Purchased a Vevor WM210V-L and the saga begins

[markba633csi]

Shame about the speed control- up till then it looked like you were in the clear
If there are no serious mechanical/machining problems you still are doing better than most
Some of these things are such a mess you'd be just as well mining the ore yourself

If it has a brushed 90 volt dc motor (two wires) I would just toss the original speed control and install a KB electronics SCR drive.
KBIC-120 and 125 are two models that have proven to be very reliable- around 100$ or less on Ebay. KBs were used as OEM
on some models of import lathes in the past- they're solid. Good to 1 HP with no additional heatsink. Good low speed torque.
Tip: get the older version using thru-hole components rather than surface mount parts- easier to repair
(not that you would need to very often)

 

[m1kemex]

Well, it all comes down to knowing what you're getting into.

Cheap electrical / electronics stuff from China? Probably not a good idea (like you already discovered). But mechanical stuff is generally pretty good ... for what you pay. And an interesting thing I heard from Mathias is that Vevor paid him to make a new threading chart. So, as you can see, they are constantly improving their products. In other words, the entrepreneuring center of the world is now China.

(I'll just mention that I studied all the existing models closely and I'm sad to tell you that the WM210V-L still has the weak casting under the headstock. See this for more details:

Basically, all the series of lathes are flawed by design: the literately knocked out a wall out of the casting to make room for the motor. However, the 7x16 lathe Mathias has, which is the one with the motor built in around the spindle, has this design flaw fixed / the casting below the headstock is complete and provides decent support.)

Vevor is just a distributor, like Harbor Freight. But unlike many other distributors, they've learned to muscle suppliers to keep them accountable. I'm pretty sure that each manufacturer is required to have some support staff and they just pass the customer complains to them. I mean, they are told "you fix it". And, to the manufacturer, to ship a few extra parts with the new shipment to keep customers happy is no problem at all. it just takes a lot of time.

Pretty much to avoid the issues that you had, I dismantled my 7x12 lathe as soon as it arrived. I moved all the mechanical parts to a longer bed / headstock I had lying around, but not the motor or the control board. I don't trust them. I'll just make my own drive system and put those spares on sale. I guess this is a win-win situation because those parts are still hard to get.

 

[Divinscuba]

Wow, I had no idea about the casting like that. Thanks for posting that video. I’ve read dozens of threads and watched dozens of videos about the Vevor lathes and I haven’t heard anyone mention it till now. That video was very informative. I speak Spanish but learned it in Mexico. This guy was most likely in Spain or Argentina. I understood enough though. Maybe I’ll do something similar to what he was talking about and remove the motor, and mount it behind the lathe. Then weld in some steel plate where the casting is cut out. If I put a solid plate where the wall was and extend it out the back, I could mount the motor there. Then put another piece of plate perpendicular to the end plate underneath where the back ways are. That would fix any rigidity issues in the entire frame. Guy in the video even mentions putting a big thick plate under the feet and making additional spots to bolt through the feet for mounting the lathe to your bench.

Well since I have a little time with the lathe being down and all, maybe I’ll tear it apart some more and take a closer look at the casting under the headstock…

 

[m1kemex]

Wow, I had no idea about the casting like that. Thanks for posting that video. I’ve read dozens of threads and watched dozens of videos about the Vevor lathes and I haven’t heard anyone mention it till now. That video was very informative.

That's because most "reviewers" are just amateurs who don't really know what they are talking about. The world is dangerously getting away from a culture that emphasizes proper learning (from people who truly master their area of expertise) to improvised sharing of random pieces of knowledge. But well, that's a long topic...

Also, it's not a Vevor issue. It's common to all clones. The mini-lathe original designation is C2 (shorter versions) or C3 (longer versions). It's SIEG who made the mistake and all other manufacturers just repeated it. Vevor is not a manufacturer but you could say that they are actually the ones who fixed it with the MX-S716G (the model Matthias Wandel has). It's the only model I've seen that doesn't have such flaw.

I speak Spanish but learned it in Mexico. This guy was most likely in Spain or Argentina.

¡Excelente! Asturias, it's a region of Spain (and yeah, Spaniards kind of talk funny).

I understood enough though. Maybe I’ll do something similar to what he was talking about and remove the motor, and mount it behind the lathe. Then weld in some steel plate where the casting is cut out. If I put a solid plate where the wall was and extend it out the back, I could mount the motor there. Then put another piece of plate perpendicular to the end plate underneath where the back ways are. That would fix any rigidity issues in the entire frame. Guy in the video even mentions putting a big thick plate under the feet and making additional spots to bolt through the feet for mounting the lathe to your bench.

