NOVA DVR XP

[crazylegs]

NOVA DVR XP what does everyone think of this lathe ? Any good?

[Wood spinner]

I owned one that went faulty ( They had lots of problems with the early models ) , Teknatool took ages replying to emails and were no help fixing the fault , Advised I buy a new one , My DVR went to the council scrap pit

Proceed with caution is my advice

[Alan Fordham]

I have had one for about 5 years and today's the only problem has been the miknuckle in the feet.
I had problems with Technatool responding to emails. I spoke to Brimarc (the UK agent) They where excellent in getting things sorted.

[Les Symonds]

.... miknuckle.....

?

[Bryan Milham]

?

I'm glad you asked '?'

[Tim Pettigrew]

NOVA DVR XP what does everyone think of this lathe ? Any good?

I have a second hand one of these (had it about 3 years) with a cast iron stand and I have had no problems at all with it.  Rock solid on the stand even with out of true stock (18" diameter).  Let me know if you need more info.

Tim

[crazylegs]

Tim, thanks for the reply. Any negatives? Its a lot of money I am thinking of shelling out and to be honest my turning does not warrant it at the moment but I am thinking I will never need to get anything more. Can you see a need for any other lathe?

[APH]

I think the worry with this particular model is the difficulties getting it repaired if anything goes wrong. With most lathes it's pretty easy to replace motors and control gear and getting parts is pretty easy. With the direct drive lathes you're stuck with needing OEM parts and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that getting the DVR series parts can be difficult or so expensive that it makes repair uneconomical (as above).

I think variable speed is most easily used with just a simple knob to turn. Easy and fast to adjust, maybe you get used to having to press buttons to vary speed, but not my idea of simple.

There are lots of really great lathes out there secondhand that regularly go for amazingly low prices. Keep an eye on the forums and eBay and with patience you'll pick up something much better for a fraction of the price of a DVR.

[crazylegs]

what do you think is better?

[APH]

what do you think is better?

Almost anything ?
Depends a lot on budget, what spec. you need and if you're prepared to buy secondhand and if so, how urgent your need is.

[crazylegs]

blimey you must have had a bad experience.

[Derwent Woodturning club]

I have two DVRs and know two other turners who also own them, and none of us have had any problem, apart from a mains filter which went 'pop' on one of them. Cost of repair was £25 including postage from Record Power who were Teknatool agents at the time.

 Very smooth drive as there isn't any pulley/drive belt. And the fact that there is feedback to maintain the speed no matter how heavy the cut ( up to a point) means you aren't having to worry about belt slippage. Reverse is easily engaged but the lathe warns you when reverse is selected. Another nice feature is that, following a power cut it defaults to a speed of 500RPM, as there is no rotary switch to leave at max speed.

Regarding cost of repairs, the cost of an equivalent inverter or 2.5Hp motor is not going to be cheap either.

I guess it all depends on what price you are thinking of paying. I got both mine second hand at prices better than other lathes of similar capacity.

[crazylegs]

How do they rate in comparison to the CL4? The one i am looking at has the bowl attachment and bed extension. It could work out only a little more money than a new CL or coronet.

[APH]

blimey you must have had a bad experience.

I've seen too many failures of those plastic membranes that are used over the controls on the DVRs over the years on other bits of kit to consider buying anything with them. I'd rule out the new Zebrano lathes for the same reason.

Lathes are a long term purchase and should be able to last a life time, but for that to happen they need to be repairable. Too many OEM bespoke parts will limit the long term serviceability of them and if parts cease to be available they loose all value.
I think lathes like the Records, Axminsters, Stratos, Charnwoods etc. are all likely to be better long term prospects.

[Tim Pettigrew]

How do they rate in comparison to the CL4? The one i am looking at has the bowl attachment and bed extension. It could work out only a little more money than a new CL or coronet.

IMHO I think that the cast iron rectangular cross-sectional bed bars on the NOVA DVR are superior in terms of rigidity when compared to the tubular bars on the CL4.  I make and use quite a few jigs for use on the DVR and the flat bed bars offer good support for those jigs requiring it.  I don't think that the CL4 has a hand-wheel on the headstock (for rotating the spindle by hand) which I would certainly miss.

I also have the bowl attachment for the DVR which gives good tool-rest support for turning large stock with the headstock swivelled.

Tim