Got it. The 34706. It fit in the trunk of my Volvo 240 (with the spare tire relocated). I have already busted/stripped my first handle on the tool rest but I am very, very happy with this bad boy. First thing I did was load up 360 pounds of cement bags and after reinforcing the frame with some hardwood. I first tryed just laying wood slats across the bottom frame like you would on a bed and found out really quick that the sheet metal was not up to it. Half the bags obeyed gravity and ended up on the floor bending the sheet metal. There was no room for any more than the six 60 pound bags and they just barely fit in there.
Now I am wrestling around with this chuck or not chuck issue. I bought a PSI Woodworking "Mini Grip Lath Chuck" from Penn Industries about a month ago and have finally decided to send it back because you can now turn it past the point where the things that the jaws attach to and slide on fall out on the ground and I had to mess around putting them back on. Finally they spun off when I started the lathe after spending longer than I would like to admit remounting them. I thought it was a very good deal because it was about 60 or 70 dollars and had three sets of jaws. I probably just know enough to be dangerous with it but I could almost never get anything mounted in there without it getting out of true. Maybe this is my lesson in you get what you pay for with chucks. I think it is pretty amazing that many of these chucks they are selling at Woodcraft and Klingspor cost more than my lathe. Are they really THAT hard to make correctly?
So my next newbie question is for someone who is most interested in hollow body bowls is there an alternative to spending big bucks (for me) for a four jaw chuck? I have heard of old school folks who attach a piece of wood to a faceplate then stick the tenon that they create at the bottom of their work into a fixed hole that they have put on either the faceplate if it is thick enough or on a mortise in another piece of wood attached to the face plate....then use glue. If there are people out there turning bowls without using these jaw chucks I would love to know the procedure.
Thanks very much,
Jim Lee
Now I am wrestling around with this chuck or not chuck issue. I bought a PSI Woodworking "Mini Grip Lath Chuck" from Penn Industries about a month ago and have finally decided to send it back because you can now turn it past the point where the things that the jaws attach to and slide on fall out on the ground and I had to mess around putting them back on. Finally they spun off when I started the lathe after spending longer than I would like to admit remounting them. I thought it was a very good deal because it was about 60 or 70 dollars and had three sets of jaws. I probably just know enough to be dangerous with it but I could almost never get anything mounted in there without it getting out of true. Maybe this is my lesson in you get what you pay for with chucks. I think it is pretty amazing that many of these chucks they are selling at Woodcraft and Klingspor cost more than my lathe. Are they really THAT hard to make correctly?
So my next newbie question is for someone who is most interested in hollow body bowls is there an alternative to spending big bucks (for me) for a four jaw chuck? I have heard of old school folks who attach a piece of wood to a faceplate then stick the tenon that they create at the bottom of their work into a fixed hole that they have put on either the faceplate if it is thick enough or on a mortise in another piece of wood attached to the face plate....then use glue. If there are people out there turning bowls without using these jaw chucks I would love to know the procedure.
Thanks very much,
Jim Lee