Thanks ever so much Colin.
I would never have thought of using the lathe itself to grind cutting tools. Great idea but I shudder to think what a commotion it will make in my shop which is in a small back bedroom of the house. Maybe I'll wait until SWMBO is out of the house before I give it a try. I take it from your description that I should go very slowly and not over tax the motor of the lathe. Will I need to worry about the temper of the cutting tool? Or should that not be a problem with cutting aluminium and or brass with a HSS tool. I'm itching to give this a try now, Thanks!
I can already see the advantages of a quick change tool post as swapping out shims for the different cutting tools is becoming a bit of a chore. I also have one of those thin parting off tools on back order and I think it will do a much better job than the broad (3mm) one that comes in the pack of cutting tools.
Thanks for the encouraging words they mean a lot to me as I am slowly learning as I go along. I've never had any training on a lathe and the company that sold me mine doesn't have anything in the way of books/DVD's for metal lathes as they specialize in large wood turning machines. Are there any good books/DVD's relevant to the hobbyist on the market?
I must confess to getting a lot of pleasure out of working things out for myself but there are a lot of times that I feel I'm reinventing the wheel so to speak. I'm most concerned about the safe use of this little lathe. I waited 30 years to afford one and I sure don't want to blow it up doing anything foolish.
Most of all I'm having a great time with my little machine and wish I'd saved up for one years ago.
Thanks again,
Dan