"robo hippy" wrote in message
...
Mac,
I just picked up a good sized Big Leaf Maple with a lot of figure in
it today. I will do a few bowls that size, just because I can, but in
the past, those are a pretty limited market.

Ralph,
I went to Portland (all the way from Eugene)last summer just to check
out the lathes because I wanted to up grade. I didn't even consider
the Oneway, no sliding headstock, and my lathe sits in a corner. I
have seen the Serious in the past, and the same thing. The Stubby
didn't impress me, and the coring systems won't fit on it. I did take
a long look at the VB 36, but even with the bar extentions, it still
said 'Bowl Lathe' to me, and I do some spindles. Thus far, I have only
turned about 40 or so bowls on the Robust, but it is worth the money.

Kids and their toys!!!

Robust robo hippy



Sounds like the Robust is about the same throw as the Stubby, but with
longer ways - I haven't seen it in person - A key consideration for some of
us is space - some folks have a lot of it, some have very little - so the
sliding ways are helpful to minimize the space needed for a lathe that can
turn large objects - but it's a compromise, and if you have the space, you
are probably better off with a physically larger lathe - and then the
sliding headstock eliminates the need to lean over the ways when working on
a bowl - But then, if you had all that much space, you could get a bowl
lathe and a spindle lathe, right?

I actually turned a small spindle today - first time in a long time - I
wanted to make a handle for a winch that had none - so I got to use a bunch
of expensive tools (large milling machine, metal lathe, wood lathe) and some
cheap ones (grinder, oxyacetylene torch, files, hack saw) to make a $2 part,
but now it's done. The spindle part was to make a handle that would turn
on the pin I affixed to the crank for that purpose)


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