The Robust is here!

Bill Grumbine

Member
Messages
252
Location
Kutztown PA
Greetings all

I figured I would put this in the new tools section instead of one of the turning sections. After all, it is a new tool. Yesterday was a big day in a couple of ways, not the least of which was the long awaited delivery of the Robust. The lathe arrived about 3:00 PM, and all went very smoothly indeed. The truck driver was a very friendly guy who was willing to help us get the thing into the shop. Getting it off the lift gate was a little exciting, since it barely fit, especially with three guys (one of them me!) also trying to stand on the lift gate to move it around. Including the crate, it checked in at 920 lbs.

Once we got it on the ground, we removed the excess crating - i.e. everything but the skid, and prepared to get it into the shop. My shop is at ground level, but not quite. There is a lip of concrete about 1 1/2" high which we had to surmount. We got the thing onto the pallet jack, took a running start, and got it most of the way in on the first try. It took two more tries to get in all the way, but it went relatively fast.

After signing papers and sending the driver on his way, I had this in the shop.

robustonskid.jpg


It was very well wrapped in what looked like a giant garbage bag and that foam stuff that electronics come in. It only took a couple of minutes to get all that off, and then the real grunt work began. After getting the bolts holding it to the skid out of the feet, we prepared for the heavy lifting. The headstock, banjo, and tailstock were all moved to one end of the lathe, and boards were placed at the other end so that we could slide it along the skid. We dragged the "light" end off the skid and set it on the floor. Then, we moved all the stuff on top back to that end, and prepared to get the second end on the floor. We did that by padding a long crowbar with some of the foam, sliding it under the ways, and lifting from two sides while my daughter removed the boards. Now it was sitting firmly on the floor with the skid wrapped around it. No problem, that is what reciprocating saws are for! In very little time there was a pile of scrap two bys laying out in the parking space, and we were at work getting the lathe up on its wheels.

robustonwheels.jpg


The wheel kit is an option, and comes with a jack, which also serves to lift the lathe to adjust the leg height. Most people will probably use something like this once or twice, but I think it is going to be real handy when students of less than normal height (6' 2") come to use it. :p It will also be a plus if I want to do demos, or need to make full use of the bed (more on that in a minute). I got it as far as you see in the picture above last night before it was time for bed. I had to run some errands as well, so I was not able to devote my undivided attention to the machine.



robusttailstock.jpg


Here is a shot with the tailstock pivoted. This is a huge advantage for me in a couple of ways. While most people will like it because it gets the tailstock out of the way for turning at the end of the lathe or using a captured hollowing rig, I have the added advantage of it enhancing my flatwork capabilities. With the lower bed ways and the tailstock out of the way, the slider on my Mini Max combo machine will sail right past it, with sheet goods passing over the ways. That adds a minimum of 30" of space to the other end of the shop, all the way across, effectively opening up about 30-45 square feet or better. And because of the wheel kit, the lathe does not need to be out in the middle of the floor all the time. I don't need the 58" between centers all the time, and since the headstock slides, I can condense it down to a smaller profile for most of my turning, and if I need to stretch it out for a longer piece, it will be a simple matter to put the wheels on, and move it out to where I can use its full length.

Today's chores are to get the leveling feet on it, get it into its mostly permanent place, and get a table leg turned. I have a customer waiting for that, and then it is on to bowls - some big ones too! I am sure there will be another picture or two coming eventually.

Bill
 
Whoo Hoo!

Sure is an American Beauty :D :thumb:

I imagine you will get some work out of that bad boy. :clap:

Look forward to your review after you get some time on it.

Cheers!
 
Mighty impressive. Not being in that category, I had the Robust confused in my poor excuse for a mind with the VB. Another very 'robust' hunk of equipment. Do send updates, with pictures. And, do enjoy for many-many years.
 
Wow! I'm glad it arrived safely and was assembled safely - unless one of your "errands" was actually a trip to the ER for an emergency hernia operation!

Now we all will need to remember that Bill isn't talking about his truck when he talks about his half-ton.
 
Sweet! I'm sure you're going to have a ball wilth that bad boy. And let's see, you're a pro and in business so it is deductible as well! (not qualified to give tax advice, just thinking out loud :rofl:)

Jay
 
Oh great .... now I'm really going to have an inferiority complex. I don't have a Robust, I'm not 6'2" and I can't seem to grow a turning muscle ..... what sort of a life is this I'm stuck with....?

:rofl:

Just kidding - looks GREAT Bill !! I hope you have a LOT of fun with it :thumb:

cheers eh?
 
