@Donna Banfield
Could you expand on how the AB helps accommodate aging? I know the tail stock swing away is one. Are there others? I’m curious as I seem to be aging pretty quickly.
The tailstock swing-away doesn't just provide you with the ability to get it out of the way. It has a gas-assist that allows you to push it down with one finger...one aging, arthritic finger.
Having the ability to slide the headstock to the end of the lathe eliminates the need to rotate at your hip, and bend over sideways to perform any hollowing...of bowls, hollow forms, boxes, etc. This also covers having to sand the inside of all those as well. With the headstock at the very end of the lathe, everything can be done standing straight, with no bending over or twisting of the hips.
I may have shared the story on why/how I acquired by Robust American Beauty, but it's worth sharing here again. I had a hip replacement in 2020. 18 months later, I was experiencing loss of feeling down that leg, all the way into the foot. I thought something had gone wrong with the hip replacement, so a visit to the surgeon was made. I learned that anything that happens below the knee (loss of feeling, numbness) was related to the back. A scan found two herniated discs. Physical therapy did not resolve the issue, because I needed to continue to work (I do this full time). Every time I had to rotate at the waist, and bend over the lathe bed of my Oneway 2436, I aggravated the back. The numbness and loss of feeling had now migrated to the other leg. I was using a cane to walk. Cortisone injections - 2 - and very painful to endure - were only temporary solutions.
By the fall of 2022, I was scheduled to teach a workshop at Arrowmont, one that was cancelled from 2020, due to the pandemic. My husband was trying to convince me to cancel. I told him I would sleep on bags of ice to teach and I would not cancel that workshop. I boarded the plane in Boston using my cane. My studio assistant picked me up at the airport, and took responsibility for carrying all bags.
Arrowmont's wood studio had several Robust lathes, and the instructor's lathe was an American Beauty. With the swing-away tail stock being a breeze and being able to stand at the end of the lathe without having to twist and bend over for the entire week, I didn't aggravate the back at all. I still used ice and heat every night on my back and did my core exercises with the TheraBands every morning. At the end of the week, I boarded my plane home with the cane in my checked baggage. When Dave picked me up in Boston Friday night, I said, "We need to talk...."
The following Monday morning, I was on the phone with Brent English ordering my American Beauty. Note that top quality equipment holds its value. I sold my Oneway 2436, that I bought used in 2002 for only $200 less than what I paid for it, after 20 years of long and regular use by me.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is.
Absolutely worth the extra price! I have a Sweet 16, best machine I have ever owned. I have had it for almost three years now with ZERO problems. You will not regret purchasing one, I have talked and met with Brent personally many times and he is an expert in his field. And with your turning skill, it is well worth it.
