Recent content by LewisM

I think as long as you're smart about drying things it should be ok. Once a piece stays at a consistent weight through a few rounds in the microwave it's almost certainly dry. Leave it indoors for another week to allow it to settle and I'd say the risk of it cracking is very small. I'm more...

I recently stopped by a timber yard and picked up some ash, elm and cherry offcuts. The pieces vary from around 4x4" up to 6x6", and are each about 1 - 3 meters long. They said that they were dry, but the warehouse / storage unit they were in was very open, so really it's more like they've been...

Won it for £226, absolute bargain!!

True, it's just whether or not I'll need a small van or someones car. It's ending in 2 hours and currently has 1 big - hope it doesn't go up too far!

That's good to know. I found a load of pictures of the bowl turning variant in pieces here, so even though I've got a different model I still think mine will come apart similarly. Looks like it's just 2 lots of 4 bolts holding it all together on the BT model, so with a bit of luck the whole...

I do know a guy with a little van that would fit it, but I don't know if we'd be able to lift it up that far. The manual says it's about 230-250kg, that's a hefty weight :shock:

This worries me a bit, if the lathe doesn't come apart I'm going to struggle to get it home. I was hoping the worst case scenario would be taking 2 cars, splitting the lathe up into roughly equal parts then taking it home. The manual I found says it's around 300kg - really pushing the weight...

I did find that one but it says it converts to M38x3, whereas all the chucks I could find are M33x3.5 - I'm not sure how useful that will be if I want to use anything other than the Patriot chucks that adapter is meant for?

I've found an adapter at last! Helps when you know the right terms to Google haha. A company called Vicmarc makes them, and they've got distributors all round the world. Looks like it's going to cost me about £30 + shipping to get one - not bad! As I can pretty much choose whatever size I want...

Ahh I see, that makes more sense! Are you sure 1.5" x 8tpi is standard though? dm-tools and yandles both don't have any that fit, and there's only 1 on Axeminsters site that fits it (the most expensive one). 1" x 8tpi seems much more common, if I could get an adapter to make mine that size I...

I've been attending a turning course for about 6 months and am loving it, but only having access to a lathe for ~6 hours once a week is really holding back how quickly I progress. I've come into a bit of money so have decided to bite the bullet and buy myself a lathe - I've already got the...

Thanks for the advice, I'll put a cap of around £150 on it.

I've just discovered that this Draper lathe is going to be sold at a local auction. It's all done online / on the day so I've got no idea what it's going to go for, but I'm hoping I could pick up a bargain. What are these machines like? I'm always wary of Draper but an £800 lathe can't be *that*...

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!

That's not a bad idea, and it does look pretty easy to make too. How secure are the casters? I'd be worried about the machine moving around while vibrating / having timber pushed through it.