Turning 2 stone

["Bob Hackett" <kinfolk@zzzzzzz>]

Thanks for the reply Simon.

The handkerchief was stricktly a one off accident.One of those "WHOA"
moments,if you know what I mean.

I was using a borrowed saw that was running at high idle and had no
chainbrake(an older saw).I have a rather strange way of holding my
saws(chainbrake on,saw on it's side,handle to hip) when not using them and
by habit I was doing this with the borrowed saw.The chain was spinning fast
enough that when it contacted whatever is was it jumped from my hip and
slid,just allowing the chain to contact my pants.The chain sliced thru just
enough to pull the handkerchief from the cut at the bottom of my pocket and
wedged it between the gaurd and the chain stopping the saw.My buddy,after
checking for blood(there was none),smiled and said"nice trick,I didn't even
see you pull it from your sleeve".
Chaps and chainbrakes are now requirements for me.

When setting this lathe up,I'm assuming(I know it's bad but...)it's best
to set the axis of rotation of the diamond tooling 90 degrees to the axis of
the blank so as not to create side stress on the saw blade.Would using an
offset  or cup type grinding wheel have any advantage over a saw blade?On
larger pieces I was thinking about coring the center by drilling from edge
to center to form a cone and splitting this out.Any thoughts on this
approach?

For power I've got a DC motor with speed control running thru a 10:1
gearbox so the slower speed shouldn't be a problem.
I like the idea of air power for the blade because of the safety factor.If
I get too ambitious with my cuts it'll also just stall.

Is there anything else I need to think about?Anyone know of any sites
where I can see pics of machines like this in action?It's always nice to be
able to see what others have done for guards,controls,safety equipment,etc.

Mainely,Bob