Phil (00:11.616) Hello, everybody. My name's Phil. the host of the shop notes podcast. That's what we're getting started today. And I'm joined by Logan and John. Logan's the editor of popular woodworking magazine. John Doyle is a man of many talents, most notably a project designer at woodsmith and shop notes magazine. Thanks for listening everybody. Today's episode, we're going to address a few readers comments, check back in on a
desk project update with Logan and also the siren call of large cast iron vintage machinery. You want to make sure that you stick around for that. In addition to our sponsors, the podcast is brought to you by the folk who subscribe to Woodsmith, Shop Notes, and Popular Woodworking, as well as our membership offerings. And we...
want to say thank you. Also want to say thanks to this month's sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Harvey Industries. Good enough is not good enough. See all of our new tools at harveywoodworking.com.
Logan (01:28.177) Can you imagine some poor chump walking into this ****show and this is the first episode that they hear from us? And they just wonder how, like, how are these fools on episode 200 and some?
Phil (01:41.514) Right. Because we're, this is going to be episode 223.
In just a few episodes, we can do a special guest on episode number 227. We'll bring in Marla Gibbs, a couple other folk from that TV show, sitcom, talk about woodworking and living in Philadelphia, I think is where that was filmed.
Phil (04:02.932) not everybody's gonna get that one
John Doyle (04:05.385) I think I missed it. Which show are you talking about?
Logan (04:07.024) Yeah.
Phil (04:07.116) You don't remember the show 227?
John Doyle (04:12.041) Sounds familiar, but I don't remember.
Phil (04:14.548) Yeah, it was, when was it? 1985, five seasons. Marla Gibbs, Jackie Harry, Hal Williams, Regina King, Curtis Baldwin, Helen Martin.
John Doyle (04:30.844) that one catch up on nick at night or something.
Phil (04:38.346) All right. Down to business. No more screwing around. some comments from last week's episode. Walter Riggs was appreciative of answering the question about pre-finishing. puppy doc poking the bear here says, so just an observation. Logan's desk is complete in less than a month.
How long has the wife's office been under construction? I only bring it up because I'm envious of Logan's desk. The one picture I've seen is stunning and well, my projects always seem to take me much longer. Speaking of unfinished projects, I still haven't finished my workbench. It has become a cluttered flat surface. I may need to clean the shop again.
Logan (05:30.543) Yep. Listen here, Bob. Lay off my wife's office.
Phil (05:33.194) Ha ha!
John Doyle (05:34.065) Mm-hmm.
It's all about motivation.
Logan (05:43.857) As I said, and I might as just said this in the studio, as I said, building the shop, we knew that I was gonna have an office out here. So we knew the built-in arrangement in the office was going to change. So as the epitome of efficiency that I am, I'm not gonna make extra doors and drawers if I don't have to.
Phil (06:03.883) Right.
Logan (06:08.569) So we're waiting for the final configuration to work itself out before they get made. Although I just used that maple to build drawer boxes for my desk.
John Doyle (06:24.675) as the head of the Department of Drawer Efficiency. DODE, I believe they're calling it.
Logan (06:28.741) Yeah.
I think it's abbreviation, yeah.
Phil (06:32.128) Yeah, yeah, yeah.
John Doyle (06:35.161) You don't want to remake drawers. That sounds terrible.
Phil (06:40.15) Yeah. Sean Allard says adding building, adding building insulation between the cold and the pipe and remove insulation between the heated space and the pipe. Don't remove the pipe insulation. Good luck fixing your problem.
Logan (07:00.997) There is no insulation between the heated and the pipes. It is just, no, it's just bat. it's pipes up against the T111, then insulation and then exterior steel. My concern is maybe, maybe it's not a lack of, you maybe not a insulation gap per se.
Phil (07:05.207) there isn't. Okay.
Phil (07:28.246) Okay.
Logan (07:30.427) But I'm wondering because this is a post frame building, there are six by six column or posts in the wall and those pipes go through two three of those. My concern is that that six by six pipe or post, I mean, it's called thermal bridging where there is no insulation value in that post.
I'm wondering if that 6x6 area where the pipe is embedded on the worm side, if that isn't allowing it to freeze, I don't know. We're gonna tear into the steel and see. But that's not a problem for right now. The problem for right now is finishing this desk and then, as Bob pointed out, finishing my wife's drawers and doors.
Phil (08:17.612) Put it on the pile, Sean. Put it on the pile. Right. Yeah. That's the bet. That's the worst part is that last week when we were recording, was like negative 43 degrees outside here practically, although it had started to warm up. But this week, I think what are we looking at for the temperature currently? 59. Yeah. So it's one of those things where when it's warm enough, we don't think of that.
Logan (08:19.397) Yep.
John Doyle (08:19.555) Let's list a project for next November or December.
John Doyle (08:40.887) 50s, 60s.
Phil (08:48.234) It just doesn't matter.
John Doyle (08:51.276) You don't worry about the snowblower until the first snow.
Phil (08:51.692) So.
Right. Then you're like, when did I change the oil on that thing? I don't, don't remember.
Logan (08:54.795) Yep.
Why do you think I was out buying hydraulic fittings the night before a snowstorm?
Phil (09:03.692) you
Daniel L says he got the Harbor freight one ton crane for exactly the reason that he wanted nothing to do with lifting 125 pound butcher block countertops, which goes back to Walter's earlier, torn tendon problem from last week. So.
Logan (09:24.813) Ugh, yeah.
I forgot about that.
Phil (09:32.812) Puppy Doc with one last one regarding taping to prefinish. I think that with time and experience the taping might become quite fast. I've watched professional painters mask off very quickly and have impressive end results.
I would concur. think the more you do something, obviously, the better and faster you're going to get at it. I think not only in the technique of it, but learning where exactly you need to tape off, you know, like what's truly important to mask on stuff like that. You had mentioned last week about using backer rod for plugging mortises or grooves or something like that.
Logan (10:09.713) Mm-hmm.
Phil (10:14.29) And then worrying about whether shellac would dissolve it. And I don't think the alcohol dissolves it. think that's pretty stable. I've, I've tried it. I've tried it with the spray lacquer that we have here. Backing backer rod on a couple of things and the acetone in the lacquer thinner just eats through that like alien goo through flesh. It's.
Logan (10:20.613) Yeah, I don't, yeah, I would think so, but I do know.
Logan (10:42.659) Yeah. The only reason I was concerned about it is I'm using the little grippy pads. mean, it's the same black stuff we have on the set for like sanding and stuff. And I had that spread over my sanding table here in the shop. And if you drip shellac on it, she melts right down to the countertop. Yeah. yeah. yeah. It's nasty.
Phil (10:54.57) Yeah.
Phil (11:02.826) really? Okay.
Yeah, I.
early on in my career here at woodsmith, I was making photo props and I needed to put finish on a, on a prop. And I thought I would just use shellac just cause it would, we had some already mixed up. Thought it would just go on real quick, give me a little bit of color, little nice tone, dry fast, and I can get it into the studio right away. So I grabbed a foam brush from the cabinet.
dip started brushing it out was working along pretty well. And then all of a sudden I'm like, what the heck are all these little black marks in the finish? So I looked in the shellac and didn't really see anything. And then looked at the foam brush as I slowly saw it just kind of like shrivel up like a, like a raisin on a windowsill. was, and then I noticed written on the handle of the foam brush, not to use it with shellac or lacquer.
Logan (11:56.251) Shrinking, yep.
Logan (12:00.154) Yep.
Phil (12:13.312) Lessons learned. Lessons learned.
Phil (12:20.278) So speaking of your desk, you were talking to Logan about last week about the keyboard tray drawer on what you were going to do with it. But you actually have, you've actually done and gone done it.
Logan (12:24.112) Yeah.
Logan (12:39.163) Boom. So this bad boy is butler hinges, recessed in, fold up.
Phil (12:46.38) All right.
Logan (12:49.553) and gives me a false front, but it also, boom, drops straight down so that you can access your keyboard. So yeah, it worked out exactly as I planned. That part of it, the keyboard tray slides I bought are janky and those are not working out as I planned. There are no adjustments on them. So I'm finagling some stuff to get it to sit how I want it to sit.
Phil (13:17.268) Yeah. How did you do the mortises for the Butler hinges?
Logan (13:22.203) shape or origin.
