I always remember that term with amusement, cuz after the first skirmish or two, Schwartzkopf held a press conference, and noted that the "Mother of All Battles" (as Saddam predicted) had turned into the "Mother of All Bugouts" (military term for a hasty retreat).
On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 09:27:02 -0700, charlieb wrote:
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Let's not forget the big boys' toys when declaring the which is the MOAL. :) Easy to forget the pros when you're looking at home consumer tools. (Not to say that Mr. Plamann is not a pro, of course- I believe he does do woodworking for a living) Even in the little job shop that I work for, we've got machines with 8 foot deep concrete pad foundations that wouldn't fit inside my entire house even if I removed all the internal walls! On the other side of the scale, there are always the non-industrial innovators, who come up with some pretty wild setups as well- check this one out:
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Now that one is something that anyone on the list could probably knock together, given some welding skills and a bit of spare time. Still can't figure out why a guy might need to make a bowl that big, but there's no doubt it'd be fun to do. Saw a setup on YouTube a while ago where a guy was turning entire african-style drums in one shot with a lathe he made himself as well. He hauled it out to the woods on a trailer, cut down a tree, then jacked up the back end of his truck and used one of the rear wheels to power the machine. That thing was able to turn and hollow a djimbe-style wooden drum in about two minutes. Not the best finish in the world, but it sure was quick. There's also the salvaging gambit- There are a lot of old tools laying around under tarps that haven't seen the light of day in 50 years that could be refurbished for use as a wood lathe if a guy was so inclined. One of the newer members of this list has given me a great deal on a really old monster turret lathe that would fit the bill. Of course, I intend to use it as a metal lathe as it was intended, but there would certainly be a lot of potential there to make a heck of a bowl or column spinner. The thing about old engine lathes is that once the ways are worn too far to do precision work, most metal shops consider them as useful only as boat anchors, and stick them out in the back shed where they're never thought of again. But if you get your hands on one, most are more than heavy enough to turn a telephone pole without undue shaking- make up a _big_ bed extension, and you've got a column turning machine that would easily be the equal to Plamann's.
Can't argue with that one- he's an awfully talented guy. Makes a lot of the rest of us look like chumps, but that's all right by me- there aren't that many people worth looking up to, and I always appreciate seeing the work of the guys who are.
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