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So I ended up getting the Logan lathe one, since I have a Logan. I was going to wait until I finished watching it to comment, but since this has come back up, I'll comment on my initial reactions. There is almost 14 hours of video so I haven't got even 1/4 of the way through.
The first point is on the videos vs what is already on youtube.
So far this is all new content, not just repackaged from his old videos. The Logan lathe videos are dated as 2018 in each intro so far. It is also laid out in a class room format, so if watched in order it starts basic and then builds on prior videos. Considering that many of his videos are older I noticed an improvement in production value vs some of his older videos.
These videos are definitely done from the point of view of a beginner, so somebody with a bit of experience will likely jump around more looking for specific information than a completely new person to metal working.
I'll just go through Vol 1 (3 hours, 17 minutes) and a few additional selected topics making comparisons between the paid videos and his youtube videos.
First chapter goes over the history of Logan lathe, the Montgomery Wards connection and the parts and accessories that were available for them. 20 minutes, he has no youtube video that corresponds to this one.
Chapter 2, parts of the Logan lathe, 35 minutes. A pretty in depth break down of the parts of the lathe, including a look at how everything works / purpose. He has an 8-1/2 minute on youtube from 2010 that goes over the subject.
Chapter 3, lubrication of the Logan lathe, 23 minutes. He has no youtube video to directly compare it to.
Chapter 4, the apron, 23 minutes. He goes over the apron of the lathe in detail, looking at a 9" Logan and a 10" MW showing differences. He has a similar but much shorter youtube video, 8-1/2 minutes long from 2013.
Chapter 5 Lathe safety 12 minutes, no direct comparison but he frequently goes over safety throughout his youtube videos.
Chapter 6 Lathe chucks, 3 jaw, 4 jaw, face plates etc, 20 minutes. Overview of the basic types, as well as maintenance, adjustment etc. No direct comparison on his youtube videos, but he does have a lot of content on chucks on youtube.
Chapter 7 3C collet adaptor, 13 minutes. Goes over 3C collets and using the Logan collect adaptor / chuck. No direct comparison to any of his youtube videos, but he does have a fair amount of collet content.
Chapter 8 Tailstock and accessories, 23 minutes. Use of the tailstock and tailstock accessories. Again, no direct comparison but he does have some similar content on youtube.
Chapter 9 Lantern style tool post, 12 minutes. Use of the lantern style tool post. I was a little surprised to see he doesn't seem to have much on youtube on using the old style lantern tool post.
Chapter 10 Quick change tool post, 15 minutes. Use of an Aloris style quick change tool post. Again I am a little surprised to see he doesn't have anything on youtube directly comparable to this. He does of course talk about QCTPs throughout his other videos.
That is the end of Vol 1, which is the section most directly focused on a Logan lathe.
Some other selected topics
Chapter 12 Lathe tool bits, 28 minutes. Covers use and geometry of HSS lathe tool bits, he has a similar video on youtube from earlier this year that is 13 minutes long.
Chapter 16 Drilling on the lathe, 22 minutes. Covers drill bits, starter drills, center drills in addition to drilling parts held in both the head stock and tail stock. Of course he has loads of drilling videos on youtube, but I can find nothing directly comparable to this video.
Chapter 22 Boring on the lathe, 35 minutes. Covers boring using a couple different methods. He has a couple of videos on boring with a mill, and several videos where he bores on a lathe but there is nothing really comparable to this one on his youtube channel.
Chapter 28 Tapers-Compound, 14 minutes.
Chapter 29 Tapers-Taper attachment, 16 minutes.
Chapter 30 Tapers-Offset tailstock, 20 minutes.
Set up and turning a taper using the compound, taper attachment or tailstock. This is all unique video but he does cover most of the information in various videos he has on youtube. In particular a 9-1/2 minute video from 2010 on turning a taper with the compound on a Logan lathe, and a 2 part 29 minute video on using the taper attachment on a Logan lathe from 2012.
Chapter 37 Cutting an internal thread, 22 minutes. Set up and cutting an internal thread. He has a similar video from 2011, that is 11 minutes long. Also a boat load of youtube videos on threading that probably touch on this subject.
So from what I can see this is all new video, and where it does cover similar ground to his youtube channel, generally goes into greater depth. The only complaint I have is very minor and easily fixed myself. That is simply the naming convention used for the videos on the thumb drive. It is just Logan Lathe Chapter 1, Logan Lathe Chapter 2 etc. Including the subject would make it easier to find a specific topic for review. Like I said though that is very easily fixed, I just need to go in and rename each chapter to add the topic.
It is "Mr Pete" with his mannerisms, so if you like his presentation style on youtube, it's the same guy and he follows his usual way of talking and explaining things. If you don't really care for his style, it's the same guy presenting so you probably won't like these videos any better.
For me, I can see some advantage to the style he uses here, with tightly focused subjects that he goes into some depth with. Typically on his youtube videos he is more project oriented so instead of doing a video on just drilling, he will cover different methods of drilling holes through a variety of different projects spread over many videos. If you wanted to find a specific technique for drilling on his youtube videos you would have to sift through many of his videos.
These videos kind of stand alone from youtube, they cover stuff he doesn't do over there, and what he has on youtube adds to what is here and there is a lot of stuff that he doesn't even touch on in these videos. Examples being some repair videos he has on youtube where he fixes some issues with his Logan lathe.
As far as cost vs free, that is a fair point. I'd say between downloading a free copy of South Bends how to run a lathe and watching free videos on youtube one can quite easily get by without spending a dime on their education.
Although you could do it all for free, I'd say for a beginner, one of these how to run a (enter brand) lathe would be beneficial.
I also look at this a bit like other fund raising methods youtubers use. Instead of a few bucks a month through Patreon or similar, or buying T shirts, coffee mugs etc you get a pretty decent educational video and help to support somebody on youtube that has done a lot for hobby metal workers.
He has an almost continual sale price and offers a variety of other discounts. The sale prices are pretty much inline with other educational videos.
The first point is on the videos vs what is already on youtube.
So far this is all new content, not just repackaged from his old videos. The Logan lathe videos are dated as 2018 in each intro so far. It is also laid out in a class room format, so if watched in order it starts basic and then builds on prior videos. Considering that many of his videos are older I noticed an improvement in production value vs some of his older videos.
These videos are definitely done from the point of view of a beginner, so somebody with a bit of experience will likely jump around more looking for specific information than a completely new person to metal working.
I'll just go through Vol 1 (3 hours, 17 minutes) and a few additional selected topics making comparisons between the paid videos and his youtube videos.
First chapter goes over the history of Logan lathe, the Montgomery Wards connection and the parts and accessories that were available for them. 20 minutes, he has no youtube video that corresponds to this one.
Chapter 2, parts of the Logan lathe, 35 minutes. A pretty in depth break down of the parts of the lathe, including a look at how everything works / purpose. He has an 8-1/2 minute on youtube from 2010 that goes over the subject.
Chapter 3, lubrication of the Logan lathe, 23 minutes. He has no youtube video to directly compare it to.
Chapter 4, the apron, 23 minutes. He goes over the apron of the lathe in detail, looking at a 9" Logan and a 10" MW showing differences. He has a similar but much shorter youtube video, 8-1/2 minutes long from 2013.
Chapter 5 Lathe safety 12 minutes, no direct comparison but he frequently goes over safety throughout his youtube videos.
Chapter 6 Lathe chucks, 3 jaw, 4 jaw, face plates etc, 20 minutes. Overview of the basic types, as well as maintenance, adjustment etc. No direct comparison on his youtube videos, but he does have a lot of content on chucks on youtube.
Chapter 7 3C collet adaptor, 13 minutes. Goes over 3C collets and using the Logan collect adaptor / chuck. No direct comparison to any of his youtube videos, but he does have a fair amount of collet content.
Chapter 8 Tailstock and accessories, 23 minutes. Use of the tailstock and tailstock accessories. Again, no direct comparison but he does have some similar content on youtube.
Chapter 9 Lantern style tool post, 12 minutes. Use of the lantern style tool post. I was a little surprised to see he doesn't seem to have much on youtube on using the old style lantern tool post.
Chapter 10 Quick change tool post, 15 minutes. Use of an Aloris style quick change tool post. Again I am a little surprised to see he doesn't have anything on youtube directly comparable to this. He does of course talk about QCTPs throughout his other videos.
That is the end of Vol 1, which is the section most directly focused on a Logan lathe.
Some other selected topics
Chapter 12 Lathe tool bits, 28 minutes. Covers use and geometry of HSS lathe tool bits, he has a similar video on youtube from earlier this year that is 13 minutes long.
Chapter 16 Drilling on the lathe, 22 minutes. Covers drill bits, starter drills, center drills in addition to drilling parts held in both the head stock and tail stock. Of course he has loads of drilling videos on youtube, but I can find nothing directly comparable to this video.
Chapter 22 Boring on the lathe, 35 minutes. Covers boring using a couple different methods. He has a couple of videos on boring with a mill, and several videos where he bores on a lathe but there is nothing really comparable to this one on his youtube channel.
Chapter 28 Tapers-Compound, 14 minutes.
Chapter 29 Tapers-Taper attachment, 16 minutes.
Chapter 30 Tapers-Offset tailstock, 20 minutes.
Set up and turning a taper using the compound, taper attachment or tailstock. This is all unique video but he does cover most of the information in various videos he has on youtube. In particular a 9-1/2 minute video from 2010 on turning a taper with the compound on a Logan lathe, and a 2 part 29 minute video on using the taper attachment on a Logan lathe from 2012.
Chapter 37 Cutting an internal thread, 22 minutes. Set up and cutting an internal thread. He has a similar video from 2011, that is 11 minutes long. Also a boat load of youtube videos on threading that probably touch on this subject.
So from what I can see this is all new video, and where it does cover similar ground to his youtube channel, generally goes into greater depth. The only complaint I have is very minor and easily fixed myself. That is simply the naming convention used for the videos on the thumb drive. It is just Logan Lathe Chapter 1, Logan Lathe Chapter 2 etc. Including the subject would make it easier to find a specific topic for review. Like I said though that is very easily fixed, I just need to go in and rename each chapter to add the topic.
It is "Mr Pete" with his mannerisms, so if you like his presentation style on youtube, it's the same guy and he follows his usual way of talking and explaining things. If you don't really care for his style, it's the same guy presenting so you probably won't like these videos any better.
For me, I can see some advantage to the style he uses here, with tightly focused subjects that he goes into some depth with. Typically on his youtube videos he is more project oriented so instead of doing a video on just drilling, he will cover different methods of drilling holes through a variety of different projects spread over many videos. If you wanted to find a specific technique for drilling on his youtube videos you would have to sift through many of his videos.
These videos kind of stand alone from youtube, they cover stuff he doesn't do over there, and what he has on youtube adds to what is here and there is a lot of stuff that he doesn't even touch on in these videos. Examples being some repair videos he has on youtube where he fixes some issues with his Logan lathe.
As far as cost vs free, that is a fair point. I'd say between downloading a free copy of South Bends how to run a lathe and watching free videos on youtube one can quite easily get by without spending a dime on their education.
Although you could do it all for free, I'd say for a beginner, one of these how to run a (enter brand) lathe would be beneficial.
I also look at this a bit like other fund raising methods youtubers use. Instead of a few bucks a month through Patreon or similar, or buying T shirts, coffee mugs etc you get a pretty decent educational video and help to support somebody on youtube that has done a lot for hobby metal workers.
He has an almost continual sale price and offers a variety of other discounts. The sale prices are pretty much inline with other educational videos.
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