Any Old School Machinists Here?

Newbomb Turk said
There are boring bars that have over 12 inches of travel.

True, but not your typical older automotive cylinder boring bars
Which brings you back to working from both ends...

Newbomb Turk said
Its not hard to make a mounting plate for the bar to sit on.

Sure but unless you already have material to make it from thick plate gets spendy... The minimalist way of using a couple thick bars might work but the potential for machining setup errors goes up....

End of the day he lives in an area where he has options, why treat this like he's on a remote tropical island...