Phil (13:26.284) All right. Just because.
Logan (13:26.905) Yep, because I just grabbed, I grabbed some calipers, measured it, drew it, had it onto Origin and used the Shaper Plate. Start to finish from like, hey, next step is to do mortises, the mortises done 20 minutes. No issues, perfect fit.
Phil (13:42.944) Okay.
Logan (13:47.313) So, yep. It would have been even faster if I would have bought nice hinges. I bought the Amazon hinges because, so let's be very clear. When I build something for the magazine with my own lumber, I'm expensing the lumber because that's lumber that I could have sold and you know, whatever.
Phil (13:59.34) okay.
Logan (14:13.681) But like the other stuff is stuff that you know I end up paying for and I don't expense through work expenses like slides and Hardware and finish and all that stuff, right? It's just my kind of way of trying to be fair that you know I'm keeping the desk so you know I'll cover a portion of the cost so instead of buying nice like brusso or Horton hinges which are 55 60 bucks a pair
I did buy those for my door, but I bought these off of Amazon. It was two pairs, so four hinges. I think it was $13. They're actually really heavily built hinges. Like I'm super impressed with them. But if they would have been brusso hinges, Shaper Origin has a brusso hardware catalog in it. So I could have just selected my hinge and it would have automatically loaded the mortise into the machine.
Phil (14:59.349) Okay.
Phil (15:12.17) Right, which is what I was going to ask about is whether you could just download the file for it.
Logan (15:19.545) Yep, on, on Bruso you can. maybe Bruso and Horton. I know they have a big hardware catalog. Not the Amazon basics ones. They do not have those. Not yet. Yeah. I know. I know I could throw that on shape or hub, but yeah, it was, it was perfect. So, and I've been,
Phil (15:30.314) Not yet, just gotta upload your file.
Phil (15:40.737) Okay.
Lovely.
Logan (15:46.385) I've actually, so I've done a combination of padding and spraying shellac on this project. I have decided I much prefer spraying shellac than padding it, but padding it works really well for small parts. So like all of my drawer fronts, last night I oiled them. This morning I was shellacking them and you know, for, for...
Phil (15:51.391) Okay.
Logan (16:15.537) three false fronts, I'm not gonna get the spray gun out and go outside and spray them. So I just grabbed my pad and started padding it on, maybe did five coats to get a half decent sheen. And drawer fronts aren't super heavy wear items. So I do much prefer the spray versus the pad.
Phil (16:40.812) All right. Cool.
Phil (16:48.33) All right, John, last few days we've been working on the game table, getting it ready for its next stage of filming. And it's interesting how some TV show episodes, the project can get built relatively quickly and we can move along efficiently and speedily. And some projects like the game table.
are just big with lots of parts and having to get stuff to fit. And we're also hoping to have this look its best for the final presentation, probably with at least a coat of finish on it. So you and I have been going around filling blemishes and gaps and
John Doyle (17:20.662) Mm-hmm.
John Doyle (17:26.346) Yes.
Phil (17:45.356) personality marks on here.
John Doyle (17:49.525) Yeah, I feel like I knew this project was going to be one of those projects, even though, I mean, you look at it's bigger, but it doesn't have like a lot of different parts. It doesn't have like doors and drawers and stuff that you have to fit. just knowing that it had miters and dovetailed legs and there was going to be some fitting and fiddling there, I knew this was going to be one of those that kind of drug on over a couple of weeks.
Phil (17:49.612) So.
Logan (18:18.073) Who chose this one for the episode? Geez.
Phil (18:21.29) Hahaha!
John Doyle (18:21.854) Right.
John Doyle (18:25.779) I feel like this one was picked because someone wanted the game table. Yeah, the actual table. It's like I just want that project, though. No.
Logan (18:29.961) the table. I think so. And are they are they doing any of the work? No.
Phil (18:37.29) No.
John Doyle (18:39.955) never works out that way.
Phil (18:41.92) Right. It's also interesting to me how we, we talked about this last episode with some of the construction steps on it and some of the construction challenges that there are. But what's also interesting is when we, you know, I want to get to the point for my section of it, where there's little drop in inserts that create a flush surface to make it like a dining table, which is a cool feature of this project.
John Doyle (19:03.061) Okay.
