New Lathe Owner.

[Joe]

I only got the drive belt for this on Wednesday but had been getting it properly set-up and adjusted in the mean-time.

I used it in anger for the first time last night to fix a column off a what-not. This had split at the top and the broken bit was missing.

I glued a lump of wood to it and then turned it to shape.

I hadn't realised how much the, possibly not very sharp, cutter was tearing the grain but it was nothing that couldn't be filled.

       

- Joe

[Yorkie]

Great to hear that your lathe is now up and running Joe!

Given that it's a metalworking lathe, I assume that you turned the wood with a metalworking tool bit in the toolpost on the centre line, just as you would if turning metal Joe. If so, you did well with the end result because wood doesn't cut at all well in a metalworking lathe - it just tears out the grain. Then instead of sanding the shape of the wood, you end up sanding the wood to shape! It you look at a demo of woodturing of which there are many on youtube, you will note that woodturning gouges have a bevel on them, and that bevel has to first rub the wood, then you gently lower the gouge (by lifting up the handle so the gouge pivots on the toolpost), till the gouge starts to take off shavings. The point at which the cutting edge meets the wood is well above the centre line. You must also always cut 'downhill' - that is if you want to cut a cove (a rounded concave groove), or a bead (a rounded convex 'hump'), you must cut one side downhill, then the other side downhill too - you can't go down the groove and back up the other side.

As to the speed of the lathe for woodturning, for anything up to say 6" diameter, ordinarily it needs to be at least 1,000 RPM.

I'm not knocking your efforts of course Joe - I've used a wooturning lathe to turn acetate rod before I had a metalworking lathe, on which acetate turns much better.

The main thing is that you got the result you wished for, and already the lathe is proving useful!

Here are a couple of short youtube videos. Two main tools are used for Spindle work (which is the job that you did). Namely, a 'roughing gouge' to turn the wood to a cylinder, then a spindle gouge to cut coves and beads. For bowls, a bowl gouge is needed, which is like a spindle gouge but much stronger. Turners who have the nerve and the knack (which excludes me) also often use a skew chisel - a tool that strikes fear into the heart of many turners. You'll notice in the videos that the wood come off in shavings - sometimes in 'streamers' rather then in small chippings. Not the best two videos on youtube, but they're short and basic:

Small vase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee5BkT3KBz4

Woodcarvers mallet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS5XoD8D0VI&list=PLF0056A6B79054EDB&index=5&feature=plpp_video

Hope that's of interest.

Every success with your lathe Joe!

[Joe]

The metal-cutting bit I used looks very like a scraper chisel so probably wasn't too badly wrong.

Scraper chisels (actually modified ¼" mortice chisels) were always the default tool at school. I think I only tried using a gouge once and didn't get on with it. Skew chisels never bothered me at all. It must have been the confidence (and ignorance!) of youth.

I didn't know about the need to have the tool above the centre line so thanks for that tip.

I certainly plan on rigging a tool-rest for free-hand use. I never expected this job to turn out so well as all I was hoping to do was rough it out and then finish it off with glass paper. Anything was better than how the spindle was as the what-not couldn't even be screwed together how it was never mind how it looked.

Cheers

Joe

[pwdrive]

Skew chisel can = Bang! I have fallen foul of that one in the past, eye protection.....

Lawrence

[Joe]

After watching those videos I understand about the perils of skew chisels. I had no problems at school as I was using them wrongly. I always had then flat on the tool rest with that set to the centre-line.

I also didn't know that gouges should be used held at an angle both in elevation and azimuth, which probably explains why I didn't get on with those.

- Joe

[Joe]

I've now got some proper turning tools and have been having a better go.

This was my first practise piece:-

   

and yesterday I made a file handle.

   

As David and Col say, it's very satisfying despite being quite simple.

- Joe

[Mark Hennessy]

Is that first test piece pine? I've found that I'm unable to turn softwood of any type, but beech works very well. I tried mahogany of some sort, and that didn't go at all well. I'm assuming that the problem is my ability (both at turning, and sharpening). After all, they push out mass-produced spindles for staircases in fairly grotty softwood, so it much be possible.

Nice work on the file handle - what wood is that? It looks a bit like beech, but I'm not very good at identifying hardwood...

Cheers,

Mark

[Joe]

The test piece is pine, old floorboard to be exact.

The file handle I'm not sure about. It was from a branch cut from a neighbour's shrub last year. It's a spikey sod and has orange flowers. The yellow colour is natural; in fact it's more vivid in the flesh than on the photos.

I could never do mahogany at school but will try again.

- Joe

[Joe]

That didn't seem bad at all.

   

- Joe

[AlanBeckett]

The file handle I'm not sure about. It was from a branch cut from a neighbour's shrub last year. It's a spikey sod and has orange flowers. The yellow colour is natural; in fact it's more vivid in the flesh than on the photos.

Pyracantha probably. There used to be a couple guarding our old house. Every couple of years I had to take my life in my hands and prune them. I've still got the scars. They looked magnificent when they flowered, followed by the berries.

Alan