Things on the GGMG seem to be a bit on the quiet side the last few days........a good thing! This likely means most of the newer owners have gotten their lathes up and running and are experiencing some quality turning time with their units.......seems most are the G0766 models from what has been posted. It would be good after a few projects under your belt to post your experiences so far......others will be looking here for information. I can honestly say that after a lot of use over the last two years, that I have not had one issue with my G0766, and it runs smooth, quiet, and has power to spare. I have cored, turned chunks of wood that maxed the lathe out, and weighed 100 lbs, and it has handled everything well. Good luck to all of you!
This past weekend I put the largest piece of wood I've ever turned on my G0766. It was a piece of oak, it weighed 72 pounds soaking wet, about 19" in diameter and 6+" thick! Roughed turned it down to 23-1/2 pounds and bagged it. If successful, and it dries properly (without too much cracking), it will be the biggest bowl I've ever turned. Clean up was quite a chore, because things were so wet.
Sounds like a great workout for your G0766 Walter. No doubt it handled that oak well. I have had as much as 105 lbs on mine, and it handled the blank well. Bagging is the way to go with crack prone woods like Oak, but if you can dry slowly, then you might just get lucky with it.
