Vega 36

Do you have questions about the Vega 36, stand height, tools accessories, set-up, turning tools and or? Ask away.

Ask away. I have a Vega 36” duplicator for quite a number of years so I know a little about them. I haven’t used it ‘A Lot’ but then again when I do it’s the right tool for the job. Started out on a Delta 12” and then with new mounts it’s currently on a Jet 16” (just fyi for anyone considering one of these.

If we are referring to the Vega duplicator, I have one as well. I started this thread a while back about it:

Vega Pro Lathe Duplicator parts and info

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

Wow – thanks.

First off, I should have used the search function Brad. Sorry for the duplication. No pun intended.

Some background (in no particular order – my ADHD struggles with this stuff).....

I have 3 ceramic candle holders – and need to make 20 each. The candle holders shown are 8”, 10” and 12” in height, base is 4.5” in diameter. Cut down a dead cherry tree, 5”-5”- 6’ lengths, kiln dried, ready to be cut into blanks. Will be used for wedding table center pieces.
My future daughter-in-law wants them to be 6, 8 and 10” – so having some issues with this. Struggles cutting acrylic for the masters – issues with melting using a Dremel Moto-Saw. Using 1/4” plywood – seems that it will be soft over time. Recommendations?

PM 3520C – duplicator mounted on the back of the lathe, with the carbide cutter pointing down.
Some struggle with mounting – no washers nor lock washers included in the kit – so have not used any yet. Mounting brackets close together so that I can use the tailstock. Pretty flat, square, 1 degree off. Concerned that the duplicator will move over time. Will take some pictures. Mounting suggestions, recommendations?

Practicing with ash – chips, dust everywhere. Have to figure out better dust collection. Lots of dust in the bicycle chain. Best way to clean it out?

Just getting started….. Thanks in advance.

When making plastic patterns, I like to lay blue painters’ tape over the whole piece of lexan and cut it with a scroll saw with a fine blade (supposedly there are lexan only blades, but I don’t have them). Once cut, I use a 1” strip sander to clean up and fine tune wherever I can and use some small files in areas too small for the sander.
As far as cleaning up areas like the bike chain, I just use an air chuck on the air line.
For gathering chips and dust, I have a fitting like this https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-70151-Rectangular-Funneled-10-Inch/dp/B002E4WSRS/ref=asc_df_B002E4WSRS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=242037806074&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4412899521387843401&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019665&hvtargid=pla-442656829617&psc=1 on an arm that mounts on the back of the lathe and over the piece being turned, and grabs what it can for chips and dust. It does not get 100% of the waste and I don’t know of anyone that does without the lathe being in some type of enclosure.
For resizing your patterns, you can draw them out onto graph paper, then if you can scan them into the computer there are programs that can shrink or expand an image as desired.
Hope that helps.

Thanks hcbph_1.

Will try the painter’s tape and change to 1/8” thick acrylic, cutting at a lower speed with a “plastic” blade.

Air chuck – why didn’t I think of that? Makes total sense. Am also going to try a bike chain lubricant / cleaner – that attracts less dust going forward supposedly.

Per a YouTube video from Langer Craftworks using a Vega, he duplicated rolling pins at 2800 rpm. In my case, it created a lot of very fine dust. From an experienced friend, he recommended trying at a much slower speed (like 800) and working up from there. Any recommendations for ash or cherry?

I have a similar dust hood – will position it much closer to the piece going forward.

Have you had any issues with movement of the duplicator bed? Plan to add a washer and lock washer to each bolt.

How do you use the locking screw? It does not seem to lock the cutter in place…. does it just reduce the movement of the cutter? (May have to take some photos).

What would you use to hold the candle holders on the lathe? Considering one of these: https://www.woodcraft.com/products/woodriver-multi-tooth-drive-center-1-diameter-2-mt
and one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Bearing-Tailstock-Center-Multitooth/dp/B07SRB9PTC?th=1
Thoughts?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

Choosing live and drive centers has a lot to with $ and how much turning you will be doing. I realy like the versatility of this live center. The length is great for bowls and the cones are handy with hollow forms etc. No teeth needed on live centers. This one has a cup around the point to limit depth and splitting.

Savannah Heavy Duty Dual Bearing Live Center For Woodworking Lathes and Large or Small Wood Turning Projects. Ultra Smooth Live Center Performance with Minimal Play for MT2 Lathes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LHKSSHN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_21XMZ0MGD9N7WG7AY39D

A cheaper one that will work well
Live Tailstock Center with 60 Degree Cone For Use On Woodturning Lathes (MT2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M93CHTB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_D833XWN0DK43EB2D9VVC

I have many drive centers of different shapes and sizes, and up using all of them depending on the project. For the dia of your pieces a 1” 4 spur or one like you linked will work. Penn State tools has many of these types of items at value prices and good enough quality – it doesnt require top $ stuff.

Duplicators remove wood by scraping, which will leave some tear out etc, especially carbide. HSS tool bits might leave a bit better finish as they are sharper at 1st. Take shallow cuts to limit wood damage, very shallow as you approach size. If I were doing this job, I would mark or “story board” the pieces, and use bowl gouges for heavy cuts and spindle gouges for lighter cuts to rough out the shape – the will cut faster and cleaner than scraping. Then use the duplicator scraper to finish the last 1/8-1/4” depth of cut. I would then use a negative rake scraper to clean up the surfaces, then sand. The nrs acts a bit like a smoothing plane, leaving a surface only needing finer sanding. Good luck!

