55 yrs. later.

[Rodney Hoyle]

Hello to all,

Being new to this forum and not really doing much lathe work since 1958, I completed a few projects on my new Delta Midi. I now have most everything for turning and only need the lathe bed extension which I will order next month. I had a Sears Craftsman lathe purchased in 1984, but, it saw very little use in my shop. A few months ago a teacher, on a scrollsaw forum, from Arizona, was looking for ideas to teach a class in woodworking and I remember back in 58' making lamps for our mom's from bowling pins. So I picked up a case of pins from a local alley and made a few lamps and quickly found out that the turning RPM's on the Craftsman for removing the plastic covers was too high for safety reasons and I had no way to throttle them down and decided to get a new lathe and the Midi's seemed the right size for all my needs. I am posting a few pics of recent projects and am finding out quickly how addictive turning can be. I also do some scrolling and find that scrolling is also addictive. Thank goodness turning and scrolling are not illegal. I also completed my first two pens and have a friend who is giving me some purple heart to turn. The pens really make a nice gift. The pen cup holder is the bottom part of a bowling pin with a red oak bottom and was given to a lady in my office this morning. Chow for now.

RodneyIMG_5280.JPGIMG_5279.JPGIMG_5276.JPGIMG_4914.JPG

[Fred Belknap]

A nice assortments of things you have made. Looks like you have done a super job on all of it. The Delta Midi seems to be a favorite of a lot of turners, we have a couple in the turning club that I belong to and they seem like very well made lathes.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Some nice turnings. Looks like the Delta is serving you well.

[Steve Busey]

Welcome back to the fold, Rodney - looks like you haven't skipped a beat!

On the bowling pins - do you just turn off the plastic, then sand the wood and repaint (and drill out for the cord/lamp hardware, of course)?

[Rodney Hoyle]

Steve,

I use a parting tool to score through the plastic shell to wood. I then use my small skew( a chisel also works) to cut across the plastic bands created with the parting tool. I usually make the bands about 1" or so wide. The plastic shell for the most part is not glued to the pin, but, from numerous hits the cover may stick to the wood in various places. I inspect the pins closely before turning checking for torn/cracked outer covering. The low RPM(200) on the Midi makes it a lot safer to cut through the plastic cover. You must still be careful and put all safety gear in place, and if married, make sure your life insurance is still in force

Rodney

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rodney - Welcome to the Creek! Congrats on your new lathe! Nice work on everything - especially the bowling ball lamp! Looking forward to seeing more of your work real soon!