Why am I here?

[Pete Jordan]

Welcome Rick,

You should start thinking about upgrading that lathe you are about to buy.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Welcome Rick,

You should start thinking about upgrading that lathe you are about to buy.

Shhhhhh! Let him buy one first!

[Norm Zax]

Time to xerox those bills in the wallet... [wont be seeing them much longer].

[Tony De Masi]

Could be another John Keeton ready to take the hook.

Tony

[alex carey]

Rick, I'd start with the delta, and then in about 30 days you can post it on craigstlist and get most of your money back, then Id recommend the powermatic 3520b. That should suit you for atleast 6 months. Then you'll realize you wanna turn REALLY big, in which case you'll decided to build you own lathe. GL, see you on the otherside.

[Scott Hussey]

I predict you will have the following:

• A lathe that you NEED to upgrade because you NEED to do a bigger bowl for a friend
• A couple of chucks - cause you can't do everything you need to do with just one
• A handful of faceplates - one size for every occasion
• A set or 2 of forstner bits - for your pepper mills and other drilling you need to do
• A jacobs chuck to hold your forstner bits - yes the one from harbor frieght is ok!
• A home-made donut chuck - cause you hear great things about them here and you can't figure out how to turn that damn tenon off otherwise
• any number of turning tools - bowl gouges of various sizes, skews of various sizes, some spindle gouges(because they came with the set you will buy and you won't use them), a really cheap set of tools cause your worried about screwing up the nice Sorby's when you sharpen them
• A grinder, new grinding wheels and a sharpening "system"...you will try to live with the store sharpening for way, way too long, get frustrated, then go buy your sharpening system.
• A sorby hollowing tool cause those hollow forms are so much cooler than a bowl
• Some "roll your own tools" because the internet makes it look easy. You will have limited success with your home-made tools and pick them up occasionally to see if you can make them work.
• A new power drill - cause your just can't get all the scratches out of your bowls with hand sanding...powersanding
• A set or 2 of sanding arbors - 2" and 3" and a starter set of sanding discs from Vince's
• A beal buffing system - you gotta make them shiny right?
• A variety of finishes/waxes, potions and lotions to finish your treasures
• A bunch of pen kits - cause you gotta build you a pen or 2
• A chainsaw to cut up the wood you find on craigslist
• Annoyed neighbors cause you gotta store your wood somewhere and they don't like to look at "a bunch of old logs" in your yard
• Bill Grumbine's videos -they are great
• A membership to your local AAW club
• A 5 gallon Home depot bucket and 2 gallons of DNA to soak your rough turned bowls
• A bunch of friends here!

That's the short list...and yes ..I think I remember what money used to look like, but making shavings is more fun!

[Frank Kobilsek]

Rick

I wrote the follow a few years back. If you wish to be describe this way I suggest you sell all the big tools in your shop except your band saw and go buy that Powermatic mentioned above.

Woodturner – A dusty but kind individual prone to long hours in solitude. May be often found doodling shapes when not in his shop. Likely to stop suddenly for downed trees. Car smells like gas from the chainsaw in the trunk. May drive mini-van despite not having children and/or dreams of a full size pick-up truck. Seldom purchases gifts for friends or family but would rather offer items he has created. He vacations in less popular American cities such as Louisville, Portland, Richmond, Brasstown or Provo. When his wife asks what he is doing on the internet and he answers ‘Looking to get wood’ she doesn’t worry about their marriage.

[Aaron Wingert]

Your carpal tunnel hands are definitely not strong enough to allow you to hang on and resist the sucking of the vortex. Just give in. Your hands won't hurt as much that way.

(On a side note, you can turn with carpal tunnel fairly well. I've had it as long as I've been turning and just got the first hand fixed last week. The inability to use the lathe for a couple weeks is much more traumatic than the surgery itself.)

[Richard Madison]

Rick, Why not find a local turning club and visit a couple of their meetings. Lots of turners in your state so there should be a few nearby. Lots of great wood grows in your state also.

Whooooosssh! Got 'im.

[Cody Colston]

In case you didn't realize it...

[Van Huskey]

Rick you are not the only one, I seem to lurk around here more and more...

[Cathy Schaewe]

I predict you will have the following:

• A lathe that you NEED to upgrade because you NEED to do a bigger bowl for a friend
• A couple of chucks - cause you can't do everything you need to do with just one
• A handful of faceplates - one size for every occasion
• A set or 2 of forstner bits - for your pepper mills and other drilling you need to do
• A jacobs chuck to hold your forstner bits - yes the one from harbor frieght is ok!
• A home-made donut chuck - cause you hear great things about them here and you can't figure out how to turn that damn tenon off otherwise
• any number of turning tools - bowl gouges of various sizes, skews of various sizes, some spindle gouges(because they came with the set you will buy and you won't use them), a really cheap set of tools cause your worried about screwing up the nice Sorby's when you sharpen them
• A grinder, new grinding wheels and a sharpening "system"...you will try to live with the store sharpening for way, way too long, get frustrated, then go buy your sharpening system.
• A sorby hollowing tool cause those hollow forms are so much cooler than a bowl
• Some "roll your own tools" because the internet makes it look easy. You will have limited success with your home-made tools and pick them up occasionally to see if you can make them work.
• A new power drill - cause your just can't get all the scratches out of your bowls with hand sanding...powersanding
• A set or 2 of sanding arbors - 2" and 3" and a starter set of sanding discs from Vince's
• A beal buffing system - you gotta make them shiny right?
• A variety of finishes/waxes, potions and lotions to finish your treasures
• A bunch of pen kits - cause you gotta build you a pen or 2
• A chainsaw to cut up the wood you find on craigslist
• Annoyed neighbors cause you gotta store your wood somewhere and they don't like to look at "a bunch of old logs" in your yard
• Bill Grumbine's videos -they are great
• A membership to your local AAW club
• A 5 gallon Home depot bucket and 2 gallons of DNA to soak your rough turned bowls
• A bunch of friends here!

That's the short list...and yes ..I think I remember what money used to look like, but making shavings is more fun!

I started turning less than 3 months ago ... have you been looking in my shop???



I could add a few more items from my own wishlist - the deluxe bandsaw, the vacuum chuck system that is absolutely crucial, the photo tent to take pictures, maybe an upgrade to your digital camera .... the sucking sound continues!!!!

And how can I already be surfing the web in my spare time, looking to upgrade to a lathe with a bigger swing??? How does this happen?

[John Keeton]

Rick, lurking silently is dangerous enough, but posting a self-doubting thread is proof positive that you have already jumped off into the deep end, but are still in self denial.

Not to fear, however, we are your friends and we want what is best for you. That would include, among other things, the finest lathe that you can't afford, and all the goodies mentioned by Scott!

BTW, ToolNut has Nova chucks on sale, and I would go ahead and grab 2 or 3 - you are going to need them!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rick, lurking silently is dangerous enough, but posting a self-doubting thread is proof positive that you have already jumped off into the deep end, but are still in self denial.

Not to fear, however, we are your friends and we want what is best for you. That would include, among other things, the finest lathe that you can't afford, and all the goodies mentioned by Scott!

BTW, ToolNut has Nova chucks on sale, and I would go ahead and grab 2 or 3 - you are going to need them!

Hey Bernie..........did you see this from "I ain't gonna turn anything but table legs" John?

[Donny Lawson]

Scott, I think you hit the nail on the head.It won't be long now.I can hear it now,"New Thread"(Look at my new Lathe). He's already sucked in but just hasn't admitted it to himself yet.Remember, Once you start there is no turning back.Your hooked. You will be driving around looking at all the nice looking trees in your neighbors yard.
Donny