# Well.....poo.



## oldmacnut (Dec 4, 2012)

A week ago I was turning a Segmented Maple Stave bowl on my trusty Mono Tube Lathe. This is of course 3 days after I took that old boy apart, polished the tube, checked bearings, did a full maintenance clean-up on it, and made a nice 3" thick Walnut base for it and moved the motor to directly behind the headstock vs off to the back as they normally are.

Anyway, was turning a 12" Maple bowl, when it exploded. I mean Micheal Bay movie exploded. I am fine, I was standing off to the side closer to the tail stock, yes I was wearing my 3M full face shield/respirator I just bought a few weeks ago.

After shutting it down, looked for parts of the bowl, I took a break for a day and collected myself as this was the first time this happened.

When I went to use the lathe 2 days later I discovered more happened than I thought...

The Headstock Spindle is bent, the pulley on the spindle is bent as well and somehow the set screw chewed a nice groove in the spindle.

Long story short......Lathe is busted.

I checked and while I can buy a new spindle and pulley from Sears for this lathe, at 40.00 for the pulley and 35.00 for the spindle, I am wondering, is it worth spending that money on what is such an old outdated lathe.

Now I will admit, other than the stamped steel banjo assembly I have I really had no complaints, I mean it worked, I upgraded the motor to a 1 hp, new belt, new base, new bolts, heck I even had a new 12" round stock tool rest made for the lathe. I made 2 doughnut chucks and I use faceplate's, in short, I got cosy with this old lathe.

But what to do? I missed out on the 900.00 Nova lathe sale at Woodcraft, I have 30 segmented bowls sitting on my rack waiting to be turned, I was trying to build up a large inventory for the local trade day shows this month ( first one will be on the 6th dec)

Local Craigslist ads for this type of lathe are so stinking lame, 200.00 and up? heck even the Ridgid one I found is 400.00? really? I own one of these and I know for a fact, even though I put alot of time into cleaning it, maintaining it, and making it a nice lathe for what it is that with all the upgrades I feel 200.00 for mine is probably pushing it.

So, I am out, I didn't want to buy a Harbor Freight lathe, not because it wouldn't work, I just wanted to upgrade once, to a "forever tool" I figured The Nova would be my one-time upgrade much like the Rikon bandsaw I bought last year was my one-time upgrade.

Since I cant turn I was thinking about doing glue ups for tool handles, cutting more pen blanks, but also thinking about actually getting rid of the Curly figured Walnut slabs I just milled last month. as this is December, wife wants to make sure kids get a good christmas, and I for one don't want to take that away from the kids.

In a way this kinda sucks, I was wanting to use my shop to make some extra income as my disability checks suck, I figured since I have the tools, and on occasion get to blow a wad of cash at the sawmill and come home with a big pile of material, that I might give the local trade days a run and see if some of this stuff sells, lol otherwise it looks like relatives are getting some nice bowls this Christmas...lol.

Anyway, kinda reaching out, I am exhausted from past few weekends of work, filming the "how-to segmented work-flow" and of course the lathe busting.

I am looking for parts if they are cheap enough, I am also willing to trade stuff like my Motorola Xoom Tablet, Netbook, even material to get into a new lathe if necessary, and yeah, while it is not a "forever tool" The full size HF lathe would still be an upgrade, the rotating head is a neat feature.

So, ramble over, jump in if you got something to add.

Jim


----------



## TimR (Dec 4, 2012)

Jim, if upgrading is an option, this may be the time to do it. You will likely get a lot more enjoyment working off a lathe that has better speed control and quieter to boot. 
I see those lathes pretty often on CL ( Craftman Monotube in Lancaster, SC ), this one for $75. 
A couple years ago, I was down in Florida at brother-in-laws place, and he found one someone was offering FREE just to come pick it up. 
If you are really happy with everything else about these lathes, you could perhaps contact someone wanting to sell and see if they would perhaps sell just the spindle, depending on how difficult it is to remove, that would save some shipping. May even want some other parts...but I'd be plugging for something newer if you can swing it.
Let us know how it goes...I like fixing old machinery in lieu of just pitching them out...but sometimes newer is better, and this is likely the case here.


