Stubby Article After turning on my Delta 701 for seven years I decided it was time for a move up. I started looking at lathes in the $1,500 - $2,500 range. Most of the lathes I saw and read about were ok but they all lacked something. Too short a swing, could not start at 0 rpm, hardware looked too flimsy, footprint was too large for my shop, etc. If I bought one of these lathes I knew in my heart I would want to upgrade in a couple of years. My loving wife Melinda could tell that I was disappointed in the options I had. She told me to get what I needed and to purchase something that I would enjoy for years. Life is good!

Now I was looking at Oneway, Poolewood, Powermatic, Vicmarc, VB36 Master Bowlturner, and the unique Stubby. The size of my shop demanded a small footprint. That narrowed the field to the Vickmark, VB36 and the Stubby. The Vickmark is a very nice lathe with a 24" swing but the short model only gets 21" between centers. The VB36 is a monster and is great for bowls but its tool rest is very bulky and a bit of trouble to move. Also it is the most expensive of the group ($6,800) with its optional tailstock and only 30" between centers. I saw a Stubby 750 briefly while at a Craft Supplies class this summer. It was on a pallet and it did not impress me. It was flat black and looked a little gimmicky with the sliding bed. Still the Stubby did seem to offer a lot of options in a small package.

I started to research the Stubby and decided the 1000 model suited my needs very well. I can't give the standard specifications such as swing and between centers until I explain how the Stubby works. This lathe has a sliding bed that is mounted on a swiveling turret. It also comes with two beds and two banjos. The first bed is the main bed and the second is an auxiliary bed that can be mounted on several locations on the lathe. The main bed can slide away from the headstock 18". Also, by removing a retaining pin, the bed can be swiveled 360 degrees allowing the user to position the tool rest in a multitude of locations. In its standard configuration the 1000 has a 20" swing and 16" between centers. Fully extended the 1000 has a 44" swing and 34" between centers. By expanding the bed you expose a 16" wide gap and that gives you the 44" swing.

One of the greatest resources I found for making my decision was the Stubby newsgroup. It is an invitation only group but you can read the posted messages once you join. The web address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stubbygroup/ . These folks are very helpful and several offered to open their shops so I could get some hands-on time on the lathe. 

I took up Carl Shortt from Oklahoma City on his offer and turned on his lathe one afternoon. He owns a 750 and until I got my lathe he was the only Stubby owner in Oklahoma. This is an elite club in that there are about 400 Stubby owners in the US and of those only 30 – 40 are 1000's. Carl is an accomplished turner and his website is http://www.internetsitemasters.com/carlshortt/.

I was very impressed after turning on Carl's lathe and decided to get the Stubby. I placed an order with John and Vicki Jordan in Tennessee. Their website is http://www.stubbylathe.com/. I was in luck as there was a 1000 in their current order. I would only have to wait about a month instead of 3 or 4 months. Oh, did I mention that the Stubby is manufactured by Omega in Australia? Yep, this lathe comes from down- under.

John Jordan Flyer



*Updated August 27, 2004

Due to fluctuations in the US dollar during 2004 the Stubby lathe looked like it might disappear from the US market. Thanks to Bill Rubenstein stepping in, the Stubby is again available here. You can order from Bill's website http://stubbylatheusa.com or from John Jordan's site http://www.stubbylathe.com You can also order a Stubby through Craft Supplies and the San Diego Woodturning Center but I am not sure they are ordering any new stock at this time. 

*End of update

I heard nothing but praise about John Jordan's customer service and that was good enough for me. At the time of my order the 1000 was $5,500. There has been a price increase since then, because of fluctuations in the US dollar.  In addition the Stubby's are now gray in color. I must admit I like it much better than the old black color.

The month wait was a good thing as it gave me time to ready my shop. I needed to install 220 electric and I installed an electric hoist system designed after one I saw posted on the Stubby newsgroup. My wiring skills are limited at best so I won't give an electric how-to here. However I did learn that installing a wall switch for the lathe is a good idea. The Stubby has two on/off switches.

The main switch is on the back of the lathe and depending on your setup it might be hard to get to. The wall switch takes care of that problem. The electric hoist consists of a Harbor Freight hoist. The 400lb model is usually $119.00 but if you keep an eye out it goes on sale, a couple of times a year, for $69.00.

The mounting hardware is barn door track and wheels. I found a set of wheels that have a pivot and that allows me a little more freedom in swinging the blank during mounting. I drilled through the track and through my joists. I then secured everything with bolts, washers and lock nuts. The wheels have just enough room to clear the bolt heads inside the track. On both ends of the track I used two washers on the bolt head side and it lowered the bolt head enough to stop the wheels from running off the track. I combined the mounting hardware for the hoist and the wheels to attach the hoist securely.

