I love this question. Almost as much as I love turning wood.

There was an old Craftsman lathe in my basement that belonged to my father.
I looked at it for a few months and kept saying, "I should fire it up and
see if I might like turning." Well I did almost a year ago and I discovered
that I loved turning wood. I soon yearned for a newer, better lathe and
bought one. Now my third lathe will be delivered this Friday.

I turned all of my Christmas gifts this year: lamps, rolling pins, pens
sets, and bowls. Everyone loved them and was amazed that they were hand-made
by me. I even managed to sell several bowls in the mean-time.

My next challenge will be a complete chess set. I havn't quite worked myself
up to starting on that one yet. I am looking for the right design.

I do finish about 2 to 3 bowls a week, when the mood strikes me, and if I
have the wood handy. I always have a few pen kits laying around and may
knock one of those out once in a while. My true love is bowls though.

I have my father to thank for buying that used lathe on a whim and leaving
it to me. He only used it once as far as I know and that was to turn a
mallet which he gave me for Christmas one year about 10 years ago. I still
have it and I still use it.

Wood turning is a wonderful and fulfilling hobby and that alone is a good
enough reason to get even a small starter or pen lathe.

Leslie
--
She's got tools, and she knows how to use them.



"NoNameAtAll" wrote in message
...
Way back in middle school the lathe was one of my favorite tools in shop
class.
I'd love to own one, but I'm having a difficult time convncing my wife
that I
need it. We just made candle holders in shop class, and while I'm sure
it's
great for things like table legs, lamps, and baseball bats I have to
concede
that I really can't think of any practical uses for it since I don't have
any
need to make any of those things. Actually making a homemade baseball bat
would
be kind of neat but it's tough to justify buying a lathe just for that. If
you
can help me convince my wife (and myself for that matter) of the
usefulness of
a lathe I'll be eternally grateful.