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Happiness is........

Rob Wallace

Rob Wallace

Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
792
Likes
10
Location
Ames, Iowa (about 25 miles north of Des Moines)
Website
www.robwallacewoodturner.com
..... putting a check in the mail addressed to "Robust Tools LLC" for payment against an invoice for:

1 ea. American Beauty Lathe, standard bed
1 ea. 3 HP Option
1 ea. Tilt Away
1 ea. Gas Shock Assist
1 ea. Vacuum Adapter
1 ea. Ruler in Tailstock Quill

In about 6 to 8 weeks, I'll be making the, "Iowa to Wisconsin American Beauty Pickup Tour", and I doubt you'd be able to wipe the smile off of my face during the ride home!

I have waited a long time to press the "go" button with Brent..... ....the wheels (bearings, belts, centers, tailstock, etc.) are now in motion!

My, what a fine day it is!! 😀

Rob Wallace
 
Rob's New AB

Congratulations Rob.

Will you be able to sleep for the next 6 to 8 weeks?

Personally, waiting drives me crazy so I hope you are not afflicted with chronic sleep depravation as I am on occasion.

Wonderful decision and indeed a fine day. Kudos.

Regards,
Doug Olsen
 
Rob Wallace said:
..... putting a check in the mail addressed to "Robust Tools LLC" ..... My, what a fine day it is!! 😀
Click to expand...

The pain of writing the check will soon be soothed by the joy of one fine machine.

Brent brought his entire line to SWAT last weekend and I really like the looks of his redesigned American Beauty. The headstock was redesigned to accommodate the larger frame size of the new higher efficiency motors and something that I really liked about that is the motor pulley is now much closer to the face of the motor which reduces the overhung load. The motor position adjustment for tensioning the belt is also much nicer in my opinion. The drive now uses two pulley ranges as opposed to three in earlier models. The speed ranges are 50 - 1500 and 100 - 3000. The new motors are able to run over base speed so they are set to run up to about 20% over base if I remember correctly what Brent told me. Because of the redesigned headstock, the handwheel had to be made smaller to eliminate a potential pinch point between it and the motor housing.

At the other end, the tilt-away mechanism has been redesigned to make things more enclosed and lessen the chance of pinching something or trapping shavings between moving parts. The new design appears more compact.

If I had not already purchased a Robust AB last year, I would have plunked down the cash for one this year after seeing all of the nice new design changes. This year, I bought an outboard tool rest for my AB as well as a Robust steady rest. I also picked up a couple more tool rests.

I also bought a Steve Sinner hollowing rig and as luck would have it, I won a Lyle Jamieson hollowing rig in the tool drawing on Sunday. The Jamieson hollower is nice, but I didn't need two hollowing rigs so I sold it to a fellow club member.
 
What, no optional tool caddy? It never pays to go cheap.

Congratulations and hope you enjoy your lathe for many years to come.
 
Alan Trout said:
Rob,

I picked up my happiness at SWAT. American Beauty, long bed, 3hp motor, tilt away, vacuum adapter, and several tool rest. I can promise you will be happy. 😀

Alan
Click to expand...

Brent told me before SWAT that you would be taking delivery on one of them. I think that he had at least three American Beauty lathes there as well as one of each of the other lathes that he offers. I saw some of your work in the instant gallery -- very nice.
 
Steve Worcester said:
you will be real happy with it. Mine has been a dream. Did I mention I am a Robust dealer ?:cool2::cool2::cool2:
Click to expand...

Steve, I've been meaning to ask ... by any chance would you happen to know who might be a Robust dealer in the DFW area? 😀 I seem to recall that is some guy who sells sandpaper, but I can't quite recall the name.
 
Rob,
I'm thinking your shop would be a good place to hold our November Ames Woodturners group meeting. Hint Hint nudge nudge

Congratulations, I know you've had your eye on the American Beauty for quite some time.
 
Congratulations Rob on ordering a new toy as you can see here in the postings you have many envious turners including me, but I can dream about it.
I see in your profile that you are a Ham Operator just like myself (40 years). I
quite often wonder how many turners are involved with this great hobby, I have only ran across two others. I used to work a fellow in Des Moines, we exchanged rtty art pictures. Hope you have lots of fun with your new toy, now
the waiting game but it wll no doubt come around sooner than you think...
Good Luck....
 
BTW, Rob, my older Robust has a swing of about 25⅜" and the latest version is a mere 25 inches. I'll trade you even because you're a nice guy and then you won't have to wait for another month or so. Just remember, ⅜" make a world of difference. 😀
 
Bruce Smith said:
... I see in your profile that you are a Ham Operator just like myself (40 years). I
quite often wonder how many turners are involved with this great hobby, I have only ran across two others. I used to work a fellow in Des Moines, we exchanged rtty art pictures...
Click to expand...

I've been a ham for 45 years. I know quite a few turners who are also hams.
 
73 from Rob, WA0RW, Ames, Iowa - "CQ Woodturners..."

Thanks again for all of your comments. I have been a ham radio operator for the past 35 years, and enjoy the technical/electronic side of that hobby as much as the 'meeting people' part. It has enabled me to learn a lot of electronics and engineering principles by osmosis, and with having to troubleshoot equipment, take license exams on electronic and radio theory (which is well-outside my training as a botanist/biologist), and basically to just get the job at hand done, amateur radio has really served me well over those years. It also provided me the experience necessary to become the station engineer of my college FM radio station (WCLH, Wilkes-Barre, PA) from 1978 to 1981, and enabled me to earn an FCC second class radiotelephone license. Hamming is just great!

NEW LATHE UPDATE: I was contacted by Brent English yesterday, and I discovered that it will be possible for me to drive to Barneveld, WI and pick up my new American Beauty on September 27th. (A few weeks earlier than expected!!) I am so excited about getting the new American Beauty, and it is hard trying to stay focused on the other things I need to do at work and at home! Christmas comes early this year!

The many positive comments you have provided here, on Facebook, and in private messages have convinced me that I really have made the right decision to "Go Robust" ......early and often whenever possible! Thanks again for the encouragement and endorsement of an excellent machine.

Have a GREAT day!

Rob
 
Bill Boehme said:
Steve, I've been meaning to ask ... by any chance would you happen to know who might be a Robust dealer in the DFW area? 😀 I seem to recall that is some guy who sells sandpaper, but I can't quite recall the name.
Click to expand...

I have a 3HP American Beauty, same as Robs, but long bed. I'm in Plano if you want to come by and give it a test drive.
 
It would only make me feel envious that my Robust is only a mere 2 HP and regular bed length. 😀

Actually, if I ever get into turning really deep hollow forms of the size that Steve Sinner does then I might feel the need for a second Robust with the extended bed and bigger motor. In that case, I guess that my current Robust will become a pen, finial, and bottle stopper turning lathe. Before that I would need to expand my shop. sigh... all the problems this hobby has caused me. 🙂
 
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