Brian H, I had a suitable piece of timber to hurt my lathe recently, max swing over the extension is 32" and I had a 10" thick piece cut to 31"..... couldn't lift it! had to trim it sown to 27" and get help from my wife to wind the spindle into the face plate while I struggled.... Lathe tested, don't need to do that again! Can't go to fine work yet, waiting for new glasses! Would like a VB, but more likely to be heading down the proxon route as I get older :-)