Is 5 lathes excessive?

[caskwith]

Just wanted to gloat a little

Now is anyone selling some spare space for me to set it up? lol

[TRS]

Just wanted to gloat a little

Now is anyone selling some spare space for me to set it up? lol

Yup. I've got plenty of spare room in my workshop. Cheap too.

[Alden]

Excessive, or Obsessive ?
Either way, lucky you. I wish I had room for two lathes.

[Ocelot55]

Hell, I wish I had one lathe. I don't think I could set one up in the back seat of my car....or could I?

[d.huber]

Hell, I wish I had one lathe. I don't think I could set one up in the back seat of my car....or could I?

A lathe? Hell, I wish I even had a drill press.

[staffwalker]

I don't own a lathe except a taig which I use for drilling stems. I made the decision years back to either buy a lathe or learn to shape pipes by hand. I close the latter and have never been sorry to have done so. I use a drill press for drilling and a sanding disc for shaping. When I tell someone my pipes are made by hand-they truly are. bob gilbert

[Blueb3]

Just wanted to gloat a little

Now is anyone selling some spare space for me to set it up? lol

Would be happy to "store" one for you out in my garage :p

[Ocelot55]

I don't own a lathe except a taig which I use for drilling stems. I made the decision years back to either buy a lathe or learn to shape pipes by hand. I close the latter and have never been sorry to have done so. I use a drill press for drilling and a sanding disc for shaping. When I tell someone my pipes are made by hand-they truly are. bob gilbert

Rock on Bob!

[Archer]

Excessive is, all at the same time mind you, using two of them with your hands, two of them with your feet, and the fifth with your...oh...nevermind...

[Nate]

Man, I only have 2. i need to get crackin if I'm gonna compete with Chris!!!!



Nice stuff Chris. So do you do any work on the pipes anymore or do the lathes all do it for you?

[Sasquatch]

I'm wondering if he'll still make ugly pipes if he buys another lathe. Maybe 6 is the magic number, Chris!

[andrew]

I'm guessing lathes are like kids, after three it's probably hard to keep up with what they're all doing and you're pretty sure one of them is redundant, but you're not sure which one, so you resign yourself to keeping them all....

[mcgregorpipes]

you're like me with drill presses, I like to setup for one operation and not have to spend time changing bits, table height vises etc. maybe you're planning on running off a lot of pieces very efficiently..

[staffwalker]

I can once the block is marked, drill and rough shape a pipe in 3/4 of an hour to an hour. I don't think I'm all that slow but perhaps I am since I've never watched anyone else. Perhaps most of you guys with a lathe can whip out one every five minutes. bob gilbert

[caskwith]

They all have their own specific purpose. Of the 2 big lathes one is used for drilling blocks and most stem work, the big 14" wood lathe is used mostly as a buffer but can also be pressed into service for drilling extra long pipes and obviously for any wood turning needs I have. The rest of the lathes are mini lathes, one is a micro wood lathe used for hand turning stem profiles, the other a micro metal lathe used for small work. The new lathe that is coming is also a mini lathe but will be surprisignly capable for its size, it will used as a jig lathe, many times I am working on a pipe and I might hit a flaw or change the design, maybe for a silver ring or something and I will need to make a little cap or sacrificial piece, at the moment I would have to remove chucks or disassemble parts of the big lathe in order to manufacture the piece and then set it all back up again to continue, possibly losing alignment and certainly wasting time, this new lathe will be used to manufacture those parts saving me time and improving accuracy. I have waited a long time to get the right lathe for this purpose, I could have just gone out and bought one of the cheap chinese mini lathes which would have done the job well enough but I wanted to wait until I could get a good deal on something a little better as this new lathe has power feed and threading capabilities meaning I can use it for other sideline project or for creating repalcement/repair parts for my other tools without changing setup's on my other lathes. It should prove a very useful tool!

[oklahoma red]

Can you share with us what this new miracle lathe is and is it available in the US?
Is it perhaps a small Myford?
Chas.

[caskwith]

Can you share with us what this new miracle lathe is and is it available in the US?
Is it perhaps a small Myford?
Chas.

Proxxon P230