How big a platter? How big a bowle? How big a lathe?

I have had a 20" General for a couple of years and I would say 16" is a typical large for me and to be honest most of my hobby stuff is a lot smaller. Part of the problem is that I can find smaller free hardwood logs a lot easier than the big ones around here. Big softwood but I don't really like it.

What I do like about the large swing of my lathe is that I can put things like steadies under the workpiece without worrying about clearance. Also since the General has a fixed headstock, the height of the bed relative to the height of the spindle makes it easy for me to "bend over the lathe". You can also interpret that as "room for my belly". And of course, you can turn small things on a big lathe but....

Bill

Hey Bill... have you tried designing a "belly buffing system" yet?? could be a big seller for us abundantly proportioned guys.. *g*

mac

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For some pictures of people turning big things -- take a look at

That said, there is really not much of a market for really big stuff. I have a

26" bowl which is rough turned and will be ready for returning in maybe 9 months or a year. What I'll do with it after it is done is anybody's guess.

But, the large lathe means that you don't have to be so careful about rounding blanks for even normal sized work. And the 700 lbs of the machine means you don't normally have to think about balance problems with a blank.

Also I turn small tops and lace bobbins on the S750 -- works great. I keep thinking I'd like to have a mini-lathe for small stuff but every time I use one I'm happy to go back to Stubby.

Bill

Arch,

I have a Stubby S750 and one reason I like the large 30" swing is that I turn a lot of wing bowls that are normally placed off-center which requires a much larger swing even though the bowl isn't going to be a giant. As Bill Noble mentioned, you can put a much larger piece of unbalanced wood on the lathe without it bouncing around the shop. Big lathe doesn't necessarily mean a

30" bowl just more freedom on what you turn. I love my Stubby. Good luck......Ralph

It shouldn't be too hard to sew some Beal buffing wheels to a shirt! In Bill Grumbine's new DVD (Bill is no runt) he refers to his ample mid-section as his "turning muscle" for steadying the gouge. Bill

I used to do that, too... didn't even realize that it had become a habit until I had what Darrel calls a "spectacular" catch... I use his "hip" technique now..

mac

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