Wood lathe bed extension

[b116757]

I do quite a bit of wood turning mostly small projects not requiring much bed length but I want to turn a few longer walking sticks out of the some hickory I had milled last winter from some canopy release I was doing behind the house. Well anyway I have a Jet 1442VS lathe which is rated for 42” between centers this is pretty liberal with the rating to be honest but it’s to short for a decent walking stick regardless I picked up a second 1442VS this week and plan to bolt both lathe beds together I think this gives me about 90” between centers to work with.

 

[b116757]

Bought a Jet 1642 lathe and bolted it to the bed of my Jet 1442 now I have at least 7’ between centers I should be able to turn a walking stick or two this winter. I cut about a 1000bdft of smooth bark hickory last winter and loaded it into my lumber dry kiln last weekend so I should have plenty of hickory for walking sticks in a couple more weeks.

 

[b116757]

I did buy a second 1442 but then found screaming good deal on a this jet 1642 so I gave that second 1442 to my nephew.

 

[hillrunner]

What do you have for a kiln? I built a solar kiln once; it worked but needed a lot of babysitting to make sure it didn't get too hot.

 

[b116757]

I have a Nyle L200 and I had a solar kiln but just use it as a shed now after getting the Nyle