Do any of you?

[Peter Blair]

Do any of you Creekers rent lathe time to others? I, I'm sure just like a lot of other turners, would like to be able to better afford the 'votex' and wonder if it would be worth while to offer lathe time on my lathe. Does anyone do this?
A few considerations I have thought of are:
- legal liability
- safety
- tools (bring your own or use(rent) mine?
- finishing, materials, sandpaper etc.
- who cleans up?
- how much would it be reasonable to charge?

What say you?

[Kenneth Hertzog]

I do not rent lathe or shop time
for the first reason stated
if a piece of wood ( or whatever ) should depart the lathe
and injure one's face you would not have enough insurance to
cover the damage done
I would not want them breathing in my face shield also.
Ken

[Brian Effinger]

**Edit**
Sorry, I misread the OP. If you are doing this for profit, I'm sure insurance would come into play, the same as if you were to sell your turnings. Could create some unintended consiquences.

[Robert McGowen]

I cannot speak to Canadian law, but I would think that your insurance costs would probably outweigh any profits. You are going to instantly turn everything into a "business", if it is not already one, so business insurance, liability insurance, etc. If someone can rent enough time to make it worth your while, I can only assume that they could also buy their own lathe. Therefore, I see the only renters being one time users, maybe twice if they are working on a project. What if something is broken, stolen, etc. How many people have a set of lathe tools, but no lathe? Are they going to sharpen your tools also? I personally can think of many other ways to fund the vortex. YMMV

[Dick Wilson]

Rent out my lathe:eek::eek::eek:??????

#1 - if your insurance company ever found out about it you would have to win the lotto to cover yourself.
There is no piece of paper that would CYA in the problems that might occur. Do you want to turn
or spend your time in court fighting the deep pockets people. (paper signed by the renter)
#2 - I am working on a piece right now that requires a ton of bench time BUT I have gone to my lathe 4-5 times
this morning alone to do something. If someone is on your lathe you are stalled. I use the lathe so much
they would have to use it evenings or dead of night......no way.
#3 - I think most turners who want to generate money to feed the vortex make items and have sell them at art/craft
shows, etc.

[John Keeton]

#3 - I think most turners who want to generate money to feed the vortex make items and have sell them at art/craft
shows, etc.I agree with all that has been said, and there are many other reasons as well. However, I would like to add that even with selling one's items, in all likelihood, your lathe, your shop and contents, are not covered under your homeowner's policy. Most all homeowners policies exclude business endeavors. A commercial policy can be purchased for around $600/year depending on limits and coverages.

[Scott Hackler]

I am going to offer a different take on this question.

Is it done now??? Well kinda. There are a handfull of very well know turners that SELL classes at their places and many of them have multiple lathes for the students to work on. So in that aspect they are renting the use of their equipment and, of course, having to deal with the liability issues involved. BUT, all of these folks are "selling" this shop time under the premise of a turning class and you ARE paying substantially for their expertise, not their lathes. Those folks make a decent amount of money doing this, because they are already very well respected in the turning community. An unknown turner would stuggle, IMO, to find enough people lined up to purchase classes. Even if it's more "using my equipment" than "let me teach you something on my equipment."

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Well done Scott
I was under the assumption that it was not a business
just renting a lathe for some personal ( monitary) gain
your point is very well taken and I agree with you if it is a business
ken

[Bill Wyko]

You might check with a school that offers turning in their wood shop classes. They could probably tell you more about the liabilities. Personally, no way in schell would I let anyone loose on my lathe unless it was one of you guys.

[Peter Blair]

Sorry people, I guess I should have added a little more information.

Firstly, I'm not convinced either way but thought this thread might draw some interesting responses which of course it already has.

I am sort of retired, but operate a small business which generates minimal income, I do of course carry insurance BUT at this point renting time on my lathe is not covered.

My lathe work sells but not as quickly as I would like and I continue to be sucked into the vortex.

This Thread was just my way of picking the brains of a lot of turners who are much smarter than I . . . .

If, and I stress if, I were to undertake this I would consult with a lawyer first as I'm fairly certain that there must be a way to protect liability. I was actually more interested it other problems that I had not considered.

Thanks again for the input, nice to know that there is such a huge store of knowledge out there that can be tapped this easily.