NOVA 3000 LATHE I've had an old Rockwell 12" lathe for the longest time.  In fact, it sat in the shop for a couple of years while my tablesaw, radial arm saw, and router split the air with the unmistakeable sounds of cutters revolving at high RPM's.  It sat because I didn't know how to operate the lathe.  I couldn't grasp the idea that the lathe was different: the wood would revolve, not the cutter. I finally figured it out, and made myself a lathe table.  It was made of two homemade saw horses onto which I put a hollow-core door.  I bolted the lathe down and bolted the motor onto a plywood piece and clampled it onto the door-top.  The reason I clamped it down is because I'd have to move and clamp the motor whenever I wanted to change speeds.  Very cumbersome and primitive, but it worked fine. I never took any formal instruction on turning.  I applaud those who do spend the few hundred dollars and take a class and start turning out projects their first week.  For me, like so many things I've done before, I am a self-learner.  The best advice I was ever given was in my first year of college.  My professor put these words on the board, and they have forever stuck in me:                                    Read. Read. Read. The more you read, the more you know.  About anything.  I read a lot about woodturning.  But I found that I needed some practice and was still trying to figure out how a square piece of wood would eventually become round.  << Add picture of Rockwell or one of my first bowls???>>>> So I took a night shop class at a local high school.  I did it mostly to make me feel young again.  But I forgot all the high school girls have since married and have all gone away.  But I stayed in the class nonetheless.  And I learned how to mount some wood and turn it.  I had many nasty catches.  Every once in a while I'd smell the wood burning because the chisels hadn't been sharpened all semester long. After a few weeks of this, I came home and practiced on my Rockwell.  I butchered a lot of wood.  But I kept practicing.  I learned a little about facework, and some about centerwork.  Mostly I learned about chatterwork.   I turned many big pieces and some tiny ones, too.  My definition of big back then was 8" X 2" deep bowls. After a couple of years of this, it was time for me to invest in my Nova 3000 lathe.  I'm so glad I did, and I'm glad I waited until I outgrew my Rockwell.  I got the most of the $75 I had spent on it.   It was money well spent on free lessons. Previous Page Home Page                                                             Next Page >>>>