G'day. You may be interested in contacting Mike Darlow about his new
book on turned chessmen:
http://www.hinet.net.au/~mdarlow/
It has just been released and isn't detailed on the site yet. he is in
Australia, as am I.
Just thought it may be of interest.
Good luck,
Alan

On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 19:41:46 -0600, Prometheus
wrote:

Hello,

I recently took a voc. school course on woodworking and got a little
time in on the small Delta/Rockwell lathes they had. As a result, I
decided that it's time to add a lathe to my woodworking tools...
Obviously, some of you would suggest lathes that are way out of my
price range, with full complement of the best tools made by men- so
I'm not going to ask! Next Friday, I'm going out to pick up a Delta
Midi Lathe (an early Christmas present from the wife) and I've got
the coupon from the Delta Owner's group for a free bed extension or
set of turning tools. Here's the dilemma I'm facing, in a nutshell-
The lathe is going to be used for chessmen (and Christmas ornaments-
part of the devil's bargin I made to get my present early!) but I'd
like to eventually make spindle legs for chess tables as well. (I've
been making boards for a while now, and am thinking of selling full
sets once my quality is up to snuff) The lathe extension would
obviously be a great help in making legs, and adding stability. I'm
not sure if I'll need the stability or not, since I've got 120# of
steel tubing (to be filled with concrete for even greater wieght) and
about 70# of Mesquite earmarked for making the lathe stand, but I'm
sure it can't hurt anything, either! But I also can't afford to get
a good set of turning tools until after the hollidays, and I'm going
to want to play with my new toy, not just let it sit idle for a couple
of months.

So, I'm left debating whether I should go with the tools or the
extension- There's a big difference in the cost of the two items, so
the tools looked like the way to go at first, especially since they're
what I need the most right away, but I don't want to waste the
opportunity to get the extension free if I'm just going to have to get
a better set of tools in a few months. Has anyone used Delta's set of
eight turning tools, and if so, are they worth having for a novice
turner? I don't mind doing a little extra finishing work, but I don't
want complete junk cluttering up my shop either... For a little
perspective on the issue, the tools I learned to turn with were "Buck
Bros." (I'm not sure if those are good or bad, it's just info) and
they were just sufficient for my purpose- if the Deltas are better
than that, that's what I'd like to get! If they're inferior to that,
I'll just suck it up and wait until I can get a good set.

Any thoughts?
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam