I chucked a dowel into my drill press on a whim. I shaped it with rasps, files and such. I made a smokestack for a wooden locomotive. Woo woo! :)
Five locomotives and a couple of box lid pulls later, and I can tell that I'm just waiting to fall into the abyss and become a turning addict.
I've decided I simply *must*, *must*, *must* figure out a way to jam a lathe into my tiny shop, even though I have no earthly idea where I'm going to put it. I'm sure the question of which lathe for what space has been asked and answered a million times, and I'm googling as we speak, trying to find something suitable within my price range.
What I really wonder about is tooling. Tooling adds a lot to the price of admission for sure, and I'm not going to be able to afford a lot of it at the same time as I actually purchase the lathe, so I need to keep it focused.
My immediate interests are turning smokestacks and other detail parts for wooden locomotives, and turning a set of chess pieces. I expect I will do a lot more small work than large, and I have very little interest in making chair spindles or the like.
I'm also concerned with making sure I buy any necessary add-on gizmos for this kind of work right off the bat. I don't think I'll need a face plate for anything. I'm thinking I probably need a chuck for work this small. What type of chuck do you suggest?
What am I not even considering?
(No, I'm not going to go take classes, but thanks for pointing out that I should.)
Thanks...