Thanks Bob for the info.

I had concidered the possibility of mountin the lathe to a piece of ply that
could then be clamped to the table. That should work quite well and be easy
to set up and take down.

As to the sizes of pieces being turned, I'm sure you understand I was being
sarcastic when I said a 30-50 lb of wood, but I'm not sure it really depends
on the size of the piece. For example, I was just turning a few of Darrell
Feltmate's spatulas for my wife and for the camper when one of them come
apart (partly with the help of a catch of the skew) and sent shards of wood
flying all over the shop. My concern is protecting those who would like to
be watching the turning in progress. I've considered suspending a piece of 9
gauge chain link fence between the demonstrators and the watchers, but
thought small missle like peices could still fly through the holes in the
fence (obviously this is a worst case scenario but thinking this way for 15
years in the parks and recreation field are habits hard to break and ones
I'm not ready to do away with).

I appreciate your feedback on the matter and have jotted down some notes for
reference.
Again, thanks for the help.

JD

--
He that will make a good use of any part
of his life must allow a large portion of it
to recreation.
- John Locke

wrote in message
...
I think that, for a number of people who cannot squeeze in enough
turning in their busy home schedules, turning on vacation would indeed
be a relaxing diversion. Certainly, viewing the local scenery is an
attractive reason for a vacation, but a little fun turning can also be
a valuable part of a trip away from home.

As to risk, the natural limitations of a mini-lathe reduces the risk
of a large, unstable piece becoming a missile. Even so, with
reasonable care applied as to size of a blank and the speed of
turning. Compared to the safety issues associated with what the
foolish things some people do with campfires, a mini-lathe seems
pretty tame by comparison. As in any woodworking project (or camping
project, for that matter) common sense and sensitivity to the safety
and needs of others has to be applied. In short, I don't think that
turning in a RV camping environment is inherently unsafe or
discourteous. It depends on how you do it.

As to portability/mounting, clamping a mini-lathe to workmate type of
platform, or mounting it to a piece of plywood that is in turn clamped
to a picnic table would provide enough stability without damaging
anything in the campsite.

For a number of years now, our woodturners' club has had an annual pot-
luck summer picnic at a shelter at a local park. We usually bring 4
or 5 mini-lathes for fun-turning, casual demonstrations and teaching
interested new turners (including kids). Neighboring picnic-ers would
occasionally drop by and visit, "ooh" and "ah" a bit and ask
questions, adding to the fun. We have never had a problem with flying
objects, injury, damage to property or leaving a mess behind. Then
again, nobody has tried to turn any 30-50 pound blanks on any of these
small lathes, either. We are a bit careful about what we turn and
make sure we clean up afterward.

Again, it depends on how you go about it.

Bob in NC