Union Graduate and bowl lathe info
Steve Tiedman
I've been looking unsuccessfully for any web link to get information
about the Union Graduate lathes. You know, the bowls lathes (and
sometimes longbeds) that most of the pro's used/are using in those
turning books that come out of England (Guild of Master Craftsman books,
for example).
I'm toying with jumping tracks from a large and heavy homemade longbed
to a big dedicated homemade bowl lathe. I want to peek at the Graduates
as examples of what to do/not do, and I want more info than just seeing
dust covered pictures. The Graduate has sort of inspired me to go the
bowl lathe route for now in my tine shop.
Just to qualify a couple things: I know that a bowl lathe needs a broad
base and good ballast, and very slow speeds for the big diameters. Not
that I would ever turn this big (??) but I would shoot for a 36"
diameter capacity. I am open to the idea of a free standing tool rest,
which would greatly increase the diameter, and length, of the stock I
could use for faceplate and chuck turning.
I'm familiar with the D/J Wood Lathe (lathe kit from the late Denver
Ulery, parts by John Nichols) and have seen the homemade bowl lathe in
Fine Woodworking "Lathes and Turning Techniques".
Any thoughts or ideas, on Graduates or homemade bowl lathes in general?
Are any of you Graduate users (come on, Brit's, speak up)? Again, where
can I see Graduates on the web? (Tried some of the obvious ".uk" types
of addresses with no luck, along with some search engines.)
Thanks,
Steve Tiedman
Moscow, Idaho, USA
ste...@moscow.com
Bill Brachhold
ste...@moscow.com (Steve Tiedman) wrote in <38C0B655...@moscow.com>:
>Hello all,
>
>I've been looking unsuccessfully for any web link to get information
>about the Union Graduate lathes. You know, the bowls lathes (and
>I'm familiar with the D/J Wood Lathe (lathe kit from the late Denver
>Ulery, parts by John Nichols) and have seen the homemade bowl lathe in
>Fine Woodworking "Lathes and Turning Techniques".
>
>Any thoughts or ideas, on Graduates or homemade bowl lathes in general?
>Are any of you Graduate users (come on, Brit's, speak up)? Again, where
>can I see Graduates on the web? (Tried some of the obvious ".uk" types
>of addresses with no luck, along with some search engines.)
Steve,
Have you looked at the VB36 bowl lathe that Craft Supplies in Utah sells.
This is very similar to the Union Graduate and I belive it meets all your
qualifications. As you mentioned, John Nichols sells lathe parts. When I
checked with him, he had a nice spindle, bearing and mounting plate for
$600. If you go with a floor mounted tool rest, you ought to be able to
get the rest of it built locally. E-mail me direct about additional info
on homemades.
Bill in North Florida
Dan Wills
The Union Graduate has been out of production for some time. The
design was enhanced and resurected arround 1995 as the Graduate GL
(Gabor Lakko). It is a neat lathe. It has a 12" swing over a 40 or
50" bed. But that's not the neat part. The lathe can shift into
reverse to use the outboard threads. The swing outboard is 30+
inches. It is the same thread as the inboard, keeping all your chucks
and faceplates the same. There is a interlock mechanism to keep from
running the wrong way. It is a variable speed system. It has all the
normal Graduate iron beast atributes. These are now out of
production, but you do see them around.
Dan Wills,
Sedona, AZ
On Fri, 03 Mar 2000 23:08:05 -0800, Steve Tiedman <ste...@moscow.com>
wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>I've been looking unsuccessfully for any web link to get information
>about the Union Graduate lathes. You know, the bowls lathes (and
>sometimes longbeds) that most of the pro's used/are using in those
>turning books that come out of England (Guild of Master Craftsman books,
>for example).
>
>I'm toying with jumping tracks from a large and heavy homemade longbed
>to a big dedicated homemade bowl lathe. I want to peek at the Graduates
>as examples of what to do/not do, and I want more info than just seeing
>dust covered pictures. The Graduate has sort of inspired me to go the
>bowl lathe route for now in my tine shop.
>
>Just to qualify a couple things: I know that a bowl lathe needs a broad
>base and good ballast, and very slow speeds for the big diameters. Not
>that I would ever turn this big (??) but I would shoot for a 36"
>diameter capacity. I am open to the idea of a free standing tool rest,
>which would greatly increase the diameter, and length, of the stock I
>could use for faceplate and chuck turning.
