Plot twist !
I like it.
I guess this is not the turning point everyone was hoping for in Justin’s career. Hope it all turns out well for you Justin. 
Dale, I’m glad you’re the recipient. Can’t wait to see… 
well, since it is kept “in the house” all is good.
A gift is a gift, and the future looks bright.
William Blake:
‘The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom’ …
‘You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough.’
I spoke with Justin on the phone yesterday about this.
He has made his comment here for now, and out of respect for Justin I will keep most of the details of our conversation private.
I will say that it was not without a great deal of thought he decided to do this. It was already gone when I spoke with him and to me all I could hear in his voice was contentment and perhaps even relief.
I for one would like to thank Dale for rescuing both Justin and the lathe. If you had not taken the drive to go get it Justin might still be sitting at home with a heavy heart. You have nothing whatsoever to feel guilty about in my book.
I would also like to thank all of you who donated and commented in this thread for keeping the spirit positive, and especially for sticking with the idea that this was all a no strings attached gift for Justin to do with exactly as he wants.
One final reminder. This project can was still absolutely a success!!
1. Justin who built all of his previous lights with a drill press, still has a brand new drill press purchased with the money!!
2. We also had the opportunity to show someone we all truly care.
Well said vestureofblood! Thanks very much for the update and clarifications. Really glad to hear that Justin is feeling good about all this too.
Well OL could just drive over to Dale’s place every weekend to have his projects or just have some coffee and chitchat together since they live ‘nearby’ each other ><
Just as reference, to get from one end of singapore to the other it takes just an hour with a car and just under 2h via public transport…
Anyways, I’m glad that OL is happy with his decision and Dale now has the lathe . … We will be expecting wonderful things from you from now in! :evil:
AND, Justin knows where to get a threaded adapter/bezel/heatsink made on the cheap a day’s shipping away. 
I got an LED shoplight, wiring, plugs, boxes… all the stuff to be set for the engine hoist this afternoon. So after lunch I will wire up the outlet box and get the light mounted so I’ll be ready to set the lathe in place. $100 here, $50 there… the wife’s gonna love me for sure!
The big thing for me is not to get in a hurry, keeping in mind all the machinists I know with stub fingers….
Sorry if inappropriate, but “turning point” and lathe, well you know, it’s just funny. :bigsmile:
Dale, do not feel too obliged using the lathe for forum benefit, if a hobby community gets too demanding the hobby gets less enjoyable. That said, I’m sure you can’t resist turning some flashlight parts every now and then and show it to us .
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could not agree more here. I think there was a lot of pressure on Justin to perform. And if he got that new guard job (did he), how much time would he have to spend working with the lathe? And now it’s on Dale. Was his life/time full. And now home schooling too. I agree - no obligation.
Dale,
I can give you some lathe “quick tips” if you feel you need any help getting going. It’s a long and bumpy road ahead! Keep plenty of bits with different radius, and angles on-hand as you will end up finding a scenario to use every single one. There are a few things the old timers from the machine shop taught me when I had no idea what I was doing on one.
One of the most essential ideas in lathe turning is that you know that your cutting edge is centered on the part being turned. Surface finish is highly dependent on bit position against the part.
The best quick trick in the book for this, IMO:
1. Use or buy a 6” straight aluminum ruler. Or, use anything that is 1/32” thick and no more, and 5-7” long will work—you just want a lightweight, hard, “flat plane” for your eye to see from the lathe end view.
2. Chuck and zero your starting piece and get ready to begin turning.
3. Move your bit up to the part but stop short, so there is a gap between bit and part to insert the ruler.
4. As you hold the ruler against the turning surface, now run your cutting bit up to the center of the ruler, sandwiching it between bit tip and part. Just enough tension to hold the ruler in place is needed.
5. Look at the ruler from the front. The ruler should be parallel to a Z-axis on the lathe, such as the tool-holder. If the ruler top tilts away from the lathe, your bit is low. Toward the lathe, and your bit is high.
Do some test turns on aluminum bar to see the effect of having a high bit, versus a centered bit, versus a low bit.
Use “Alumacut” to turn finish passes or if you want to make deep passes with less heat. This is what just about what everyone I’ve talked to defaults to for a cutting fluid.
Yes, please be careful. Don’t become DB Stubby.
Or like me, Rufusbstubby. 
We have POWER! I ran a 4 plug outlet with 12/2 Romex and hung the LED 4’ light fixture, It’s supposed to be 4100K and 1700 lumens, seems pretty white so I’m more pleased with it than I thought I’d be. About to go get the engine hoist so I can set the lathe in place, oh boy oh boy, and it’s pretty cool out, down now to 105º.
Getting this thing set up is gonna help me lose about 10 lbs. Of sweat. :bigsmile:
OL, if this is the right thing to do for you, I can be nothing but be supportive. Too bad it didn't workout for you, hope the future has some nice things for you in store :)
And don't worry about the donations. We jumped on it before getting your approval. I really enjoyed to see this ("strangers" world wide making this happen) can happen here in BLF :)
That’s 15º hotter than the desert I just got back from, and I nearly melted. I think I’ll stay here where it’s 65º to 70º F instead. For anything active, anything over 50 degrees (10 C) seems too hot. Wind chill can increase that a bit though.
The military did a study and found the optimum temperature for moderately strenuous activity was 42F… not sure if that was for buck nekid soldiers or not…
The optimum temperature for MY moderately strenuous activity is 76F.
Moderately strenuous activity for me is charging cells, white wall hunting, posting to BLF, etc.
Thanks,
-Chuck
Interesting. I guess 42 really is the answer to life, the universe, and moderately strenuous activity.
And I just figured it all out. O-L hates me and wants me dead, giving me the lathe is a shortcut to ending my life. I have it in place, but not bolted down. And am about ready to die……