toolrest
offered by Nova. I somtimes would like to turn larger than the 14
inches dia. I can now turn. I have held out buying the outboard
toolrest thinking I may just may upgrade to a new lathe. Should I
upgrade this lathe with a DC motor for variable speed and outboard
toolrest or invest that money in a new and better lathe?

I should add that I almost never turn large chunks of wood, which would
be out of balance when you start to turn. I do mostly segmented turning
and purchased blocks of wood.

Bob Cook