New Lathes in Place
Christmas has come early to the Learning Center! As of yesterday, all of the Jet 1221 lathes that were purchased when the Learning Center opened in 2015 have been replaced with eight new Jet 1221 VS lathes. The old lathes have seen rather heavy use as our primary student lathes and have served us well. However, like any piece of equipment after years of use, they had seen better days. Some were no longer dependable for class use.
As I reported to you earlier, we secured four of these lathes in October. Two were paid for by the OVWG and the other two were paid for by donations by members. The Board had planned that the other four lathes would be replaced two at a time over the next four years. During the November demonstration meeting, I announced these acquisitions to those in attendance and suggested that we could replace the other four sooner if donations were made for that purpose. To my surprise, donors who wish to remain anonymous stepped up and offered to pay for five additional 1221 lathes. One donor in fact offered to pay for three lathes. Since we only needed a total of four, I went back to this person and asked if part of the funds for the third lathe could be used to replace the bearing mechanism on the bandsaw. The answer was yes. In addition to the four new lathes that were installed yesterday (December 11, 2025), we have purchased a new bearing mechanism for the bandsaw. This will be installed in the near future.
I want to remind you that the Ohio Valley Woodturners Guild is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization and as such is exempt from federal taxes. Therefore, donations made to the Guild are tax exempt. If you are looking for an opportunity to make a tax exempt gift, please keep the OVWG in mind.
During the recent Member Appreciation Luncheon we had two of the old lathes available for a silent auction. We will offer others during future meetings. Keep in mind that these lathes are not perfect and may be in need of some repair if you are to get good service from them. They will be auctioned as is. If you are interested in obtaining one of these lathes keep this in mind.
In closing I want to acknowledge the assistance of Jim Campbell, Dennis Reynolds, and Mark Malmstrom with hauling and uninstalling/installing the new lathes as well as the old ones. It is the dedication of members such as these that makes the OVWG a great organization.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!
Jerry Warner
President
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