"Henry St.Pierre" wrote in message
2...
"Toller" wrote in
:

I cut a 18" crab apple log in half, sketched out an 12" circle on
each, and roughly trimmed it with the chainsaw. Unfortunately it was
way too big to fit on my bandsaw, but it would have bound anyhow.

I screwed a faceplate to the flat surface and ran the tail piece into
it.

Well, the lathe shook like crazy, and thunked pretty badly each time a
high spot hit the gouge. (400 rpm, the lowest setting on the machine)
I have roughed out both the outside and the inside and the lathe
seems to be okay; once I got them balanced they spun just fine.
But I wonder if a lathe is designed for that? Without a really big
bandsaw I am not sure what I could have done to make it any better.

On a completely different issue, the crapapple has pretty streaks of
red running though it, mixed with brown and white. Is that going to
last?



Toller,
Is this the Craftsman 15" you bought recently on Ebay? I don't think you
will hurt the lathe as much as scare yourself a bit. In the future,
scribe a circle on the blank and cut or nibble as close to scribe as you
can with your chain saw. You will have a blank with many sides, but a bit
more balanced.
Thank my wife for your new lathe ($87 if I recall). I was watching it
and was going to bid that day. She insisted that I wine and dine her that
evening (using yhe oldest bribe/threat known to man). I hope it is
working for you. I found another (older 15" Craftsman with the electronic
drive) and I'm as happy as can be with it. One day soon I'll post the
whole story about the lathe and what came with it (not new wife).
Regards,
Hank (in the Catskills)

The very same. It is spooky to see it shaking, but good to know it is okay.
I tried to trim it with the chainsaw, but once I roughed it, there wasn't
any way to really hold it in position.
Any suggestions?

The same week I bought the Craftsman there was a Jet on eBay in Syracuse;
you should have gone for that one, closer.