"IF" I was to buy a small lathe?

[Frank Berry]

I appreciate all the help and support on the lathe thing. I will be going to the Extravaganza and will give it a try there. I have been asked if I wanted to try it out at the Hardwood Store celebration but declined the offer. I do enjoy watching the turning on the web and sometimes there will be a demo somewhere and it catches my attention and I stand and watch for quite a while. It seems to pull me in a little closer each time. The only way to know for sure is give it a try like everyone suggests.
I really can't thank everyone enough for the help and time. I wanted to give scroll sawing a try as well as the lathe turning but I don't want to get deeper then I already am with my woodworking so I want to pick one and concentrate on that. I guess I will know more in a couple weeks!

 

[nn4jw]

My attempt at a humorous description of turning as an addiction wasn't intended to discourage anyone from getting into it. As TENDriver said, turning is a lot of fun. You don't have to have all that stuff I listed. Alan Dewey (Chessspy) up in Asheville, http://www.chessspy.com/, has run classes on making chess pieces beginning with making all the tools from cheap screwdrivers. He makes his own faceplates too. A lot of his information about it is on that link.

You can learn an awful lot just by having a mini or midi lathe and his homemade tools. That's a minimalist way into the hobby and I guarantee that looking at the finished product no one will be able to tell the pieces weren't turned on much more elaborate equipment.

A guy I used to work with turns pens on a small lathe in a spare room in his house. He has a few tools specific to pen turning, but otherwise it's only an incremental step up financially from the chess idea.

You might find yourself perfectly content to turn small items with minimal investment. Many do.

Look at any aspect of woodworking and you'll find you can accomplish a lot with a little or even a little with a lot.

 

[Frank Berry]

Jim, I think your post just gave me a bit of reality! I wanted a table saw and bought my first Craftsman contractor saw over 35 years ago. It's been no stop ever since. Had to get a good dado set, then the new Ozzy fence and on and on. Today I still have a contractor saw but it is a Jet and I love it. But it did not stop there. The sleds, magnetic feather boards, better dado sets and hundred dollar blades. It is non stop.
Not sure I want to continue this way. Seems that everything I buy is no stop though. The drill press and jigs, band saw and jigs, router and on and on.
Isn't there anything that is just simple any more?

 

[Mike Davis]

Some of the guys here like to see others buy tools, some just like to live vicariously and some hope to pick up a great deal when you get tired of it and decide to sell out.

I like to help but I don't like to see anybody get talked into something they are not ready and enthusiastic for.

I bought a very cheap lathe in 1987, used it a couple years and gave it away. Then bought an even cheaper one in 1994, made a doll bed for my daughter and burned up the motor. Eventually gave it away. Finally found a decent lathe for $500, spent another $500 making it right, bought $800 worth of chucks and tools and I am fairly happy with what I have now. So that is almost 30 years since I got the bug untill I am set up almost like I want.

Almost the same with my band saw, bought cheap, bought cheaper, saved up for something good. Now, have a Rikon 14 inch delux from Klingspor.

Most of my tools are used, refurbished by me, I know what they can do and have pushed them to the limit. I won a gift certificate and really didn't know what to do with it because I am happy with the tools I have. It has taken me a long time to get where I am and I still have a long way to go , but buying more, bigger, expensive tools won't get me there. Practice, research, practice, working hard, practice, talking and learning from friends, more practice might do it for me.

I hope you can settle in to something that makes you happy, I think that is what we are all looking for.

If I can help let me know, but I will not push you one way or another.

 

[Mike Davis]

[h=1]Alfred Stieglitz was a photographer who started out with one of the first Kodak simple box cameras and as he gained skill and fame he bought the latest and best cameras and equipment. It was not untill his older years that he finally realized he was making the photographs, not the camera, and so returned to the simple box camera that started his career. [/h]
I see woodworking in much the same way. If you are getting the most out of your tools and pushing the limits, if your tools are holding you back and not your skill then maybe it is time to upgrade the tools. But in most cases it is our skills that need upgrading. So, I work harder to get the most out of the tools I have and worry less about what new tools I should get.

As Roy Underhill said to me one day, when you are ready for it a new tool will present itself to you.

 

[Frank Berry]

Truer words were never spoken. Thanks again Mike.

 

[aplpickr]

Woodturning is the only form of woodworking that can start with rough wood and in ten minutes have a complete and finished object worth $20/25. This is part of the vortex. No planer, no jointer, no paint brush, no waiting time for finish to dry! INSTANT GRATIFICATION.

 

[Graywolf]

Thank you Mike, that cut through the co-dependency part of this thread so well.:gar-Bi:gar-Bi