Choosing a post title

I recently posted photos of a 12 3/8 inch bowl I turned on my 12 1/2 inch swing Delta 46-460 midi lathe. I posted for two reasons. I thought it was interesting to push the limits of such a small lathe, and I made the oak and purple heart bowl for my niece whose boyfriend was making her an oak and purple heart dinning room table which I thought was kind of neat. I also included a photo of my homemade vacuum chuck securely holding the large bowl.

I titled the post "How large a bowl can you turn on a midi?" A few people viewed it and two individuals answered the question with the obvious answer that you can turn as large a bowl as the swing of your lathe. I think I was short sighted in choosing my title. If I wanted people to see my work, offer comments or critique, and perhaps open a discussion of their largest bowl, I should not have asked the question in the title.

I appreciate the two answers I received. Thanks. But, think about what you want to achieve when you choose your post title.

Personally, I realised as soon as I read your post and saw your pictures, where you were coming from. I thought your title was a hoot and well thought out.

Perhaps some people didn't realise you were pushing the boundaries of your lathe to past what the specifications said you could do. Which, as I understand it, was what you were inferring all along.

Maybe if you had included some kind of smiley thingy in the title, emphasising your intent, they may have understood more about what you were trying to achieve.

I also was quite amazed when I saw your vacuum system operating on such a small lathe, although I shouldn't have been. I am just used to people showing vacuum chucks and stuff like that on much larger lathes; essentially, size counts, or, in this case, doesn't count.

Mick.

Funny thing, that while I read your post on the large piece, I really didn't have anything to add to the conversation. Although it did inspire me to try my own large piece....and I did. So while I didn't get involved .....I actually did!!!
I'll just thank you for the inspiration :)

I agree that the title is important. When time is limiied I sometimes have to choose what to read and what to skip based on the title. Your title appeared to be a request for information or advice on a trivial thing so I didn't read the message. If the title had been something like "Turning a 12-3/8" bowl on a 12-1/2" lathe" I might have read it to see if you used the same technique I did when turning the largest bowl I could on a 16" lathe. I also cut the blank as large as I could and still mount it even though it would only fit at one spot. Then while rotating the spindle by hand I trimmed the blank by hand until it cleared all the way around.

I often skip threads with titles like "How to do this?" or "Advice needed" or "Another one". At least some hint really helps!

JKJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paul Williams

I recently posted photos of a 12 3/8 inch bowl I turned on my 12 1/2 inch swing Delta 46-460 midi lathe. I posted for two reasons. I thought it was interesting to push the limits of such a small lathe, and I made the oak and purple heart bowl for my niece whose boyfriend was making her an oak and purple heart dinning room table which I thought was kind of neat. I also included a photo of my homemade vacuum chuck securely holding the large bowl.

I titled the post "How large a bowl can you turn on a midi?" A few people viewed it and two individuals answered the question with the obvious answer that you can turn as large a bowl as the swing of your lathe. I think I was short sighted in choosing my title. If I wanted people to see my work, offer comments or critique, and perhaps open a discussion of their largest bowl, I should not have asked the question in the title.

I appreciate the two answers I received. Thanks. But, think about what you want to achieve when you choose your post title.

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The lesson I keep learning on this and other forums is that you can't be too subtle and humor and irony doesn't always come across.