Phil (19:12.032) However, in order to get there, I kind of wanted it in a near finished state so that it would help us size those panels that drop in.
Phil (19:26.988) And it's one of those things where now all of a sudden you're going through with a fine tooth comb, making sure like all four legs are flush with the table frame. You know, all the joints, you know, if there's little tiny gaps, like we put some filler in those and all the little cracks and bark inclusions and some miter tear out.
you know, filling those, sanding it. And then you realize there's a lot of surface area on this thing. So that when you start sanding it, even with a power sander, it's, you know, and I'm trying, yeah. And I'm trying to.
Logan (20:04.997) All those wrinkles add up.
Phil (20:11.902) sand it in a way where the surfaces that aren't seen get to 120 so that they're cleaned up but they're not super pretty. Everything else I'm going up to 180 and then it's like I'm sanding to 180 and then it's like now I gotta go back through and like take a sanding block and break all the edges just so that it's not super sharp for when we put a finish on it or like at the bottom of legs so that they don't chip out when you
when it gets drug across the floor and all of that kind of stuff. it's all the little tiny checklist punch list items on there that I thought were kind of interesting to see how they kind of add up.
John Doyle (20:58.417) The other thing is with these bigger projects, always gives us, I don't know if you're the same way, but a lot of time to critique the design and maybe a way you would have done it differently. We're coming up on the panels that go over the top to cover the game section. And there's four panels that are approximately two feet by three feet. And it's like, maybe I would have done it in just
Phil (21:08.491) Ha ha!
Logan (21:12.077) yeah.
John Doyle (21:27.024) two or one panel. And I know the smaller the panel, easier they are to take out. then you get them in there and you want to use the tabletop service, then you just have more cracks to try to, seams to try to even out or stuff for the crumbs to fall down into. it's like, what's the cost benefit of small panels versus big panels?
Phil (21:42.24) Mm-hmm.
Phil (21:48.3) Spilled Kool-Aid.
John Doyle (21:54.746) You know, how would you do it differently if it were your project and that kind of thing? There's also times when we critique away as something is done, we do it our own way, and then we get to the point like, that's why they did it that way. We screwed it up. Our bad.
Phil (21:59.082) Right. Yeah. Well.
Logan (22:07.876) That's it
you
Phil (22:14.656) Well, one change that I made on the fly here is for those panels, it's an MDF core, hardwood edging, and then veneer on both faces. So we have the veneer sitting out here relaxing because it comes all rolled up. In the plans, the hardwood edging that goes on those MDF panels is like
Essentially three quarter by three quarter and in the plans, they're mitered around the outside of the frame and that.
To me, it's just nonsense. Like, why does that need to be mitered? Yeah.
Logan (22:58.843) Shenanigans! Especially since it gets- it was gonna get veneer over top of the edging.
Phil (23:04.171) Yeah.
John Doyle (23:04.567) Yeah.
feel like that works out well if you can nail it on the first try, but any trimming or fitting you'd have to do, it's going to mess up that miter joint and it's going to start showing the ends or the flats if you trim one edge and then, or know, unevenly. So you'd just be fighting it the whole time.
Phil (23:23.093) Yeah.
Phil (23:29.324) So John and I, when we were working on those, decided that we were just going to just run it square. Choose, I think we chose the outside edges to be continuous. And then what ends up being the long edges on that are caught, or are trapped between them. Which I think offers a good enough look.
And let's be honest, who's going to be looking at the edges of those inserted panels anyway? I just feel like turning those into miters is a needless complication.
Phil (24:10.934) fully admitting the fact that I do not like doing miters. Like at all.
Phil (24:19.104) So anyway, speaking of which on the corners of the table, Chris was fine tuning the miters to fit together with the loose tenons and using the block plane and kind of killed it on the fit. However, in the planing part of it, got some chip out on the backside. So I think we decided that we're going to just buzz a quick chamfer on each of those corners.
which is also gonna make it a little bit more toddler friendly.
Logan (24:52.589) Yep, knock off the sharp head bonkers.
Phil (24:56.362) Yeah. Although to be honest, it's like a rite of passage. You get a couple of goose eggs on there. Like that just prepares you for the bumps and sharp corners of life.
Logan (25:02.721) yeah.
