Oh boy, here we go (bought my first lathe)...

Lost Woodsman

New member
Been wanting to give call making a try for a few years now, but never pursued the purchase of a lathe or anything. Yesterday morning I was browsing Craigslist on a whim and came across a Rikon 70-100 for sale. It appeared to be practically brand new, came with a homemade stand and a 5 piece set of like new turning tools from Woodcraft ($194 brand new). All for $250. I discussed it with the powers that be (my accountant wife) and she gave me the go ahead. So after an e-mail discussion, my wife and I headed over to the guy's house to look at the lathe.

Turns out the gentleman and his wife are an older couple and going to be moving into a retirement home soon. So the guy is selling off a bunch of stuff he said. He took me out into his garage to see the lathe and his entire two car garage was one nice woodworking shop. And all of it has to be sold he said. He asked me what I was going to use the lathe for and I told him to make some game calls. He said "Oh, you're a hunter? I've got some guns for sale too if you want to look at them." Well, duh! He took me into the house and he got out a few guns. He has a Ruger Model 77 Mark II .243, a never fired older Remington 870 12 gauge with a slug barrel on it and a couple of .22's. The one that really caught my eye was an older Remington .22 pump that is exactly like one my mom bought me when I was 15 years old (I'm 47 now). I sold it when I was an idiot teenager so I would have money to impress a girl, and regretted selling it ever since. It was my first gun and I've kept my eyes open for a like new one just like it for the past 20+ years. Suddenly here was one right in front of me.

The .243 is in great shape as well and I've been looking for a bolt action coyote rifle. It's got a cheaper scope on it but the gun hasn't been fired much at all. I'm thinking it would make a good rifle for deer out west and up north (I'm in Indiana) as well as a coyote gun if I want (already have an AR-15 that I've been using).

Having a daughter in college, I opted to just go home with the lathe and think about the guns. Thinking I'll definitely buy the .22, but still trying to decide and research whether that .243 will be a good coyote gun or not. He's got it priced about average, whereas the .22 he's going to sell me pretty cheap.

Anyway, back to the lathe. So we look at the lathe and yeah, it's pretty much brand new. His daughter bought it for him for Christmas a few years ago, not knowing he already had a nice Nova mini-lathe. He turned one or two things on the Rikon and never used it after that. Kept it covered up in his shop since. I told him I'd take the lathe and tools. I didn't try to talk him down in price at all and told him I was really happy with the price as is. He then tossed in a chuck, a piece of cherry stock to practice on and a brand new face shield. He's got a complete Beall Buffing System that's he used a couple of times and I'm buying that too for $30.

While I'm really happy to finally get a lathe and get started turning, the entire experience and hearing the old guy's hunting stories was the highlight of the experience. Looking forward to stopping by his place again and having more time to talk, as well as bring home a gun or two.

Now all I need to do is figure out how to use this lathe.
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Congratulations, you will never regret it, the more you play with it, the better you will like it. You might drop by to see the Old Gentleman and get a few pointers from him, also a good chance to look the Guns over again. Also you can't go wrong with a Good 243, they are very versatile. I have taken many Yotes, Deer and Hogs with a 243.
 
I had that same 243 as my first center fire deer rifle. Kind of did the same as you with your 22 and sold it. Not for a girl though, because it didn't have as much BOOM as my dad's identical 7mm rm. Wish I wouldn't have sold that 243.
 
As Rudy said... Welcome to the Dark Side! Your journey has only just begun!! The lathe and tools are just the tip of the iceberg. Now you must have other tools, and accessories, and materials and supplies, and adapters, in Triplicate, and WOOD and MORE WOOD. There can never be enough wood in the shop! Then there is stabilizing resin, and vacuum chambers, and toaster ovens, and casting resins, and pressure pots and dyes and pearls...

Might I suggest you check out - www.woodbarter.com


The Ruger model 77 Mark II is an excellent gun. I bought mine in .257 Roberts, it's been great, shot respectably well out of the box, never had a moment's trouble out of it. As with all things on the internet there are some ill words spoken over it, problems reported, accuracy questioned. I seem to recall the trigger being one of the bigger bitches on the Model 77; trigger on mine drops crisp and clean just over 4 1/2 lbs. every time. One of the smoothest triggers I've ever experienced on a production rifle, honestly.

The .243 is a good solid round; I've put a lot of meat in the freezer, and sent a lot of coyotes to their maker with it over the years.
 
If the chuck is a 4 jaw chuck, the only thing you will need is a drill chuck to fit the tailstock, some drill bits, sandpaper, finish, reed assembly "stuff" and a sharpening system. For the last one YouTube is your friend, look for a guy called Captain Eddie.

Start off simple with closed reed calls. Best advice is to go to a big box home store and pick up a few sticks of cheap poplar 2x2's for learning. Pick your favorite call and try to copy it. To make the body, cut your blank to length, drill it like the call you are copying. Make plug jam chucks for turning the calls between centers. Then get after it. Save the mistakes, the errors so you can compare them in a few years. After you are comfortable with the turning process start to design your own call, for starters it is best to keep it simple.

Save your money for fancy mandrels etc., you do not need them, but eventually you will want them. For a finish, nothing beats simple Watco Teak Oil. Research on Google "Frank Whiton Classic Gunstock Finish", a lot of work but one of the best finishes and most professional looking finish ever.
 
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