----------



## hobbit-hut (Dec 4, 2012)

Sorry to hear about your lathe problems. I understand the disability check thing too. I'm a 100% disabled combat veteran. I know how important that check is. I never could have retired without it. You mentioned some currly walnut. I have been in the market for some but haven't bought anything yet. If you were to post some of that for sale here on WB you might get some help with your cash flow. Just a thought. Whatever happens, good luck to you.


----------



## rtriplett (Dec 4, 2012)

blah, blah, blah Curly Walnut, blah blah. Just kidding.:dash2::dash2::wacko1: Wood always gets my interest. I had one of those old lathes. Then I upgraded! I have a HF lathe that I put in storage because I got tired of it slowing down on tough cuts and other mild issues. I don't miss turning much, but a Nova would be nice. I hope you can get something going for Christmas. If I was closer I could help you out with the Walnut! I do shows and sell boxes and cutting boards. the extra $ are nice. Luckily I came home with no issues.
Robert


----------



## oldmacnut (Dec 4, 2012)

TimR said:


> Jim, if upgrading is an option, this may be the time to do it. You will likely get a lot more enjoyment working off a lathe that has better speed control and quieter to boot.
> I see those lathes pretty often on CL ( Craftman Monotube in Lancaster, SC ), this one for $75.
> A couple years ago, I was down in Florida at brother-in-laws place, and he found one someone was offering FREE just to come pick it up.
> If you are really happy with everything else about these lathes, you could perhaps contact someone wanting to sell and see if they would perhaps sell just the spindle, depending on how difficult it is to remove, that would save some shipping. May even want some other parts...but I'd be plugging for something newer if you can swing it.
> Let us know how it goes...I like fixing old machinery in lieu of just pitching them out...but sometimes newer is better, and this is likely the case here.




Yeah I think now is indeed the time to upgrade, I have taken that poor mono tube well past it's intended use a long time ago, I did get it as a "gee, I wonder if a lathe would be worth it" tool.





hobbit-hut said:


> Sorry to hear about your lathe problems. I understand the disability check thing too. I'm a 100% disabled combat veteran. I know how important that check is. I never could have retired without it. You mentioned some currly walnut. I have been in the market for some but haven't bought anything yet. If you were to post some of that for sale here on WB you might get some help with your cash flow. Just a thought. Whatever happens, good luck to you.





rtriplett said:


> blah, blah, blah Curly Walnut, blah blah. Just kidding.:dash2::dash2::wacko1: Wood always gets my interest. I had one of those old lathes. Then I upgraded! I have a HF lathe that I put in storage because I got tired of it slowing down on tough cuts and other mild issues. I don't miss turning much, but a Nova would be nice. I hope you can get something going for Christmas. If I was closer I could help you out with the Walnut! I do shows and sell boxes and cutting boards. the extra $ are nice. Luckily I came home with no issues.
> Robert




The walnut slabs are pretty big, I have a thread posted in the gallery, but might make a new thread tomorrow.


----------



## Tim Carter (Dec 5, 2012)

You might want to check into www.publicsurplus.com. It's an on line auction site for schools and governmental agencies to dispose of surplus equipment. Every week there are a lot of listings in Texas. There are a lot of school districts that are getting rid of shop equipment, including lathes, for very reasonable prices. Usually the lathes are Delta or Powermatic-the older heavy duty models. It may be a way to pick up a better lathe at a good price. I've had very good luck. Hope this helps!


----------



## oldmacnut (Dec 5, 2012)

Tim Carter said:


> You might want to check into www.publicsurplus.com. It's an on line auction site for schools and governmental agencies to dispose of surplus equipment. Every week there are a lot of listings in Texas. There are a lot of school districts that are getting rid of shop equipment, including lathes, for very reasonable prices. Usually the lathes are Delta or Powermatic-the older heavy duty models. It may be a way to pick up a better lathe at a good price. I've had very good luck. Hope this helps!



Oh boy....I am getting nothing done today.......That site is like gold. Cars are dirt cheap, all sorts of stuff there.


----------