>
>I'm familiar with the D/J Wood Lathe (lathe kit from the late Denver
>Ulery, parts by John Nichols) and have seen the homemade bowl lathe in
>Fine Woodworking "Lathes and Turning Techniques".
>
>Any thoughts or ideas, on Graduates or homemade bowl lathes in general?
>Are any of you Graduate users (come on, Brit's, speak up)? Again, where
>can I see Graduates on the web? (Tried some of the obvious ".uk" types
>of addresses with no luck, along with some search engines.)
>
Ken Davis
Tiedman) wrote:
I got to use a Graduate for a week about 6 months ago and found it a nice,
solid lathe but.......
It was originally made, AIUI, for young students and I found it a bit low
(if it had been my own, of course, I could have fixed that); the head and
tail morse tapers are different sizes - to prevent the students getting
them the wrong way round!) and the stop push is a 'mushroom' right where I
often wanted to lean while sanding!
It *was* an old one, so things might have changed a bit on newer models
and they *were* the only problems I had with it.
The headstock not pivoting, so on that score I prefer my own Sorby, but it
can be used either end, so large bowl turning is possible.
--
Ken
Silverdale, Lancashire. UK
Chuck Woodruff
If you get to Western Washington you can stop by and see a Harrison, I hve
two, one running and the other slated for some restoration.
The head end is one large casting and fairly heavy...maybe 400 lbs but the
base is not very large. I have variable speed motors on all my lathes and I
have never felt a need for ballast since you can just select a speed that is
not shaking everything and then speed up as the piece becomes more
balanced. the "restoration" lathe came bolted to two one inch steel plates
as it did not have a variable speed motor. I plan to install a 2 HP DC motor
in it. DC is unusual for a Harrison because of the limited space for a
motor....the usual solution is an Adjustabe Frequency Drive.
In my view the heart of a good lathe is the design of the spindle and its
bearings you must have a way to preload the bearings to take out the
radial play inherent in bearings.....be careful if you plan to use a pillow
block and shaft like most home built bowl lathes. You need to use the type
of bearing that be adjusted to eliminate radial play.
The Harrison was not a great design in that respect but the bearings can be
adjusted with some effort.
Chuck Woodruff, Woodco Products
James Gaydos
G&M TOOLS
The Mill,Mill Lane,Ashington,
West Sussex RH20 3BX
Telephone :01903 892510
Fax:01903 892221
As advertised in Woodturning Magazine
Used Union Graduate Lathes,and parts.
James Gaydos
Member:
AAW --
The South Central Pa Turners
pool...@my-deja.com
bill...@hotmail.com (Bill Brachhold) wrote:
> Stev said....
>
> ste...@moscow.com (Steve Tiedman) wrote in
<38C0B655...@moscow.com>:
>
> >
> >I've been looking unsuccessfully for any web link to get information
> >about the Union Graduate lathes. You know, the bowls lathes (and
> >Ulery, parts by John Nichols) and have seen the homemade bowl lathe
in
> >Fine Woodworking "Lathes and Turning Techniques".
> >
> >Any thoughts or ideas, on Graduates or homemade bowl lathes in
general?
> >Are any of you Graduate users (come on, Brit's, speak up)? Again,
where
> >can I see Graduates on the web? (Tried some of the obvious ".uk"
types
> >of addresses with no luck, along with some search engines.)
>
>
> Have you looked at the VB36 bowl lathe that Craft Supplies in Utah
sells.
> This is very similar to the Union Graduate and I belive it meets all
your
> qualifications. As you mentioned, John Nichols sells lathe parts.
When I
> checked with him, he had a nice spindle, bearing and mounting plate
for
> $600. If you go with a floor mounted tool rest, you ought to be able
to
> get the rest of it built locally. E-mail me direct about additional
info
> on homemades.
>
> Bill in North Florida
Hi Steve,
Unfortunately the Graduate manufacturer went bust a couple of years ago.
They were bought out but the purchasers have done nothing with it
since.
Have you looked at our Euro 2000 and NEW Euro 3000 (web site
www.poolewood.co.uk.
Good luck Terry Davis.
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Bill Noble
offer some technology comments:
1. DC motors must have brushes, or a permanent magnet armature
and a bunch of electronics - most I have seen have brushes,
and brushes can wear out and they make sparks (a problem with
dust).
2. AC motors with a vairable speed drive have no brushes, etc.
the little fan in your computer is a permanent magnet DC motor
(see #1 above) but a larger motor is usually AC because of the
price of high powered magnets.
