02-02-2014, 04:18 PM
Hi,
It didn't take long for my newly acquired Lorch lathe to bite me most unexpectedly and since the first bite its nipped me a number of times.
It's been a beautiful sunny day here today so I wandered into the garage to potter around; before dinner I tidied up then applied paint to the Wilmac bandsaw where I had missed applying it so this finished the Wilmac paint job off.
After dinner I thought I'd have a look at the unfriendly Lorch? The saddle hand-wheel is fitted with a revolving handle attached to the wheel by a long dome headed bolt; This handle appears to be plastic and was too short for the bolt hence each time it was used any hand would be nipped between the end of the handle and bolt so it needed taming?
What a lovely excuse to try the Graduate lathe out. As a temporary measure I thought I'd turn a nice oak handle until I obtained a length of suitable plastic or make one from steel in keeping with the rest of the lathes handles but for now oak would suffice. I soon had an oak off-cut ready for mounting between centers but where's the four prog drive disappeared to? Half an hour later I found the center staring at me on the bench but not before I had searched the garage and workshop for it; such is life when setting up a workshop and bringing machines into use.
When I removed the original handle I noticed the bolt had been bent as seen in the picture so I spent a bit more time locating two correct fitting nuts then I screwed these onto the threaded end and nipped the nuts tightly in the engineering vice; this allowed me to hit the domed end with a hammer the dome protected by a piece of plywood to straighten the threaded end best I could.
It was wonderful to smell freshly turned oak once again and the Graduate was a joy to use; it simply purred and ran like a dream. Whilst the new handle was in the lathe I finished it with a couple of wire burned rings and sanding sealer followed by friction polish. I've now got all the kit so I want to use it. Both the sealer and polish are Chestnut items.
What a lovely way to spend an afternoon; eventually I'll turn a revolving steel handle because this oak handle clashes with the rest of the lathe regarding appearance but I enjoyed making it and now the lathe has stopped biting me. I never tire of playing with lathes and don't think I ever will.
Kind regards, Col.
It didn't take long for my newly acquired Lorch lathe to bite me most unexpectedly and since the first bite its nipped me a number of times.
It's been a beautiful sunny day here today so I wandered into the garage to potter around; before dinner I tidied up then applied paint to the Wilmac bandsaw where I had missed applying it so this finished the Wilmac paint job off.
After dinner I thought I'd have a look at the unfriendly Lorch? The saddle hand-wheel is fitted with a revolving handle attached to the wheel by a long dome headed bolt; This handle appears to be plastic and was too short for the bolt hence each time it was used any hand would be nipped between the end of the handle and bolt so it needed taming?
What a lovely excuse to try the Graduate lathe out. As a temporary measure I thought I'd turn a nice oak handle until I obtained a length of suitable plastic or make one from steel in keeping with the rest of the lathes handles but for now oak would suffice. I soon had an oak off-cut ready for mounting between centers but where's the four prog drive disappeared to? Half an hour later I found the center staring at me on the bench but not before I had searched the garage and workshop for it; such is life when setting up a workshop and bringing machines into use.
When I removed the original handle I noticed the bolt had been bent as seen in the picture so I spent a bit more time locating two correct fitting nuts then I screwed these onto the threaded end and nipped the nuts tightly in the engineering vice; this allowed me to hit the domed end with a hammer the dome protected by a piece of plywood to straighten the threaded end best I could.
It was wonderful to smell freshly turned oak once again and the Graduate was a joy to use; it simply purred and ran like a dream. Whilst the new handle was in the lathe I finished it with a couple of wire burned rings and sanding sealer followed by friction polish. I've now got all the kit so I want to use it. Both the sealer and polish are Chestnut items.
What a lovely way to spend an afternoon; eventually I'll turn a revolving steel handle because this oak handle clashes with the rest of the lathe regarding appearance but I enjoyed making it and now the lathe has stopped biting me. I never tire of playing with lathes and don't think I ever will.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