Too late Mike. :D I spent some time cleaning up the shop, getting a trap thrower ready for some shooting activity on Saturday, and then leveling the lathe when a friend of mine arrived. What a job that turned out to be! :sigh: the lathe was not the issue, but rather my shop floor. The floor is concrete, poured in 1943, with no intention of anything but parking and working on cars. As such, it has more billows than the North Atlantic, and as much oil on it as when Exxon Valdez became a part of our history.

We tried the leveling feet that came with the lathe, but they were too small and moved around. So we went back to moving the legs, which are infinitely adjustable. We got it dead on level in all directions, but it kept skating around like a pat of butter in a hot frying pan.

I didn't have this problem with the Poolewood, but my friend (who happens to own the Poolewood now) pointed out that the feet on the Poolewood are hollow tubing, whereas the feet on the Robust have a plate welded onto the end, and is painted to boot, creating a lot less friction. So, we bolted it down to the floor using some Tapcon screws. :shy:

I fired it up again, and it was still vibrating. Checking the speed, I realized it was running at about 1200 rpm with a 16" out of balance blank. I backed it down to about 900 rpm and we could stand a nickel on edge with no problem.

robustshavings.jpg


Here is a picture of the first shavings. I took a piece of silver maple that was still somewhat wet, about 16" in diameter to start, and perhaps 5" thick or so. I leaned into it with all I had using a Thompson 5/8" gouge, and taking off as big a shaving as the gouge would handle. I was able to slow the lathe down somewhat (haven't met one yet that I can't stall) but you can see the shavings in the window there. Taking the heaviest cut the gouge could swallow, the nickel still stood on edge. So I am happy.
 
Mark and Ned, no hernia, but I did have to deliver my daughter to church for Wednesday night Bible study. I am usually there, but I was all sweaty and dirty and not fit for human company.

Jay, the depreciation of tools was actually a big factor (although not the only factor) in the decision to buy this thing. The Poolewood had been depreciated to zero, and while it will probably be in service for beyond my expected lifetime, I could not squeeze any more out of it from the point of view of the Infernal Revenue. I now have seven more years of deductions to keep the Feds out of my wallet as much as possible.

For anyone reading this who has lathe lust, this is my 10th lathe. I started out with a cheap Chinese table top machine and worked my way up from machine to machine as the business grew. Who knows what will come next? My wife "shut me off" at lathe number 7. You can see what good that did. :D

Bill
 
Congrats, Bill. :congrats: Someday when LOML wins the Lotto, I'd like to get the same rig. For now, I'll just live with a bad case of lathe envy -- and admiration. (And keep saving my lunch money for something better than the Craftsman I'm using now.) :thumb:
 
The lathe looks great Bill! I didn't realize all the additional benefits the Robust would bring to your shop! It sounds like the logistics in the shop are greatly improved.

Concerning the movement, if it is still an issue, picking up some vibration isolation pads should help keep it in place.

Enjoy the new tool!

Wes
 
WOW! :eek:

That's a whopper of a lathe Bill :thumb:

I don't know about the yellow (Although I am a big mustard fan ;)) but it sure does look good in sawdust brown!
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

DT
 
Dang. That thing's so nice, it's time to invert the old phraseology.

Dang! Bill's cool, and *we* suck! ;)

Gentlemen, I invite you to consider this prospect. You order your new lathe, And it's custom made just for you! So much so, when it arrives, it's got your name taped to it! ;)

I don't know about you, but when my lathe got here, it was dumped unceremoniously in a broken up cardboard box right onto the driveway. It sure as heck didn't have my name on it. In fact, mine sucked so bad that if it had had a label on it, it would have read "This one's for Doofus!" ;)

16" unbalanced blank stable at 900 rpm. Dang. We suck! ;)

Vile envy is *not* entering my soul. It's not! But it sure is whisking around the corners.

Dang!

Congrats, Bill! You rule, and we drule! ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Bill, interesting analysis about the feet. I have some 4" diameter machine pads that I picked up in my journeys into industry. These machine pads have steel foot on the bottom into which there is a HDPE insert about 1/4" thick. Then on the top there is a 3/4" threaded stud. The feet swivel about the end of the threaded stud but I am not sure that the feet would have enough swivel to accommodate the splayed leg design of the Robust. Are legs flat on the bottom? Do the feet have holes in them to accommodate a bolt? Obviously the answer to both questions is yes since you bolted the lathe to the floor. That is the best solution to keeping your lathe immobile and adding mass. It is hard to come up with more mass than the Earth itself.

We will expect a full review of this fine piece of equipment. Enjoy!!!
 
Top