As you can see below I played around with it a little bit. That is a 165lb piece of walnut. The hoist easily lifted it and the whole system rolled very smoothly. I used two straps which use a one-handed cinch system and each end of the strap has hooks. It worked fine for this piece but some people use tire snow chains for awkward blanks. 

I only put my ugly mug in the shot for perspective. No I don't wear flip-flops in the shop when turning. Yes my dog is in the shop but, only because he thinks I have something he can eat

Each system is a little different so you will have to fiddle a bit to figure out how to best combine the two systems. All total the hoist and track system cost me under $130.00. 

I made sure I had some help ready for the arrival of my new baby. Club members Larry Elizondo, Oren Zehner, Maurice Clyma and Bob Galloway were kind enough to help. Larry provided his trailer for picking up the lathe at the freight depot. I rented a pallet jack and got a couple of 4’ by 8’ sheets of plywood. The 1000 weighs in at 800lbs and probably ships at 1000lbs. As it turns out we needed the pallet jack at the depot because there are no ramps to drive the fork lift down to the trailer. I was so excited to get the lathe picked up I forgot to take any pictures!

It took quite a bit of muscle but we did get the lathe in the shop. This is a very well constructed shipping crate. You should have seen the look on our faces when we opened the crate to only find out that the lathe was in pieces and we could have used a dolly to transport the pieces to the shop!

Upon inspection we could see that the lathe comes with the motor and headstock packed in the middle of the stand. The banjos are mounted upside down on the main bed. Be careful removing the banjos as they are very heavy and can land on a foot or shin. Not that we had any experience with that sort of thing...

Upon unpacking we noticed a large amount of rust on the lathe. It turns out that customers had been complaining about how difficult it was to remove the rust protectant Omega applied to the lathes. Rob Caddaye of Omega emailed me to apologize for the rust. He told me I had gotten the first shipment where they had cut back on the protectant. The trip from Australia is by boat and Rob was worried that this might happen. He told me that they were going back to square one and attack the problem a different way.

*Update August 27, 2004

Omega has successfully addressed the rust problem by coating all of the machine in order to prevent the rust.

*End of update

I sent everyone home before assembling the lathe because it was going to take a good bit of time to remove the rust. After cleaning everything I started to assemble the lathe. I first attached the headstock. It is a load but if you are careful you can install it yourself.

I then attached the motor with the two bolts provided. This takes a little more technique but I managed to get it attached.  

Then I slid the main bed onto the turret. Not that I needed it yet, I just wanted to see it in place. 

You must wire the power cable to the motor. There is a diagram for the wiring in the instructions and it is a simple job. 

The power cable for the wall plug also comes unwired. 

It took less than an hour to assemble the lathe.

800lbs in such a small footprint makes moving the Stubby a real chore. Fortunately Maurice left me his Oneway jack. It is a bar with wheels and a small lip that you can slide under the edge of the base of the lathe and jack up that side. It allowed me to slide the lathe into the right position on the floor. I had to move it a couple of times because I forgot to leave room to use the knockout bar. If your floor is uneven it is suggested you place anti-vibration pads under the four corners of the lathe. I used four neoprene coasters, which are working fine, but I think I will replace them soon with a harder rubber pad. Everything seemed to work fine and since it was after 11pm I decided to wait until the next day to turn something.

The next morning I mounted a project I had been holding back until the Stubby arrived. It is a giant spinning top made of Purpleheart and Cherry. This is one stout lathe! Hogging out kiln dried Purpleheart is a challenge for any lathe but the Stubby purred along fine. No vibration, plenty of power and everything is rock solid. The bed slides easily and its fit is so finely machined everything matches up perfectly. I only had one small problem and that was a clicking in the headstock. After talking to John Jordan and exchanging ideas with the Stubby group I managed to track down the noise to the front bearing. John sent a replacement by priority mail to me immediately. You have to remove the spindle to replace the bearing but to my surprise it was very easy to change out. I was impressed with how quiet this lathe is with the new bearing installed. You can easily carry on a conversation while the lathe is running.

This is a great lathe with amazing capabilities. It has so many options for bed and banjo placement that the only limitation this lathe has is my imagination. Would I buy this lathe again? In a heartbeat! I call them as I see them and I am not too proud to point out the faults of this lathe. I will have to let you know in a few years if I find any, because right now I don’t see a one!

Tim Yoder