18-06-2012, 07:48 PM
Hi,
Thank you Tony; I'm pleased you found the ring burning to be of interest. It is a very old but little known technique that is so useful as it can turn a rather plain item into something more special with little effort and no cost. It could prove very dangerous to a novice hence I tried to give full instructions. I've never worn a wedding ring and am always extremely careful whilst working on machinery. I think the current health and safety laws go way over the top but in this instance caution is the way to go.
Your kind comments mean a lot to me David as I know you to be a top wood turner producing beautiful turned wooden items to very high standards. Woodturning is a wonderful hobby in its own right and a hobby that doesn't cost a fortune to get started in. There are usually plenty of woodturning lathes on eBay to choose from. I prefer cast iron lathes and my small Record Power DML24" lathe is solid and a delight to use. It will spin 9" maximum diameter and 24" between centres. It runs very sweetly without vibration and I have obtained longer bed bars should the need arise if I want to turn longer items. It costs very little to run and mine has served me well for around 20 years; Bron bought it for me as a Christmas present.
Thanks for the useful links and detailed information David. I used cellulose sanding sealer on the knobs as I've had this sealer for many years; it dries rapidly allowing wax to be added in short time. I like using Black Bison wax and find the smell to be pleasing. A tin lasts for years.
http://www.liberon.co.uk/wax-finishes/bl...4,464.html?&args=Y29tcF9pZD0zMDQmYWN0aW9uPWZpY2hlUHJvZHVpdCZpZD0xODYmfA%3D%3D
The Robert Sorby video brought tears to my eyes David when I saw the prices of the many different jaw sizes available; as you say the basic chuck won't bankrupt you but a full set of jaws could. I'm cheap and made do with a common Jacobs chuck to turn these knobs with but I'm not a novice turner so know the limitations allowing me to produce items at very little cost. I recently bought another new Jacobs chuck at Rufforth Auto Jumble costing £8.50 on a #2 Morse Taper. I have a Jacobs chuck on a #1 Morse Taper and for years have swapped this chuck from machine to machine using various MT sleeves. It's easy for a novice to think woodturning would be a very expensive hobby given the vast array of equipment and tooling available but in fact with a few chisels and gouges plus a pronged drive centre and say a face-plate a lot can be achieved with a bit of practice. I don't have lots of woodturning kit but its amazing what items I can turn.
For those where money isn't a problem then of course they can buy the best such as an Holtzapffel Rose Engine (Lathe). Years ago I saw one of these on sale with a full set of cutters in their proper cabinets and cutting frames etc. and the price was a cool £500,000. These Rose Engines years ago were used to put the patterns on bank note printing plates and are the Rolls Royce of ornamental lathes. The full 5 volume Turning & Mechanical Manipulation books I bought many years ago new set me back £105. I'm looking at volume 2 which alone starts at page 458 and runs to page 1,025.
http://www.ornamentalturner.com/Archive/HOLTZROS.HTM
http://www.turners.org/Articles/bower1.htm
Wooden mouldings can be produced on a lathe by gluing two pieces of wood together with paper between them; once the turning and finishing is completed then the two are separated with a wood chisel at the paper joint giving two perfectly matched mouldings as long as the wood is mounted accurately to start with. The same technique can be used to secure items to a wooden faceplate.
A vacuum chuck is very useful David for mass production but as you rightly say in my case I could make such a chuck easily enough in fact I've considered making a vacuum veneering press for wood veneering. Woodturning can become an obsessive hobby and is for many turners who devote hundreds of hours to a single item. I can see the appeal of ornamental turning but it's something I'll never do because I simply cannot devote the time to it but the turning I do both in wood and metal I enjoy a great deal and derive much pleasure from it. Even a novice with a little practice on a lathe can turn useful and attractive items.
A lathe is the only machine where an item can be produced from a blank to finish in one go without removing the item. A lathe is the daddy of all machine tools.
I enjoy adding my stories David of work in progress but confess to finding doing so to be very time consuming.