Steve
Take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg50KDNCj2Q Early on where he shows a number of spur centers, take a look at the right most one, much bigger in diameter than the one you showed and the one I prefer.
If you want to use a spindle as a pattern, I have these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002261E?tag=awsubstore-20
Where they mount to the frame and the part that holds the pattern spindle is threaded IIRC, which was a pain because it would move. I spot welded mine solid and made it a lot better.
Process I use is set the ‘stylus/follower’ that rides on your pattern so when it’s further away from the lathe, that’s the final setting. Turn it 180 so it pulled the cutter out a little more. Work from the widest to the narrowest and save all the small diameter stuff for last.
This may or may not make sense, but here goes. I found it wasn’t the easiest to get the thing initially set up. I found if I left some flats on both ends of the pattern, put a piece of square stock in the lathe then lock the cutter down and go from one end to the other and set it so it just touched the work piece them tighten the mounts on the lathe bed up, and it will be even down the full length.
Been a while since I used mine but I was experimenting with some carbide metal working cutters at one time, may open some more options. Wasn’t 100% satisfied mainly because I didn’t find the right ones for my test but the results were encouraging. I plan to explore it more at some time.

OSU55
Some duplicators may act as scrapers but the cutters I have for my Vega don’t. It will cut like a good chisel on a lathe can do, obviously depending on the cutter and lathe speed you are using. Depending on a number of factors, I think my best speed varies from around 1200 rpms to 2000 rpms.

For drive centers you want a spring loaded center pin, as Mike shows in the vid. I prefer the 4 prong to the 2 prong he likes. 4 blades hold more torque and more area going x grain. I have all the centers he shows plus more. I use steb centers on smaller work and they are less likely to split the piece but dont hold as much torque. For your size work a 1 inch 4 prong will work. I also have this Nova Jumbo drive center I use for starting large bowl blanks and large dia spindle work, 2” dia. It threads on the spindle https://www.teknatool.com/products/lathe-accessories/nova-jumbo-drive-center-sku-9087/

From what I could tell it looks like the vega dupl may use a diamond shaped cupped carbide cutter, but still cutting 90 deg to the grain which is still a scraping cut, or can the cutter be rotated for more of a shear cut?

OSU55
The cutter that came with my Vega is diamond shaped, but the top center is depressed. The side of each surface on the diamond kind of reminds me if someone took a skew chisel and mounted it with the cutter horizontally. I have both the carbide along with the steel cutters for mine. I like to sharpen the steel one with a good Arkansas stone and keep it for the final cuts as IMO it does better than any carbide can in that situation.
One complaint I always had was the lack of different profiles for cutters. Been a while since I had it out but I had previously done some experimenting with cutters for a metal lathe. It wasn’t perfect and wasn’t finished but cut some nice columns that way. Big issue I didn’t solve was the diameter of the follower vs. the cutter but maybe some day I’ll figure that out.
By the way, I have a couple of Steb Centers that I especially like using the larger one on the lathe vs. any of the other lathe centers I have. Simple center dimple and tap the steb center into the end and you’re ready to turn. If it catches, it’s not going to come your way like some of the other canters can cause.

I have both the carbide along with the steel cutters for mine. I like to sharpen the steel one with a good Arkansas stone and keep it for the final cuts as IMO it does better than any carbide can in that situation.

Can you post a picture of the steel cutter? I got my duplicator as part of a purchase of a used Jet lathe. I’m pretty sure it has the diamond-v carbide cutter on it as well as the slender turning accessory, but would like to confirm either way.

Thanks,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

I have both the carbide along with the steel cutters for mine. I like to sharpen the steel one with a good Arkansas stone and keep it for the final cuts as IMO it does better than any carbide can in that situation.

Can you post a picture of the steel cutter? I got my duplicator as part of a purchase of a used Jet lathe. I m pretty sure it has the diamond-v carbide cutter on it as well as the slender turning accessory, but would like to confirm either way.

Thanks,
Brad

- MrUnix

I can get a picture of it but it will probably be a few days before I can dig it out.
Paul

I took some pictures of my Vega Duplicator today, more than just the 1. I made a storage case for it with wheels on it so I can store it vertically, there’s storage areas on both sides of the front for storage. The lid folds up on the top when using the duplicator otherwise it’s fully enclosed. It’s heavy but worth it to protect the unit and parts.
The spindle pattern holders work if you’re duplicating an existing spindle, but I spotwelded the joint so they wouldn’t move, definite improvement.
The steel diamond cutter is kind of canoe shaped, lower in the middle so it sheers rather than scrapes. I bought my duplicator used and the cutter is the one that came with it. Whether it’s oem I don’t know for sure but it works well.
Hope that helps
.

Thanks for the pictures! I guess I do have the carbide cutter on mine:

I also like your storage solution. I just keep mine on the shelf under the lathe, which sometimes gets in the way, and winds up getting covered in wood chips ;(

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

Thanks, the storage box works well for me. There are wheels on the right side so it can be easily moved around.
The cutter you show is the carbide one, and it’s not cheap. The point on the carbide is more rounded than the steel one, but unless you have some very distinct ones on your turning I doubt you’ll see the difference. Even then, if I had some to deal with I’d probably finish them off with hand chisels, but that’s just me.
Here’s a couple of the metal lathe cutters I was attempting to use. I think it may have promise but needs more detailing first.