Kate wrote:

| I would LOVE to have a little lathe for thse sorts of things.
| Hell, I'd like to have a BIG lathe too for that matter.

Kate...

Ok, why don't you /build/ a tiny lathe? A small electric motor with an
inverted cone or cup on the end of the shaft, a wooden bed, and a
wooden tailstock with a machine screw ground to capture the end of
your workpiece.

Plan to build more than one and design it so that you can replace
parts when you "find a better way".

Hmm - d'you suppose an old sewing machine motor with a foot control
would work?

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/