# Would ya if you could??



## TimR (Jul 22, 2015)

Anatoly Tsiris is a turning friend who lives about 10 minutes away. Few people worldwide turn on the scale he does with his custom Nichols lathe. He recently posted this on his Facebook page and as always, I just shake my head at the scale of what he does, and this is by no means among the biggest. This is some sort of cedar, is all I know. You find his site by searching on his name, not many around with his name...kinda think he's it in the US.
At one point I came close to picking up one of these lathes, but missed opportunity by inquiring about a week too late. In hindsight, I'm not so sure I care to have that kind of capability that I might actually explore...but who knows?

Reactions: Way Cool 6


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## steve bellinger (Jul 22, 2015)

Yep if i had the lathe, and it wasn't cedar or walnut. Like them both but they kill me. :(


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## Nature Man (Jul 22, 2015)

I wouldn't do it myself, but it would be interesting to watch someone else do it. Chuck

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kevin (Jul 22, 2015)

That lathe does not look up to the task, but it must be. 

I would give it a try because I am a dumb paddy and nearly cut my finger off last week so I would like try and kill myself next. If that log came off the lathe it would roll right over me and flatten me like a Sunday morning flapjack. Exciting!

Reactions: Funny 4


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## ripjack13 (Jul 22, 2015)

I would....oh yes....I would love to!

Cliff did a huge one too...strapped himself to a forklift to hollow out the inside!

@woodintyuuu

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kevin (Jul 22, 2015)

I want to see that thing when he is finished. How many shekels do you think he'll fetch for that?


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## gman2431 (Jul 22, 2015)

@woodintyuuu this is about your capacity of your big lathe isn't it?

When I was at cliffs he had a monster lathe with a monster piece on it something similar to this pic. 

Would I turn it? I say yes but when Cliff, Danny and I wrestled a big piece of redwood onto a lathe and turned it on I stepped back about 30 ft.LOL I did give it a little go with Cliff at my side at roughing it but its a daunting thing for sure! The force generated by something that big spinning hitting a tool was impressive to say the least.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Way Cool 1


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## barry richardson (Jul 22, 2015)

I might do it once for bragging rights, otherwise I don't see the payoff for all that work and mess.....

Reactions: Agree 1


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## JR Custom Calls (Jul 22, 2015)

There are bandmills not capable of killing that log lol

Reactions: Funny 1


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## TimR (Jul 22, 2015)

Kevin said:


> I want to see that thing when he is finished. How many shekels do you think he'll fetch for that?


I have no doubt some of his larger pieces fetch 5 figures, not sure what the average would be...but he's made a living of it for a number of years. 

As to the capacity of the lathe, it is deceiving. It's got a 5 horse 3 ph motor stepped down thru various belts to get a range where the high on the speed control gets down to just a couple hundred rpm, if I recall. He has a custom machined faceplate system that goes way beyond any 6" faceplate we're typically used to seeing. Very secure.


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## woodintyuuu (Jul 22, 2015)

When I was at cliffs he had a monster lathe with a monster piece on it something similar to this pic.

Would I turn it? I say yes but when Cliff, Danny and I wrestled a big piece of redwood onto a lathe and turned it on I stepped back about 30 ft.LOL I did give it a little go with Cliff at my side at roughing it but its a daunting thing for sure! The force generated by something that big spinning hitting a tool was impressive to say the least.[/QUOTE]

as for making big work: I have made 5 pcs which are human scale, the pce you saw on the monster lathe during your visit cody is pictured below. it is 6 ft 3 tall and 51 inches diameter and is in the begining stages of being carved like the one in the Peabody Essex museum show @duncsuss It was commisioned by one of the principals of enron and his bell is about to ring on his deposit. i will then finish it and sell it. (@barry richardson it will most certainly be worth the payoff) the one that is pictured on my DVD cover is 6 ft 8 inches tall without lid and 49 inch diameter and was commisioned by a little 
Micro-----t software company in seattle, and is in their corporate collection . It was taken down to a fat 3/8 inch thick except for the fluting both those pcs would dwarf the pc pictured above. But he is certinly doing impressive work. Both of the works i have spoken of were made from one pc maple burl 1st was 3200 lbs and second was 2900 lbs so just the cost of the burls were up there

Reactions: Way Cool 5


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## barry richardson (Jul 22, 2015)

I'm talking about the payoff for us mere mortals!


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## TimR (Jul 22, 2015)

gman2431 said:


> @woodintyuuu this is about your capacity of your big lathe isn't it?
> 
> When I was at cliffs he had a monster lathe with a monster piece on it something similar to this pic.
> 
> Would I turn it? I say yes but when Cliff, Danny and I wrestled a big piece of redwood onto a lathe and turned it on I stepped back about 30 ft.LOL I did give it a little go with Cliff at my side at roughing it but its a daunting thing for sure! The force generated by something that big spinning hitting a tool was impressive to say the least.


I think I recall some large vessels by Cliff..yep, Cliff would be in that small club of extreme turners for sure!
Seeing the pics Cliff posted, I'm not sure what takes more cajones...the turning, or the carving away once turned. Sweet work Cliff!

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Johnturner (Jul 22, 2015)

No way Jose!


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## duncsuss (Jul 22, 2015)

woodintyuuu said:


> it is 6 ft 3 tall and 51 inches diameter


Yikes ... and I thought the one at Peabody-Essex was huge! (from memory it was less than 5 ft tall, and nowhere near that width)

To answer the question ... uh-uh, if I can't lift it I'm not going to try turning it. (And I can't afford to get another 200 amps of power delivered to the house, so I wouldn't be able to start it spinning even if I did have a motor with enough hp )


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