Having been off touring for most of the school summer hols, I stopped turning at the end of June, and hadn't recommenced. Meanwhile, I got shot of the old Coronet No1 because I felt that it was holding me back far too much. A chance spotting of an advert on eBay for a Record Power Maxi 1 set my heart racing and I couldn't believe my luck when I won the auction for a machine a little more than a year old, for only about 35% of its new price. All that I had to do was to fetch a quarter of a ton of cast iron from Kent and bring it home to north Wales.
So, having re-aligned half of my tiny workshop to accommodate the new lathe, I really should be sorting it all out, but the lathe is too much of a temptation. So....this evening I picked a horrendous 12" lump of ash, with bark inclusions, a six inch knot that's split into 3 pieces, a great big dead knot that has half rotted away and an overall shape that would made me look at it and think, 'Where the hell do I start?'.
Anyway, not having a chuck ready yet (the insert hasn't turned up) can you believe that I stuck it between centres and turned it into a bowl shape and got one end flat enough to stick a faceplate onto.
I don't think that I've ever had so much fun or so much trepidation about turning a lump! Great fun! If it wasn't for the fact that there's a great big inclusion of rotten wood that's so soft that I can pick it out with my fingers, I'd carry on and make a nice little bowl out of it. As it is, I'll just keep on having fun making shavings out of it. One good thing to come out of it.....I've learnt more about using a bowl gouge in the last hour than I had in the last year.
Big, big thanks to Chris Hart (Hartwood) who has been on standby for the last week, watching his emails like a hawk to help to guide me through a few problems setting it up. Can't wait to get started again!
Les
