50! Who knew?

Bill Lantry

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Hey, folks,

Well, I'm 50 today, and this is very odd! I did not crumble into a pile of dust at the stroke of midnight! Unbelieveable! ;)

Doorlink, of course, is of the belief that it will happen at midnight tonight. She has her broom and dustpan at the ready!

On the outside chance that that won't happen, I've done yet another crazy thing. Just back from buying 30 2x4s and 4 2x6s.

Why, you ask? Well, I prevailed upon Doorlink to let me order the lathe http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0462 . It seems like an awful lot of lathe for the money. I went to harbor freight yesterday to look at theirs, but by that time I pretty much had my heart set on the 462. I *did* pick up their lathe chisels, though. Anyway, I figure the griz is really a clone of something else, but I haven't been able to figure out what. The yorkcraft jointer I have is obviously from the same factory as the delta that costs twice as much, but could the griz really be the same machine as a $2000 jet 1642 lathe? Only real difference I can see is that the jet has one lower gear (min speed 450 vs. the griz's min 600). http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17111&cookietest=1
Maybe I'm missing something, and it's actually the clone of something else, but it looks close. I know there's someone here who has advocated for this machine, and that makes me feel a little better.

Only 2 real problems I can see with the griz (besides that the horsepower rating is certainly exaggerated). First, that minimum speed. Seems like it's pretty high for a very large turning. I guess that's a problem I'll have to live with.

The second? I suppose cast iron legs are a good thing? Better than the alternative, I suppose. But why does everyone make lathe stands, meant to decrease vibration, out of metal??? It seems really odd to me. Wouldn't you want something that would tend to dampen vibration, instead of transfering it (to, say, the floor, and thus to the building)?

Hence the big stack of 2x4s. I'm planning on making a stand very like a workbench (joint and plane the 2x4s, and glue em up so I've got something 26" wide, cut and mortise the 2x6s together into legs so I've got a very rigid stand. Does this sound to you like the dumbest idea in all of christendom? It seems rational to me, but then again I'm old, and maybe my mind is already going? ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Congratulations child. :b-day: You were born the same year I graduated from high school. And, one does not crumble into dust at 50. One gets 'old' when one decides to. As for lathes, the horsepower rating on that Griz has been the topic of discussion elsewhere. One thing that is for sure, there are many ways to calculate horsepower with electric motors. Grizzly stands behind the 2 hp rating. But, I agree it runs too fast for bowl work. More money, but check out the 0632:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0632
Early reports are that it is identical to the Jet 1642, or the Jet is identical to it, whatever. Except the Jet runs on 110V and the Griz is a 220V jobbie. I've got my sights set on the Griz for my upgrade as soon as budget permits.
 
Happy Birthday, Bill! I'll bet you're a lot younger than 50-year-old men were back when you were 20. I know I am. (I'm in the last few months of my 40's.)

Regarding the lathe, looks like the vortex has sucked another person in. (It's always nice to add a new turner to the fold.) The 600 RPM low speed is a bit fast for roughing out big off-balance pieces, but I'm guessing you'll get plenty of miles out of it before you feel compelled to upgrade. Congrats on the new toy-to-be. :thumb:
 
Happy b-day Bill! :b-day_cake:

I too recently joined the ranks of the 'over-50' crowd...and I'm still cranking away.

Here's to both of us still doing it for MANY years to come! :thumb:

- Marty -

P.S. Congrats on the new lathe. Although it's all downhill once that vortex gets hold of you! :eek: :doh:
 
Happy Birthday Bill!!

50 eh? Well, I'm just a little over a half decade behind you, and the thought of all that dust does scare me a bit, man, that would be a LARGE pile of dust, in my case .... :rofl:

Abbout the lathe, some advice, if you do not mind.

Build it as an "A" frame, this is very stable and very stout.

DON'T put a flat table top beneath it, you will be constantly cleaning chips out of the ways, if you do this, and with anything green (meaning wet, NOT Grizzly) they will rust your cast iron ways of you lathe, DAMHIKT :rolleyes:

For vibration damping, put 5 or 6 #40 bags of dry sand on a low shelf on the base of the "A" frame stand, that will do you for sure.

Just my two yen's worth!

Cheers --- the birthday kind!:b-day:
 
50, eh? Geez, it's hard to believe it's been 18 1/2 yrs since I celebrated that Auspicious Occasion,:eek: and I was still Blowing and Going for a couple more years before the Termites started Slooooooooowly turning me to dust.:D

Congratulations on turning the half Century mark, AND on the new Toy. Soooooo.........HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and a wish for you for many happy years of Turning.:thumb:
 
Well Happy Birthday Bill I'm almost 5 years ahead of you & am not scared anymore.

I made my lathe bench out of what ever I had on hand accept the threaded rod nuts & washers that hold the concrete blocks together. The lathe & stand weigh about 450#. Yep it has a glued up 2x4 top. This has made a very stable solid lathe bench.
 

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Happy Birthday as well... Fifty was a decade or more away for me. 60 is where the change comes. You young kids think you are old, :rofl: Ought to see the age on most of the fellows around here...:eek: I got dust piled up in my shop that scares that age. :zzz:
:b-day: :b-day: :b-day:
 
Happy belated b-day, Bill! Dust, no... but the aches and pains start getting a bit more frequent (at least for me they have).

Concerning the lathe, congrats! The Griz you posted uses a Reeves drive (mechanical VS) and these require some maintenance. The Jet 1642 is an elctronic VS. Having owned both, I'll only buy the electronic in the future. I'd even rather change the belt manually than go back to a Reeves drive. But that was just my experience. Many have used them very successfully for years. As far as cast iron legs go, I was told in a recent seminar that cast iron does a great job of dampening vibration. Much more so than if the parts were milled from solid stock. I'm not sure why exactly, but that's what we were told. IIRC, it was Ernie Conover that said it (FWIW). Even better at dampening vibration is having everything mounted (welded) to a round or square tube like the Oneway and Robust lathes.
 
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