There's lots to do - bowls, plates, spindles, chair legs and so on.

It sounds like you want the lathe to produce a whole project. That it
can do, limited only by what you think up.

If you're at all interested in chairmaking, you'll need one to make
chair parts. This is where it's a lieutenant in the process of making
something, like a jointer. You have a jointer, right? Yet the
jointer itself does make a finished item, it is something that's used
in the process. So it can be with a lathe.


On 14 Jan 2004 16:04:08 GMT, ntiSpam (NoNameAtAll)
wrote:

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.