Chippygeoff
Established Member
Hi Everyone.
Being new to the site I thought I would introduce myself. I am Geoff and I live in West Wales although I originate from Kent. I became disabled three years ago and more recently I had so much time on my hands it was driving me mad. I am a carpenter/joiner by trade and there was no chance of me being employed so I decided to take up wood turning, purely as a hobby. I had a budget of £2000 and with that I bought a Jet 1220VS lathe, a patriot chuck and several accessories, a pile of wood turning tools, a sharpening system and a bandsaw. Overall I am very pleased with what I bought, the quality is good and it will last me many years. Apart from the bandsaw that is. What a pile of rubbish. It is going back tomorrow and I am getting a Jet industrial model that has excellent guides top and bottom. It has been three months since I turned my first piece and within minutes i decided it would no longer be a hobby but a small business. By the way. I used to do a lot of woodturning in a bygone era and amazingly most of it came back to me.
I am now attending two craft fairs a month and in November I shall have four. the things I make are being displayed in craft centres and I have people e-mailing me for things, so I am off to a good start. It is not easy as I can hardly walk and thankfully the two venues where i attend craft fairs both supply tables and chairs. I have had to buy a nice table cloth and some pastel shade tissue paper to wrap things up in that people buy, so much better than old copies of the news of the world. I have a lot of help getting my stuff in the halls and they are a great bunch of people. I make all sorts of things and love every moment. I love making little animals and have mice and pigs at the moment. I also make kitchen roll holders, bottle stoppers, light pulls of course. T light candle holders, loo roll holders and a pile of other things. The emphasis is on quality and a superb finish. I am not reliant on wood turning for my income and any money made goes straight back into the business.
Looking towards the future I am going to get more kit, another lathe. I don't have an extractor at the moment so I wear a mask and a visor, have both windows open in the workshop and the door and the through draft does a lovely job, especially when sanding. I will get more tools along with a slow grinder with a fine pair of wheels. I shall also invest in the modular tool rest system and finally get a new bench. Looking at lathes it is difficult to make a choice at the moment but then I am not going to get it till the end of November so I have plenty of time. It is a sad fact than many of the really good lathe manufacturers are no more. Lathes that were household names and made in far away places like New Zealand, Australia, Canada and here in the UK have either gone into demise or been bought by the Chinese. It is now common knowledge that a very well know manufacturer of wood turning tools from Sheffield has been bought by the Chinese. I had looked at the Nova DVR lathe as an upgrade but they are now made in China so I have ruled that out. Poolewood have just launched a new lathe called the Polaris DVSL. It is very similar to the Nova lathe in the fact that the spindle is a direct drive from the motor, no pulleys or drive belt. I have my doubts about this system. especially when working with uneven loads like a rough sawn blank or a log. I cannot see the motor taking this kind of punishment. I have vowed that the new lathe will have a reversing capability on it and of course it must have variable speed. This narrows the choice down to two. The Axminster AWVSWL ABCDEF 1200 or the Jet 1624. I think I will have to have a good look at the Axi one before i make my choice and it will be interesting to see what the reviews are like on the Poolewood lathe in due course. I am very saddened by the fact that the firms that make decent wood turning tools and accessories will become a thing of the past soon with everything being made in China so if you can get your decent stuff while it is still available. Any comments would be gladly welcome. Happy turning everyone and may your tools always be sharp.
Geoff.
Being new to the site I thought I would introduce myself. I am Geoff and I live in West Wales although I originate from Kent. I became disabled three years ago and more recently I had so much time on my hands it was driving me mad. I am a carpenter/joiner by trade and there was no chance of me being employed so I decided to take up wood turning, purely as a hobby. I had a budget of £2000 and with that I bought a Jet 1220VS lathe, a patriot chuck and several accessories, a pile of wood turning tools, a sharpening system and a bandsaw. Overall I am very pleased with what I bought, the quality is good and it will last me many years. Apart from the bandsaw that is. What a pile of rubbish. It is going back tomorrow and I am getting a Jet industrial model that has excellent guides top and bottom. It has been three months since I turned my first piece and within minutes i decided it would no longer be a hobby but a small business. By the way. I used to do a lot of woodturning in a bygone era and amazingly most of it came back to me.
I am now attending two craft fairs a month and in November I shall have four. the things I make are being displayed in craft centres and I have people e-mailing me for things, so I am off to a good start. It is not easy as I can hardly walk and thankfully the two venues where i attend craft fairs both supply tables and chairs. I have had to buy a nice table cloth and some pastel shade tissue paper to wrap things up in that people buy, so much better than old copies of the news of the world. I have a lot of help getting my stuff in the halls and they are a great bunch of people. I make all sorts of things and love every moment. I love making little animals and have mice and pigs at the moment. I also make kitchen roll holders, bottle stoppers, light pulls of course. T light candle holders, loo roll holders and a pile of other things. The emphasis is on quality and a superb finish. I am not reliant on wood turning for my income and any money made goes straight back into the business.
Looking towards the future I am going to get more kit, another lathe. I don't have an extractor at the moment so I wear a mask and a visor, have both windows open in the workshop and the door and the through draft does a lovely job, especially when sanding. I will get more tools along with a slow grinder with a fine pair of wheels. I shall also invest in the modular tool rest system and finally get a new bench. Looking at lathes it is difficult to make a choice at the moment but then I am not going to get it till the end of November so I have plenty of time. It is a sad fact than many of the really good lathe manufacturers are no more. Lathes that were household names and made in far away places like New Zealand, Australia, Canada and here in the UK have either gone into demise or been bought by the Chinese. It is now common knowledge that a very well know manufacturer of wood turning tools from Sheffield has been bought by the Chinese. I had looked at the Nova DVR lathe as an upgrade but they are now made in China so I have ruled that out. Poolewood have just launched a new lathe called the Polaris DVSL. It is very similar to the Nova lathe in the fact that the spindle is a direct drive from the motor, no pulleys or drive belt. I have my doubts about this system. especially when working with uneven loads like a rough sawn blank or a log. I cannot see the motor taking this kind of punishment. I have vowed that the new lathe will have a reversing capability on it and of course it must have variable speed. This narrows the choice down to two. The Axminster AWVSWL ABCDEF 1200 or the Jet 1624. I think I will have to have a good look at the Axi one before i make my choice and it will be interesting to see what the reviews are like on the Poolewood lathe in due course. I am very saddened by the fact that the firms that make decent wood turning tools and accessories will become a thing of the past soon with everything being made in China so if you can get your decent stuff while it is still available. Any comments would be gladly welcome. Happy turning everyone and may your tools always be sharp.
Geoff.
=D>