Logan (25:06.341) Yep.
Logan (25:11.535) Yeah, if you've never had skin pinched together to stop bleeding, you didn't have a childhood.
Phil (25:16.897) Yeah.
Phil (25:20.32) Although to be fair today was not a good day for me in the shop. was working on that table and was cleaning up one of the long aprons and I came back just rubbing down with my hand. caught a splinter on my finger and it went in like a solid five sixteenths of an inch. If not, it felt like much longer than that, but I don't want to be too.
Logan (25:43.345) Thanks.
Phil (25:48.8) melodramatic on it, but I saw it and it was like, wow, that really hurts. And then I pulled it out and it was like, kept coming.
Logan (25:54.49) Yep.
John Doyle (25:59.904) Luckily, the end of a nerve stopped it from going any further.
Phil (26:02.86) And then I was, we have a shop made sanding block here that I was.
remaking a section on it so that it could better hold on to the sheet of sandpaper. So I was knifing a line and as I was knifing it holding on, it caught the tip of my thumb. So I shaved off like a little of the end of my thumb. Not only like where you get the like just enough of the dead skin and then for it to just kind of just seep out the blood, not really any kind of
It's just Mondays, am I right?
Logan (26:44.635) Yep.
Phil (26:49.462) So all that to say is I think it's going to be really cool project. I think the walnut is gonna look really cool once we put finish on it.
what I'd like to do and I, what I'd like to do is I'm almost done sanding it now. I want to finish sanding basically the top surface and the inside surface. And then hopefully by the end of today, put a coat of oil on the base of it, and then do a B roll of putting oil on the top frame.
tomorrow that we can have just kind of that tada of going from the chalky dusty walnut to with the oil bringing out more of those.
richer tones that you'll see in air dried walnut. So that's the plan.
Phil (30:25.804) Tomorrow I'll also start filming an online learning course on building a dining room table that was recently featured in Woodsmith Magazine. So we'll talk about making a oak trestle dining table and a bench that goes with it. So.
be able to dive into more details and what we can on the TV show and cover a lot more of the steps than what's possible with 24 minutes and 46 seconds. So that's what we're going on there.
busy day or busy week this week filming.
Phil (31:14.86) All right, the last thing that I wanted to talk about on today's episode is Logan has been in the market for a metal lathe for a while.
Logan (31:27.712) Yeah, yeah.
Phil (31:31.488) Partially because he has a self-bend lathe stand that just needs a buddy.
But also because last year when we were at Grizzly and saw the personal shop of Shiraz Belolia, the founder, Shiraz could do many marvelous things with that metal lathe. It was kind of fun to watch.
Logan (32:04.286) Yeah, I mean, okay.
Logan (32:08.958) I also, I have the vertical mill. It's not set up. It's not ready to run, but like, oh yeah, like, I mean, it could, if I just put a VFD on it, it'd run no problem. But I feel like, I feel like I need to wait till I have a metal lathe here to do that because then that's when it really starts to make sense. But like, I've always had an interest in like, actually today, sitting out there, I was carrying a couple things from the basement shop out here.
Phil (32:15.828) Almost though.
Logan (32:38.976) and I opened up a little sheet metal toolbox I had to make in high school and inside there was all my metal working projects from metals one and metals two, which was kind of fun. But yeah, I mean, like I've always had an interest in a metal lathe, but it's never really, as far as like, I don't need one. But now I'm like, you know would be really cool? It'd be like turn some brass knobs or.
Phil (32:50.153) Okay.
Logan (33:07.072) be really cool to be able to, I don't know, just make parts, make stupid stuff, you know?
and it's like, I'm gonna find uses for it. It's like the stupid 3D printer that I bought for no reason. Okay? Like there's a Wolverine mask behind me. There's Deadpool mask behind me. Like, yeah, those are stupid, but one of the best things that I've done, check these out.
Phil (33:23.98) Hahaha!
Logan (33:38.508) That is a two millimeter shim that I've been, I printed out a bunch of those and these are like, I've printed five, four, three, two and one millimeter shims. Now I have a batch of them. Spacers for like doing drawer fronts and stuff. Like just stupid crap that it's like, okay, could I run the place of hardwood through the planer and get it down semi-close? Yeah, probably. But would it say, would it say two millimeters? No. And now,
Phil (33:50.219) Okay.
