Weekend warrior

No photos for this entry.

Saturday was my demo for the Arizona Woodturners Assoc.  I did the same demo that I did last weekend in Prescott with a few additions as I had a bit more time.  The demo went well with no major issue and only a couple of small ones that were easily overcome.

We also had a board meeting to go over the 2011 budget and action items.  Top of the list is acquiring a new club lathe.  The board added a budget item of up to $3000 to cover the purchase of the lathe and the building of a new stand and any accessories needed.  The general membership then voted to authorize this expenditure.

Our list of potential lathes is somewhat limited due to our budget and several other factors.  Because of where we hold our meetings the lathe must be portable, 110v, variable speed, 16" swing or better.  Unfortunately this rules out the majority of the full sized lathes on the market (Powermatic, Oneway, Robust, Vicmarc).  This leaves about 3 lathes in our price range that meet all of our criteria.  Jet 1642 EVS, Nova DVR-XP, and General 25-650.

I'm not a huge fan of the push button speed changes on the DVR, there are also concerns about future support for the electronics.  The size and weight are big concerns on the Jet 1642 and General 25-650 as portability is a huge factor.

I spent most of the day Sunday in the shop working on a couple of pieces.  I'm preparing a couple of entries to our club's selection for the American Association of Woodturners "Turning 25 - A Celebration" exhibit at this year's national symposium.  I don't want to post photos here as I don't want to influence the voting.  I will say that it's on of the best pieces I've ever done, having a very nice piece of wood to start with doesn't hurt.