Well I did my best

Well, that really simplifies things, huh?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Took me a minute to figure out why one of my legs felt longer than the other one, Ezmerelda. :p
 
Ummm.....What???

Apparently the person that made the initial article can't stand someone posting the real facts of the issue. They have removed my post twice. Here is what I wrote.

What you have described is using a spindle lathe to turn bowls by putting a bowl chuck on it. This is NOT How to Make a Bowl Lathe.

A bowl lathe is a purpose built lathe.

Stubby bowl lathe http://stubbylatheusa.com/images/bill04.jpg

Vega bowl lathe http://www.vegawoodworking.com/2600 bowl lathe aug. 2006.JPG

A bowl lathe is a bowl lathe because at their low end speed they run much slower than a spindle lathe & their bed is much shorter so you can stand at the end of the lathe bed when turning the inside of the bowl so you have better posture, control & are more comfortable this creates a safer turning situation.

A spindle lathe is a spindle lathe because it is long to make spindles like stair rail spindles & table legs & chair legs etc. Most of the older spindle lathes speed was control by moving the belt to a different sized pulley on a 4 stepped pulley system. On average the lowest speed would have been 750 to 900 revolutions per minute.

Better speed control on newer lathes by use of electronically controlled motors will bring down the speed of the lathe to 150 to 300 revolutions per minute or less, this is especially important when roughing out a large bowl which may be somewhat unbalanced.

To use a spindle lathe as a bowl lathe you end up twisting your body to work over the long bed & be able to see into the bowl & properly position your tool to carve out the inside of the bowl.

This is not to say you can't turn bowls on a spindle lathe, you can many do but it will never be a bowl lathe. Most spindle lathes are sized 12" & under by the diameter of the item they will swing or spin. A lathe is measured for swing by measuring down from the spindle to the bed ways a measurement 6" indicates that this is a 12" lathe.

Many of the bowl lathes will swing a 24" bowl & others will swing bigger.

Now days there are lathes with electronically controlled motors that will swing up to 16" or larger & for clearance the lathe head either slides to the right end of the bed or turns 22 degrees to 90 degrees & even 180 degrees some lathes will be able to position the head at any degree off to the side or left end of the bed ways so that you can turn larger bowls. This doesn't necessarily by definition make it a bowl lathe but it does give you the best of both worlds.
 
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