Force is a linear term, a typical unit of force is pounds
(force). Weight is a special case of force caused by the pull
of the earth's gravity,
Torque is a force at a radius from a center - so it's
angular - typical units are foot pounds - a foot pound of
torque is what you would get with a one pound weight (in the
earth's gravity) at the end of a 1 foot lever that is pivoted
at the other end (when the lever is exactly perpendicular to
an earth's radius line)
I saw an advertisement in an aerospace magazine for a 300 HP
motor that was 4 inches in diameter and 6 inches long (if I
remember right) - that would be pretty cool, but there was no
price - probably many thousands of $ - it relied on rare earth
magnets and a very high RPM to get the high power in the small
size - also it's probably rated for short duty cycles.
"Mike Paulson" <mpau...@nyx10.nyx.net> wrote in message
news:95258339...@iris.nyx.net...
> Chuck Woodruff <woo...@gte.net> wrote:
> >>plan to install a 2 HP DC motor in it. DC is unusual for a
Harrison
>
> Do you prefer DC motors for lathe use? I'm confused. It
seems like all
> the manufacturers are going with AC variable drives when
they get into the
> 2 hp range. Craft Supplies US is telling people the AC has
more power
> (torque? force? - they probably used the correct technical
term which I
> don't remember and I don't understand the distinction
anyway) at the same
> rated horsepower than the DC. A friend of mine tried it -
he had a 1.5 hp
> DC, replaced it with 1.5 AC - and said it had more power for
roughing out
> bowl blanks. You're the motor expert - what's the scoop on
AC vs DC for
> lathe use?
>
> -mike paulson, fort collins, co
>
>
Francis Morrin
Graduates the kudos you seem prepared to give them. These lathes were made
for schools, for students to learn on. Now they certainly are solid enough,
but generally only have 12" sotb and about 22" outboard. The outboard thread
is left hand. In latter years people have fitted the lathes with variable
speed motors which imho helped these lathes a lot (they originally had 4
speeds 400 900 1600 and 2400 roughly). they were also popular because for a
long time they were the only "quality turning lathe" to be had. They had
cam-locking toolrest and tailstock before others did.
However, nice and all as they are, I wouldn't class them as a bowl turning
lathe. To my mind, they function best as a spindle lathe siutable for
occasional bowl use.
Some one here mentioned the VB36, which is completely different from the
graduate. it really is only a bowl turning machine and was built from the
ground up for bowls. This is a real beauty - I have heard one or 2 gripes
about it being a bit underpowered but who wouldn't be at 30"?
one final thing - have a look at Poolewood before you decide to build/buy:
www.poolewood.co.uk - I've no connection with the company - just a satisfied
customer
Fran in Ireland
Mike Paulson
Cheshire Pawn
Steve;
For info on the lathe in question as well as a selection of used
lathes for sale try the following site: www.lathes.co.uk/page21.html
Sam Rieder
Decatur, GA
sri...@mindspring.com
Steve Tiedman <ste...@moscow.com> wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>I've been looking unsuccessfully for any web link to get information
>about the Union Graduate lathes. You know, the bowls lathes (and
>sometimes longbeds) that most of the pro's used/are using in those
>turning books that come out of England (Guild of Master Craftsman books,
>for example).
>
>I'm toying with jumping tracks from a large and heavy homemade longbed
>to a big dedicated homemade bowl lathe. I want to peek at the Graduates
>as examples of what to do/not do, and I want more info than just seeing
>dust covered pictures. The Graduate has sort of inspired me to go the
>bowl lathe route for now in my tine shop.
>
>Just to qualify a couple things: I know that a bowl lathe needs a broad
>base and good ballast, and very slow speeds for the big diameters. Not
>that I would ever turn this big (??) but I would shoot for a 36"
>diameter capacity. I am open to the idea of a free standing tool rest,
>which would greatly increase the diameter, and length, of the stock I
>could use for faceplate and chuck turning.
>
>I'm familiar with the D/J Wood Lathe (lathe kit from the late Denver
>Ulery, parts by John Nichols) and have seen the homemade bowl lathe in
>Fine Woodworking "Lathes and Turning Techniques".
>
>Any thoughts or ideas, on Graduates or homemade bowl lathes in general?
>Are any of you Graduate users (come on, Brit's, speak up)? Again, where
>can I see Graduates on the web? (Tried some of the obvious ".uk" types
>of addresses with no luck, along with some search engines.)
>