My lathe is an Axminster M 950 I have had it for nine years had problems when I first purchased it with a sloppy thread on the head stock spindle this was replaced, I found the nuts on the camlocks kept loosening as you slid the saddle up and down the bed, this was cured by fitting Nyloc nuts.
Have had to replace the pulleys three times as they wear badly on the splines , in fact I need to replace them again now .
I find there is a lot of play between the head stock and the tail stock where they fit to the bed , and the consequence is when you want to drill you have to realign them every time after you have moved them , there is a lot of play in the tail stock quill ,
The electrics have been no trouble the motor is the original one as fitted , I paid £399.99 for it I have done a lot of work with the lathe,, they say you get what you pay for, Aminster at the time said these lathe where superier to other imports as they imposed better quality control on the manufactures? I have not used any other lathe for any length of time to compere it for vibration I suppose you get used to what you have .
Hi you guys is there no one out there with a lathe they are satisfied with or dissatified with. I started this thread to see what lathes performed like once they are in the hands of the average turner. Manufactuers must be very pleased with the results so far.
I have a Nova dvr xp. It was a gift that far exceeds my talents.
I have found it superb, i find more features the more i use it, but this is more to do with my inexperience that anything else.
It is very heavy & so far i have had no trouble with vibration, it`s controls are simple, increassing & decreassing speed & changing rotation direction at the touch of a button.
I don`t feel qualified to review this lathe as my abilities in no way, shape or form stretch the abilitites of this lathe. Hopefully this will come with time & is why i didn`t reply to your first post. I am very new to turning.
I would recommend this lathe, though more on the reviews i`ve read since i got it, than on my experience working on it.
That is what I wanted to see laymans experiences and what trouble or problem that crop up after using or owning a lathe for a period , not profesionals with a brand new lathes to test, how they perform in the field
Thanks Baz I hope you are the first of many so as we can gain a picture of different lathes, there must be a lot of lathes out there somewhere looking at the differt makes and suppliers, they can't all be working perfectly, or if they are lets hear about them.
I have the Axminster CCL. Bought second hand and I love it. It does have a few wobbles at low speed but, with a weighted shelf it does simmer down. The handles for the rest and tailstock were abused and need replacing, and even though Axminster knew it was off of eBay, they were very helpful in ID'ing the components and offered new at a low cost. Other than that, I cant fault it but, because its my first lathe and I don't know a lot about turning/lathe work at the moment I can only speak for my own use.
I'm not much of a turner. I can use a roughing gouge, spindle gouge and scrapers. But the skew eludes me. I have used a fine-set No. 4 plane on straight turning, instead of a skew, as it does the same job for me with out digging in.
I have had my Coronet Major (Maroon ) since 1971. I bought it new with the saw, planer, morticing and long-hole boring attachments. I think it cost me £271.17p So it must have been post-decimalisation! I use the saw table more than the lathe, as the saw is great for accurate cross-cuts and it's easy to keep the saw in adjustment. The chuck is 4.5 inches over the bed, but the swivelling headstock and outside turning attachment, mean I can turn a bowl 24" in diameter if I wished. Okay the casting and design were a bit rough and ready in places, but unless you have deep pockets you can't get machinery as stout as that anymore.
I wouldn't be without it. The motor is probably in need of a check over, but I doubt there would be anything wrong with it, other than brushes. However, it doesn't spark, so they must be okay for now.
I too have a Coronet Major (1963) - just the lathe though - no saw, planer etc. I bought it a couple of years ago because it was the best build I could find within my budget. Modern machines tend to be so light and flimsy. It lacks refinements such as cam-locks for rest locking etc and has solid round bar for the bed instead of the conventional slotted flat ones. I have replaced the original motor with an inverter and 3 phase .75kW motor. This gives me masses of power and infinitely variable speed from about 150 to 3500 rpm - forward or reverse. The worst downside of the machine is the 7/16" x 16 thread on the drive shaft - it means I have to have an adaptor to 3/4" x 16 thread for my chuck and other fitments. It is however a great machine and adequate for my limited amateur skills.
Woodchip, I envy you having the whole caboodle - especially the outside turning tool rest attachment - I can't get one anywhere.
I will see if the guy I got my outside turning attachment from is still in business.
He lived in Staffordshire (in a small village, just outside Wolverhampton, so I was able to go and see him to get the thing.) I'll keep you posted on that.
You might already know of this, but here is his site URL:
Thanks for that info. However, I do know the guy you refer to. His name is Derek Pyatt and he lives in Cannock. Coincidentally, he was born and brought up in Cheadle, Staffordshire where I live!
He doesn't have an outside turning attachment available.
I reckon if you think about the problem long enough, then with some conduit, a few nuts and bolts, you could rig up an outside rest. You should have the hole on the frame of the machine, where the adjustable arm fits.
I have to go out at the moment, but I will try to photograph the fitment in situ for you. Then find a way of getting the pic into the Forum!
Baz I envy you with your Nova dvr I looked at them at Ali Pali and thought hard and long to see if I could warrant spending the money,they are a class job.
Oddjob I think you could upgrade to cam locks , these lathes are what the Record lathes are based on, they have only recently fitted camlocks to their machines, I assume you have had al ook on EBay, for any Coronet gear,
Thanks lads keep the comments coming, you can only speak as you find.
Mine is 2 years old, pre Record, when Robert Sorby were distributing them.
I have to admit, i don`t think i would have spent that much on a lathe if it had been my money. Though it was a couple of hundred pounds cheeper than Record`s price now.
Having said that in hindsight i do think it was worth the money, it has made learning a lot easier. As with most quality tools, they don`t make the end product any better, they just make the effort getting to the end product, easier.
I envy you Nova owners too - just can't justify the cost. I will have to make do with my antique Coronet for now.
John, thanks for the help and offer of a photo but I already have one - found on the internet somewhere. I have made an outside turning attachment from hardwood. It works quite well but lacks the rigidity of a proper one. I compensate by supporting the device on a bracket attached to the leg of the bench.
George, thanks for the info about the camlocks - I will investigate. Yes, I have, and continue to, monitor ebay and numerous other potential sources. All suggestions are most welcome though. Someone out there will have what I want.
Sparky have you puchased your chuck yet, It's a good idea to buy one with a thread insert , so if you change to another lathe you don't have to lashout on new chucks or have to pay for them to be bored out and rethreaded, when I looked at the Nova I had to add in the cost of £50 to get my chuck and face plates altered to 1 1/8th in 8tpi, also it has a short bed as standard , you can buy extension beds which I would have needed.
Sparky unfortunately there has never been an accepted standard fitting each manufacturer has their own, if you look in Axminsters catalogue there are a dozen different threads, even on the lathes they supply there are two different threads.
I envy you Nova owners too - just can't justify the cost. I will have to make do with my antique Coronet for now.
John, thanks for the help and offer of a photo but I already have one - found on the internet somewhere. I have made an outside turning attachment from hardwood. It works quite well but lacks the rigidity of a proper one. I compensate by supporting the device on a bracket attached to the leg of the bench.
George, thanks for the info about the camlocks - I will investigate. Yes, I have, and continue to, monitor ebay and numerous other potential sources. All suggestions are most welcome though. Someone out there will have what I want.
Richard
There you go oddjob. I made do with something similar until I found Mr. Pyatt. yes that's right.. it was in a village near Cannock btw!
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