leos.mike

Well, that's pretty much what I was thinking, not "Why bother casting the lathe" because building skills like this is just awesome. It was the much more specific "is the one, hardest, casting step (the bed) even necessary or can you get a working lathe easier by not casting that one oversized piece"? And yes, I read The Charcoal Foundry first.

Haven't made any of these steps, but did read the book about making the lathe. One thought I had during that read was "I wonder why there is an insistence on casting the bed instead of fabricating it?" Is there a reason my newb-brain doesn't understand yet for why casting with all this hassle and the custom flasks is easier than just making them out of steel c-channel (or something)?

This whole thread was a great and informative read. Thank you for starting it JLP, and thank you to all who contributed. There's a lot for a newbie to learn hidden in stories like these, I think.