Well since I have a little time with the lathe being down and all, maybe I’ll tear it apart some more and take a closer look at the casting under the headstock…

It's a big project. And remember that cast iron can't really be welded. The idea is to mill some flat spots in the casting and bolt something between. It's not really that complicated but it has to be accurate to provide good support / act like they were a single piece. Casting finish is usually rough so if you simply bolt something to the surface it ends up applying all the force in just several high spots.

Id' say, unless you really know what you're doing, I recommend you to leave it alone for now. It's not like the lathe doesn't work that way. It's just that some mysterious chatter and poor finish ultimately point to that flaw.

 

[SouthernChap]

That seems pretty wimpy! After the next failure find a more powerful solution.

That's theoretically 1HP, although I guess if it's power consumption being quoted rather than power output, it may be less actual power.

I'm any case, the Myford ML7 (which for it's faults, like a teensy spindle bore and lacklustre oilers is definitely a well respected model engineering lathe) would normally come with a 1/2 HP motor. That would be about 370W.

This WM210 is a Chinese bench top design; given the likely rigidity (better than a mini lathe, but not by that much), more than 1 HP or maybe 1-1/2 HP would be pointless really.

 

[francist]

The world is dangerously getting away from a culture that emphasizes proper learning (from people who truly master their area of expertise) to improvised sharing of random pieces of knowledge.

Well said!

 

[mksj]

I think the main difference as to motor Hp required is that the Vevor only has two mechanical speeds and the rest of the speed range is handled by the electronic speed control, so you loose the mechanical advantage at the lower end of the speed range. Using a ~1-1.25 Hp BLDC (compact motor) type with an electronic speed control actually makes sense. The speed range of this model is quoted as 50-2500 RPM, so in 2 speed ranges the motor cover 50-1250 and 150-2500 per their specifications (which is actually a bit crazy). The performance of the motor will be quite anemic at the low end, typical 2 or 3 speed lathes with electronic speed control would use a motor ~2X bigger than a geared/pulley headstock. If the motor/control board burned out again you might consider tossing the electronics and motor and replacing it with something like a 900-1250W BLDC controller/motor. You also may be able to just replace the speed control;er if one knew the motor characteristics/wiring.

7X Two Speed Mini Lathe Parts | ServoMotor

All Parts Used for a 2 Speed Mini Lathe Upgrade

www.servomotorkit.com

 

[Aaron_W]

Wow, I had no idea about the casting like that. Thanks for posting that video. I’ve read dozens of threads and watched dozens of videos about the Vevor lathes and I haven’t heard anyone mention it till now. That video was very informative. I speak Spanish but learned it in Mexico. This guy was most likely in Spain or Argentina. I understood enough though. Maybe I’ll do something similar to what he was talking about and remove the motor, and mount it behind the lathe. Then weld in some steel plate where the casting is cut out. If I put a solid plate where the wall was and extend it out the back, I could mount the motor there. Then put another piece of plate perpendicular to the end plate underneath where the back ways are. That would fix any rigidity issues in the entire frame. Guy in the video even mentions putting a big thick plate under the feet and making additional spots to bolt through the feet for mounting the lathe to your bench.

Well since I have a little time with the lathe being down and all, maybe I’ll tear it apart some more and take a closer look at the casting under the headstock…

I'm having a little trouble picturing exactly what is going on with this particular lathe but some have had success increasing rigidity by bolting a small lathe to a solid footing. I picked up a piece of 1/2" steel plate I'm going to mount my Atlas /Craftsman 6x18" lathe on.

As Long as both ends are well secured, I'd think that would help in your case, welding shouldn't be required.

 

[Larry$]

Things to consider: Unless you have a furnace to put the casting in I wouldn't try welding on it! Brazing could work but care must be taken in preheat and cool down control. See Keith Rucker or other videos for more info.
The problem with HP verses electronic speed control is, at lower RPMs the real power is much less than the motor tag says. If the motor is not rated for the electronic control it may also over heat. A separate motor fan may be worth while. Chinese motors aren't generally known for quality! Built to a price point.
If you want to fasten the lathe to something to improve its rigidity, use structural shape steel rather than a flat plate. Your choices include: wide flange (looks like an I section but wider.) Channel (not as stiff per pound as the WF) Rectangular tube (excellent torsional strength for its weight) Check with shops that fabricate structural products, contractors that do tear downs of buildings, etc. for odd pieces on the cheap. And lastly, Cast iron may undergo movement over time as the stresses from cooling slowly relax. So check the flatness of the ways over time to see if that has happened to your lathe.

 

[SouthernChap]

Yeah, the replies about lower speeds and torque on these BLDC motors have a good point.

Still and all, Chinese benchtop lathes aren't famed for their rigidity so would slapping on the extra HP really gain that much? One of the things about these Chinese machines is one pushes beyond the built-in constraints of their structural design at one's 'peril'