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.
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.