Kind regards, Col.
Thank you Tony; I'm pleased you found the ring burning to be of interest. It is a very old but little known technique that is so useful as it can turn a rather plain item into something more special with little effort and no cost. It could prove very dangerous to a novice hence I tried to give full instructions. I've never worn a wedding ring and am always extremely careful whilst working on machinery. I think the current health and safety laws go way over the top but in this instance caution is the way to go.
Your kind comments mean a lot to me David as I know you to be a top wood turner producing beautiful turned wooden items to very high standards. Woodturning is a wonderful hobby in its own right and a hobby that doesn't cost a fortune to get started in. There are usually plenty of woodturning lathes on eBay to choose from. I prefer cast iron lathes and my small Record Power DML24" lathe is solid and a delight to use. It will spin 9" maximum diameter and 24" between centres. It runs very sweetly without vibration and I have obtained longer bed bars should the need arise if I want to turn longer items. It costs very little to run and mine has served me well for around 20 years; Bron bought it for me as a Christmas present.
Thanks for the useful links and detailed information David. I used cellulose sanding sealer on the knobs as I've had this sealer for many years; it dries rapidly allowing wax to be added in short time. I like using Black Bison wax and find the smell to be pleasing. A tin lasts for years.
http://www.liberon.co.uk/wax-finishes/bl...4,464.html?&args=Y29tcF9pZD0zMDQmYWN0aW9uPWZpY2hlUHJvZHVpdCZpZD0xODYmfA%3D%3D
The Robert Sorby video brought tears to my eyes David when I saw the prices of the many different jaw sizes available; as you say the basic chuck won't bankrupt you but a full set of jaws could. I'm cheap and made do with a common Jacobs chuck to turn these knobs with but I'm not a novice turner so know the limitations allowing me to produce items at very little cost. I recently bought another new Jacobs chuck at Rufforth Auto Jumble costing £8.50 on a #2 Morse Taper. I have a Jacobs chuck on a #1 Morse Taper and for years have swapped this chuck from machine to machine using various MT sleeves. It's easy for a novice to think woodturning would be a very expensive hobby given the vast array of equipment and tooling available but in fact with a few chisels and gouges plus a pronged drive centre and say a face-plate a lot can be achieved with a bit of practice. I don't have lots of woodturning kit but its amazing what items I can turn.
For those where money isn't a problem then of course they can buy the best such as an Holtzapffel Rose Engine (Lathe). Years ago I saw one of these on sale with a full set of cutters in their proper cabinets and cutting frames etc. and the price was a cool £500,000. These Rose Engines years ago were used to put the patterns on bank note printing plates and are the Rolls Royce of ornamental lathes. The full 5 volume Turning & Mechanical Manipulation books I bought many years ago new set me back £105. I'm looking at volume 2 which alone starts at page 458 and runs to page 1,025.
http://www.ornamentalturner.com/Archive/HOLTZROS.HTM
http://www.turners.org/Articles/bower1.htm
Wooden mouldings can be produced on a lathe by gluing two pieces of wood together with paper between them; once the turning and finishing is completed then the two are separated with a wood chisel at the paper joint giving two perfectly matched mouldings as long as the wood is mounted accurately to start with. The same technique can be used to secure items to a wooden faceplate.
A vacuum chuck is very useful David for mass production but as you rightly say in my case I could make such a chuck easily enough in fact I've considered making a vacuum veneering press for wood veneering. Woodturning can become an obsessive hobby and is for many turners who devote hundreds of hours to a single item. I can see the appeal of ornamental turning but it's something I'll never do because I simply cannot devote the time to it but the turning I do both in wood and metal I enjoy a great deal and derive much pleasure from it. Even a novice with a little practice on a lathe can turn useful and attractive items.
A lathe is the only machine where an item can be produced from a blank to finish in one go without removing the item. A lathe is the daddy of all machine tools.
I enjoy adding my stories David of work in progress but confess to finding doing so to be very time consuming.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
