Why is this lathe not like any other tool?

First off, a disclaimer: Anyone has a right to any lathe they want and
can afford. They should think of it and use it any way they wish. That
said, consider your wood lathe for all it can do for you:
***********************************************
It can make thick or thin cylinders and thick or thin discs from
misshapen blanks or make misshapen cylinders or discs from shapely
blanks. It can make these into functional and/or pleasing or ugly hollow
or solid forms. These need not be round as your lathe can make cubes and
other geometric forms, inside-outside, thermed, oval or offset, It lets
you mix & match planes, curves, coves, beads, faces, tenons, mortises
and tapers. Wow!

Silky smooth or scorched, stressed or textured, it can finish these
forms to whatever practical, attractive, gross or artistic appearance
you want for any use and enjoyment you desire. Whew!

It can cut and scrape, bore large holes, drill long holes, ream,
countersink, counterbore and center drill. Gosh!

It can machine soft metals like copper and aluminum. It can accept light
duty cross slides, compound rests, longitudinal feeds and milling vises.
It can cut threads or make them with taps or dies. It can spin metal
objects on a selfmade armature. It can index holes and carvings and act
as a carver's vise. It is a large clamp, a center drill and a polishing
head. It winds coils and springs and can buff and wire brush rusty
tools, pots and pans. Golly!

It can if you insist, (altho it takes no pleasure in it) be a grinder or
an anvil. It doesn't like being a work bench, a tool rack or a
miscellany shelf, but it will groan and bear it if you ask it to. Gee!

It can make simple ornamental turnings, even ellipses, and it doesn't
object to being thought eccentric or multicentered in its work. A few
have been known to undergo a gender change and become bungee or gas
engine driven, even a pumping lathe. Often it masquerades as a revolving
spray painting platform. It can be a copy cat and spit out tacky
spindles like a broken soft drink machine. Haw!

Its metal cousin is the only machine tool that can reproduce itself and
continue the species. It can too, with a little help from a parts donor.
Hee!

Sadly there are a few rogue lathes that perform illegal surgery:
amputations, joint replacements, blood letting, hair or scalp removal
and bungled cosmetics. Ouch!

Anaphylactic shock and euthanasia happen, but thankfully very rarely.
Ugh!

I hope I've answered my question. This lathe is the king of machine
tools and no, it's not at all like all other tools. Hooray!


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

I have to say it is certainly one of the most versatile tools in the
shop. I think that comes with all the devices we add, modify and
otherwise purchase to make this machine more useful.

If you think about it, the lathe has almost become a Shopsmith. You
can grind, disk sand, plate sand, polish (I polish metal with an 8"
wheel on my mini), buff, clean rust off with wire wheels, add drill
chucks to hold various attachments, and on and on as mentioned. Oh
yeah, and if that doesn't float your boat, you can always turn some
wood. ;^)

It is certainly one of the most (if not the most) configurable machine
in the shop. I am still waiting for someone to cobble together some
nasty spinning blade to use their lathe as a mini table saw. I am
surprised it hasn't happened yet; it would sure be easy enough to do.

Robert

Versatile - yes. But you can't make a 4' wide by 9" deep x three shelf
tall book case. I did a lot of woodworking before I owned a lathe.

Of course, my table saw is the perfect height for my finishing bench
now.

Joe Fleming - San Diego

wrote:

It is certainly one of the most (if not the most) configurable machine
in the shop. I am still waiting for someone to cobble together some
nasty spinning blade to use their lathe as a mini table saw. I am
surprised it hasn't happened yet; it would sure be easy enough to do.


Shopsmith! )

Hi Robert, Thanks for responding. Your wait is over. I have used
slitting saw blades on a MT2 arbor in my wood lathe to make slots for
insertable scraper cutters.
Also, I've used slitting saws for cutting dowels flush with the ends of
bottle stopper corks.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have to say it is certainly one of the most versatile tools in the
shop. I think that comes with all the devices we add, modify and
otherwise purchase to make this machine more useful.

If you think about it, the lathe has almost become a Shopsmith. You
can grind, disk sand, plate sand, polish (I polish metal with an 8"
wheel on my mini), buff, clean rust off with wire wheels, add drill
chucks to hold various attachments, and on and on as mentioned. Oh
yeah, and if that doesn't float your boat, you can always turn some
wood. ;^)

It is certainly one of the most (if not the most) configurable machine
in the shop. I am still waiting for someone to cobble together some
nasty spinning blade to use their lathe as a mini table saw. I am
surprised it hasn't happened yet; it would sure be easy enough to do.

Robert
=======================

Could be that has already happened, but they no longer have hands able to
write and tell us about it! {:-)

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.

Arch wrote:

Hi Robert, Thanks for responding. Your wait is over. I have used
slitting saw blades on a MT2 arbor in my wood lathe to make slots for
insertable scraper cutters.
Also, I've used slitting saws for cutting dowels flush with the ends of

bottle stopper corks.


Arch, you are indeed a bold rascal. I can see all kinds of
arrangements on the lathe, but not that one. Did you build a table to
hold the material against while you are cutting? Do you have all your
fingers? ;^)

Robert

Robert, I still have my original eight fingers and two thumbs, but I
admit to a lot fewer neurones.

Almost everything we do in woodturning is close to the edge of disaster.
The nearer to that edge we get, the better the care we take and the more
attention we pay. This may not justify taking risks, however it's the
raw beginners and old hands who sustain the severest injuries. In
addition to faulty equipment, ignorance and complacency cause serious
injuries from reasonable risks.

BTW, The slitting saws are 1.5 in. diam. I held the work in a homemade
milling vise and held that in a clamp-on cross slide for XYZ. That made
my wood lathe more of a metal lathe and makes my signature an oxymoron.
I better retract that praise.

Some of my other accolades to the wood lathe aren't available or make
little sense to woodturners. Probably a cop-out, but I can muse without
being held accountable as I would be for a positive statement.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings