Addicted to Lathe

I cannot help myself, I really can’t. I am addicted pure and simple. I spend a lot of my time at work searching for solutions for people with disabilities. I especially search for pieces of assistive technology which well help folks with disabilities live more independently. I have found one of the best places to find assistive technology in on the local NBC affiliate, KSL web page KSL.com. Usually on Monday mornings if I have the time I look for wheelchair lift vans, power chairs, manual wheelchairs, catheters and wood lathes Yes I know lathes are a far reach to be included as assistive tech and they aren’t but I figure since I am in the neighborhood why not see if there is anything new?

I frankly, am amaze at how many lathes and other pieces of wood working equipment list listed on this web page. Last wee I was doing a fast looksee on KSL.com and there was lathe, Craftsman very similar to the lathe I gave to my brother., the lathe on the website is an older Craftsman but say works fine. The best part was the parry was asking $75.00 !! $75.00 for a working lathe is almost nothing!! I mulled the idea of getting another lathe over in my mind, which I found hard to justify especially with having ort of a perfectly good lathe in the garage. I cannot get to this lathe right now and the machine needs some work on it before I use it again, anyway, I placed the call on Wednesday morning and committed to go out today and check the lathe out.

So this morning looked good. I called Glenn, the guy who had the lathe, and he stilt had the piece. There was a question as if he would have the lathe available. Another person had called on the lathe before me—a couple of weeks before -- and Glen had not heard back from him and he said the lathe was still on the market. I told him I would be over to check it out and if the lathe checked out I would seal the deal. Alright! This was when things started to go .weird. I went out to the van, transferred into the driver’s seat and turned the key and somehow the key bent! The key came out in `my hand and the end of the key was bent at almost a ninety degree angle! I could not believe I just sat there looking at the key. I called Dianne and came out to the van and she took the key amd tried to straightened it. I figured this was going to be an “iffy” endeavor at best. The key broke which I sort of expected.

Well I knew I was not going anywhere until I got at least another key so I dismounted and returned to the house and we did not have a spare. Dianne did some quick calling round and found GMC dealership just a few blocks a way was open and would cut the key for me. So I took the broken key, the title to the vehicle and the title zoomed up to the dealership in my power chair. Thirty minutes and 40.00 dollars later and three keys later I was on the road to West Valley City Utah to look at the lathe. Oh yeah I neglected to tell that somehow when I had mounted my van. I pulled the pendant out of the lift. The pendant is the electrical device which allows me to operate the lift, independently, from inside of the vehicle independently. The exterior switches still operated perfectly an I figured I could get Glenn to open the lift up for me when I got to his residence but have to confess I was beginning this was not the day for me to be around machinery It seemed as if everything I was touching I was destroying… to be continued.