27-08-2012, 04:41 PM
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your story Joe. It's good to see owning the lathe has opened up a whole new world for you. You will now find yourself on a huge learning curve as the usefulness of a lathe unfolds to you.
Tinkering around and experimenting on a lathe is great fun and I agree with you regarding just how easy it is to drill metal in a lathe; it won't be long before you are running a boring bar and producing some really big holes or bores that you could only ever have dreamed about whilst using hand tools.
The lathe has obviously got you thinking Joe about how to do jobs differently as a lathe is a great aid in the workshop. The MK1 & MK1A tool rest will no doubt lead to other more suitable tool rest designs but I'm pleased to see them evolving in this way.
Copper tube is much too soft and not only will it nick easily during use but at the extremities of the rest a nasty "dig in" could easily distort the rest. The wooden insert will help to give a bit of stiffness but as you rightly say Joe a steel rest is the best way to go.
One really annoying thing you will notice Joe in using an engineering lathe for woodturning the way you are doing is that the compound rest will interfere with free tool movement; the handle of a woodturning tool is held rather low compared to centre and the compound slide prevents this.
The speed range of the lathe will also be very low compared to a woodturning lathe so possibly the surface finish won't be the best but very sharp tools will help in this respect as even a pole lathe can be used to turn out some excellent work with practice.
I know it's a pain Joe to swap the tailstock and compound carriage over but at least it gets the carriage out of the way and will also give you a larger swing over the bed.
It's a pity you don't live nearer Joe as I could easily have welded up a steel tool rest for you. Both my Myford's are still out of action so you are better off than me at the moment although I still have the Record DML lathe running.
Please keep the stories coming Joe because I like to watch your progress with interest and your endeavours are to be encouraged.
Kind regards, Col.
Thanks for sharing your story Joe. It's good to see owning the lathe has opened up a whole new world for you. You will now find yourself on a huge learning curve as the usefulness of a lathe unfolds to you.
Tinkering around and experimenting on a lathe is great fun and I agree with you regarding just how easy it is to drill metal in a lathe; it won't be long before you are running a boring bar and producing some really big holes or bores that you could only ever have dreamed about whilst using hand tools.
The lathe has obviously got you thinking Joe about how to do jobs differently as a lathe is a great aid in the workshop. The MK1 & MK1A tool rest will no doubt lead to other more suitable tool rest designs but I'm pleased to see them evolving in this way.
Copper tube is much too soft and not only will it nick easily during use but at the extremities of the rest a nasty "dig in" could easily distort the rest. The wooden insert will help to give a bit of stiffness but as you rightly say Joe a steel rest is the best way to go.
One really annoying thing you will notice Joe in using an engineering lathe for woodturning the way you are doing is that the compound rest will interfere with free tool movement; the handle of a woodturning tool is held rather low compared to centre and the compound slide prevents this.
The speed range of the lathe will also be very low compared to a woodturning lathe so possibly the surface finish won't be the best but very sharp tools will help in this respect as even a pole lathe can be used to turn out some excellent work with practice.
I know it's a pain Joe to swap the tailstock and compound carriage over but at least it gets the carriage out of the way and will also give you a larger swing over the bed.
It's a pity you don't live nearer Joe as I could easily have welded up a steel tool rest for you. Both my Myford's are still out of action so you are better off than me at the moment although I still have the Record DML lathe running.
Please keep the stories coming Joe because I like to watch your progress with interest and your endeavours are to be encouraged.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
