Kudzu,
I am not familiar with your lathe, but have a few comments. Variable
speed is a luxury that once you have it, you can't imagion turning
without it. I like speeds down to 0 and up to 3000. 500 rpm is very
fast for a chainsawn 12 inch diameter blank. Unless the lathe is very
heavy, you may end up chasing it aroung the shop. For a 18 inch bowl
blank, it is down right scary. For turning 1x12 inch spindles, 1000 rpm
is very slow, 3000 or more is fine. The speed sounds scary, but when
you think about it, it is a matter of 'feet per minute'. A 12 inch bowl
at 500rpm is going at the same of more fpm than a 1 inch spindle (I
didn't do the exact math, but you get the idea). The more I turn, the
more comfortable I am at higher speeds, as long as the lathe and what I
am turning isn't shaking too much. If all of your turnings are
perfectly balanced, 500 rpm is fine. It is nice to start out at 0, and
up the speed slowly to see how well balanced and secure the blank is
before you begin to turn.
robo hippy