(To skip the Harbor Freight story, scroll down to the pictures)
Last night I spoke to my Dad about the HF lathe motor burning up on Monday night. He told me to return it and come to Charlotte and he would pay the difference in price to get a comparable lathe that would be more dependable. So of course, the wheels started turning. :eusa_thin Tracy and Dave both seem to like their Shop Fox lathes that they bought/won from Rick in Mooresville, so I figured I'd go that route.
I got off work a little early today, took the truck home and loaded up the burned out lathe and headed to HF, armed with receipts and my game face.
I spoke to the manager and told him what happened and he agreed to refund me my money. :icon_cheers Then when I got up to actually do it, they said that because I purchased it with a gift card that they could only refund me with a gift card, which would do nothing as far as putting that money toward another lathe. :BangHead: I said everything I could think of, but the manager insisted that that was the only way they could refund me my money. They didn't have any new ones in stock, neither did the Raleigh store and their distributor/warehouse didn't have any in stock either, which means it would probably be a WHILE before I got a new one. :eusa_thin
So I walked back and took a look at the floor model. It had no tail stock and the tool rest was missing all of the knobs, but I figured I'd give it a shot. We wheeled that one back to the warehouse and plugged it in. It seemed to run fine. I wrapped my fingers in my shirt and grabbed the face plate to see how much torque it had, but it was hard to tell. The variable speed wasn't working very well and on the lower speed it seemed like it didn't have any torque. So I asked the manager if I could take it and the tail stock and tool rest (and all the other parts) and give it a shot. He said that would be fine and if it didn't work, then bring it back and he'll get me a new one as soon as possible. :eusa_thin I agreed and took it home and pretty much picked up where I left off on Monday night. The variable speed doesn't work that well, but it is somewhere in the range that I need. It had torque and seemed to work pretty well.
I have made bowls for a few folks so far, but haven't made one for Christy yet. She was at the top of my list (and every other list :embaresse) so I made this one for her. QS Sycamore, via DaveO, via Touchwood. Thank you so much guys! :notworthy: Finish is BLO and wax
This wood turned very well and looks great. I need to practice my recesses and that one part at the bottom of the curve on the inside of the bowl. And I need to get better at finishing. :icon_thum
Thanks for looking,
Trent :wsmile:
Last night I spoke to my Dad about the HF lathe motor burning up on Monday night. He told me to return it and come to Charlotte and he would pay the difference in price to get a comparable lathe that would be more dependable. So of course, the wheels started turning. :eusa_thin Tracy and Dave both seem to like their Shop Fox lathes that they bought/won from Rick in Mooresville, so I figured I'd go that route.
I got off work a little early today, took the truck home and loaded up the burned out lathe and headed to HF, armed with receipts and my game face.
I spoke to the manager and told him what happened and he agreed to refund me my money. :icon_cheers Then when I got up to actually do it, they said that because I purchased it with a gift card that they could only refund me with a gift card, which would do nothing as far as putting that money toward another lathe. :BangHead: I said everything I could think of, but the manager insisted that that was the only way they could refund me my money. They didn't have any new ones in stock, neither did the Raleigh store and their distributor/warehouse didn't have any in stock either, which means it would probably be a WHILE before I got a new one. :eusa_thinSo I walked back and took a look at the floor model. It had no tail stock and the tool rest was missing all of the knobs, but I figured I'd give it a shot. We wheeled that one back to the warehouse and plugged it in. It seemed to run fine. I wrapped my fingers in my shirt and grabbed the face plate to see how much torque it had, but it was hard to tell. The variable speed wasn't working very well and on the lower speed it seemed like it didn't have any torque. So I asked the manager if I could take it and the tail stock and tool rest (and all the other parts) and give it a shot. He said that would be fine and if it didn't work, then bring it back and he'll get me a new one as soon as possible. :eusa_thin I agreed and took it home and pretty much picked up where I left off on Monday night. The variable speed doesn't work that well, but it is somewhere in the range that I need. It had torque and seemed to work pretty well.
I have made bowls for a few folks so far, but haven't made one for Christy yet. She was at the top of my list (and every other list :embaresse) so I made this one for her. QS Sycamore, via DaveO, via Touchwood. Thank you so much guys! :notworthy: Finish is BLO and wax
This wood turned very well and looks great. I need to practice my recesses and that one part at the bottom of the curve on the inside of the bowl. And I need to get better at finishing. :icon_thum
Thanks for looking,
Trent :wsmile:
