Some woodturning enthusiasts in Austria took the philosophy of "go big or go home" to extremes. They decided to turn a giant spruce wood bowl measuring more than 13 feet in diameter and more than 3 feet deep. Of course, the first challenge faced by Peter Andres and Werner Rumplmayr of Gurtis, Austria, was finding a woodturning lathe to spin such a massive piece. Their solution was to use a tractor mounted on a stacked wood crib platform. Then they removed a tire and wheel to mount their turning blank directly to the tractor drive hub.

Entrepreneur Todd Eschman turned a passion for playing vintage league baseball into a business making vintage wood baseball bats. A $10,000 prize for start-ups from PNC Bank and Southern Illinois University helped fund the launch.

RIKON Power Tools in conjunction with Big Tree Tools announces the launch of the Badger Safety Spur Center model 70-940; the only lathe drive center on the market with a safety guard.