Lathe abuse?

Power plane if you hate it. Dirt and grit a-plenty in the bark to ruin the cutters, plus wet and electricity aren't the best of friends. My scrub works well, as does a gouge or shave. Human power for better control.

"Toller" wrote in news:1DTri.13178$B25.719 @news01.roc.ny:

Your lathe is capable of turning some fairly heavy blanks (ask Darrell Fellmate). Start off between centers if you're seriously out of balance. In fact you should probably start between centers until you have more experience with larger blanks. 400 rpm is not a poor design. When I was turning in Trade School, the big lathes we used were a bit faster than that (even had to change pulleys). Zero rpm is wonderful, but when I turn at that speed it reminds me of carving. Don't be afraid of the noise (thunks, bumps, etc.). How did you mount your new lathe? Big and heavy needs big and heavy. You should have a very solid bench/stand to mount the Craftsman 15". Three or four hundred pounds (sand, lead, depleated uranium, etc.) will give you a solid platform. Again, don't be afraid of noise a out of round blank may make, just respect it. Regards, Hank