Phil (34:03.365) Semi-close.
Logan (34:07.508) I have a little tin that all my shims go in.
Phil (34:12.076) Alright.
Logan (34:13.27) So all this is to say...
Phil (34:14.72) Best of all with your metalworking skills is you could do like sheet metal break and make your own little tin to put all your shims in.
Logan (34:21.996) made a break yet. So I have been keeping an eye out for a metal working lathe.
Logan (34:37.3) You find that working lays in three conditions, okay? Used. One of them, the USS Arizona was using for an anchor and probably still should be using for an anchor. Like far more work than they need to be.
Phil (34:52.685) you
Logan (34:57.356) You find ones that look usable, but they're not very pretty. Like a guy's still using it in his machine shop, but he upgraded to a new lathe and it needs a little love. Doesn't need, you know, it's not a boat anchor, but it needs a little love. And those are reasonably priced usually. And then you find the ones where guys have tore them apart. They have refurbished them. They put new...
belts in them, they put new pulleys in them, they painted them, and they are beautiful. And they are asking, yes, and they are asking a princess price on them. Like they are very expensive. So I have contacted a few people on some lathe's. I have yet to find one. And I'm willing to drive a couple hours for one. However, I haven't told you guys this yet.
Phil (35:30.604) Kind of a shop princess.
Logan (35:52.922) you gotta, you gotta email this weekend from, Mr. Aaron Rogers that I have his jointer and
Phil (36:04.884) and he's not moving it back from New York.
Logan (36:06.18) Uh-uh, uh-uh. And I talked to him. So if you remember where we left this story off, he did not have the money to buy the head from me, but he wanted to the lathe for, or the jointer for the lathe. I was gonna contact the seller gentleman, see if he wanted to buy the head. In the meantime, I have, and the gentleman in Colorado is interested in the head.
However, my discussion with Mr. Aaron Rogers this weekend is that he does indeed want to buy the head for the same price that I was gonna sell it to the other guy for. So I will be taking his, he has a South Bend Heavy 9 lathe.
So it's a nine inch swing, three foot bed. I will be taking that on trade for this jointer and he will be paying me for the head.
Phil (37:03.788) okay.
Logan (37:04.444) So, so everything seems to be working out. We have agreed that the swap will happen in May because he has to get all this machinery out of this trailer and April's probably gonna be pretty rainy. So, so long story short, I may have a lathe.
Phil (37:27.656) Okay, so are you going to have to, are you guys going to meet like on one of the covered bridges in Madison County, like on each end and like he sends across the lathe and then you send across the joiner?
Logan (37:40.0) Maybe. That may, maybe what happens.
Phil (37:45.676) All
Logan (37:45.974) So.
Now, I think where you were going with this was maybe the picture I sent to you guys yesterday afternoon.
Phil (37:55.782) Yes, that's where I was going for, because you have a stand, a self-bent stand that is approximately the size of a desk for a nice kind of bench top, what I would say accessible, capable metalworking lathe. But then we get a photo yesterday on our group chat that of a lathe.
Logan (38:05.845) Yeah.
Logan (38:14.602) Yes.
Phil (38:26.422) that would not fit on that stand at all.
Logan (38:28.562) Well, okay, just to be clear, the lathe I sent a picture of yesterday is a woodworking lathe. It is a pattern maker's lathe. So it is a pattern maker's lathe, okay? It is an Oliver pattern maker's lathe. I have an Oliver pattern maker's lathe. This is a big one though. Like this one, so this is an Oliver 60.
Phil (38:38.3) that's right, yeah.
Logan (38:56.044) Six. Okay. This thing was made in the 20s. It has a five horse on it. And it is something I have never seen in a vintage lathe. I've seen it in modern modern lathes. There's a couple of them that make it, but it's what's called a sliding gap bed lathe. So this Oliver 66 will swing a 30 inch piece of material above the bed.
The bed, the entire lathe is 11 foot long. Between centers it's six foot. But the entire bed will slide out and then you can swing like 48 or 50 inches inside of the gap.
Phil (39:26.368) Okay.
Phil (39:43.548) jeez.
Logan (39:45.801) and with the bed fully extended, you can swing eight foot between centers.
Logan (39:55.812) I, when I saw it and I said this and I don't think, don't know if you guys thought I was joking or not, my heart started to beat. I'm like, my God. Like.
Phil (40:06.112) Hahaha!
Logan (40:08.073) and I kinda started to have a panic attack, like, I don't need this, I don't need this, I don't need it. It's in Ohio, so it'd be a 10 hour drive. The equipment dealer that has it, I believe has had it for several years because the same photo of this Oliver lathe has been shared in many groups and everyone's like gushing over this thing.
and the original owner is like, yeah, this dealer in Ohio has it now when I sold my business, he bought it and he still has it. So it's like, it's been at least two or three years that this guy's had this. It's not cheap. It's the guy's asking $6,000 for it, which.
in the world of lathes isn't awful. You know, can buy a Grizzly Lathes for three grand. You can buy a Vicmark for eight grand. You can buy a Robust for 10,000. So like, it's not, it's in the ballpark of new lathes. This is not a new lathe. This lathe is also 6,000 pounds. So like,
I'm gonna tell you my immediate train of thought was, okay, 11 foot long, I can fit that below the window in here. Pretty easily, I think.
I can get 4500 for my Vic mark so I'm immediately like justifying how I could buy this stupid thing. I just don't I just I would love it. It would be beautiful. But I'm thinking it would be.
Logan (41:47.158) Beautiful and lovely if I didn't have a full-time job I'm doing other stuff for and I could just dedicate my time to turning really big stuff Like I think that's the type of laid that you would set up to do, you know four foot tall hollow vessels like big huge vases Like I think that's the type of thing that you set that laid up for
Phil (42:04.115) geez. Okay, yeah.
Logan (42:12.223) I have not messaged the guy on.
friend requested him but I did not message him.
Logan (42:24.104) It just...
I'll send a picture to Phil to put on the show notes page. It just, made my heart throb. And it's very rare that a machine does that to me like that.
John Doyle (42:40.019) So somebody listening, please buy it so Logan doesn't have to. Save Logan from himself.
Logan (42:48.286) It is beautiful. It has a compound on it, so it does look like a metalworking lathe. The lathe is so big that the tailstock has its own crank to move it. So instead of just loosening a lever and pushing it, there's an actual crank to move the tailstock.
Phil (43:12.267) Okay.
Partially because the tailstock weighs 600 pounds all on its own.
Logan (43:18.764) you're probably not far off. Now, I don't know how many of these lathes are floating around in the US. So Oliver made these in Michigan, Well, yeah, hope not. mean, a bed of mercury. These were sold to pattern shops, as a lot of the sweet vintage woodworking machinery was.
Phil (43:32.704) I mean at six thousand pounds I would hope none of them are really floating.
Logan (43:49.763) And there used to be pattern shops all over. So I have to assume there's some floating around. I've seen bits and bobs of people getting one that was used as a boat anchor and it was just absolutely rusted out and they restored it and stuff. And I they turn out beautiful. This one has been basically in service since the day it came off the Oliver production line. So, you know, it's like...
Question is will I ever see one for sale again?
Logan (44:23.05) And then the deeper question for myself is do I really need it? I don't think I do. I think I use my Oliver pattern maker lathe here until I get to a point where I can't do it. I'm limited by the size of that lathe. And then it's like, okay.
Logan (44:44.501) It is beautiful though.
Just seeing it on this guy's flatbed trailer, it's huge.
Phil (44:58.518) Maybe for this portion of the podcast, our editor can put in some kind of like dreamy background music that goes with this. Just to...
Logan (45:06.06) Yeah.
Phil (45:12.288) All right. The saga of Logan's shop continues. And it's just really a cautionary tale for all of us that your workshop is never really done. There's always something else that goes with it. So, I think that wraps up another episode of the shop notes podcast. We would love to hear your questions, comments, and smart remarks. You can send those in an email, woodsmith at woodsmith.com or
You can put it as a comment on our YouTube channel where you can see the podcast as it happens in all of its stunning, stunning glory. Technicolor, I believe, is what it is. Filmed in Panavision. There you go. Thanks for listening, everybody. We'll see you next week. Bye.
