30-10-2012, 09:44 AM
Hi,
Like you David I too tend to cherry pick when it comes to viewing threads on forums. We are all different and have our own personal likes. I make no excuses but confess to a total incurable addiction to lathes of all kinds.
So of course every time I notice a new addition on the lathe section my interest becomes highly focussed. I know I’m sad but medication doesn't help. I'm also a member of engineering forums so get my daily regular fix.
Your Lorch lathe is truly delightful and I just knew that once you got it restored and running it would prove highly useful as well as something to tinker about with; lathes are wonderful for tinkering around with. You've done a top class job David with the Lorch; it is so clean that it's a shame to use it in fact your working areas are well laid out and very tidy; hardly what is described as messy; I visit the odd workshop where if a bomb was dropped it would tidy things up considerably. I like your idea of the removable working surface added to your lathe bed; a good tip and cheap to copy.
Regarding the use of collets in a lathe; although I've been using lathes for the last 50 years I've never used collets as my lathe work is generally on the heavier items and I can work to very fine tolerances due to nothing more than practice. Collets are intended for use in the headstock as the mandrel will have been machined to extremely fine tolerance on its bore which is tapered; the collet is attached by slipping it into the end of the bare mandrel and secured by what is known as a “Draw bar” the draw bar is threaded at one end with a round handle at the other end; the draw bars does as its name suggests and when inserted from the opposite end of the mandrel the threads of the collet and draw bar engage and as the collet is drawn into the mandrel the taper closes the collet gripping the item to be worked upon. The only lathe I ever owned with collets was equipped with a hollow draw-bar enabling long lengths of material to be gripped making for speedy repetitive work;one piece could be turned and parted then the the rod exposed and so on. Please view the following video as it is clearer than text; nice lathe;
http://www.jjjtrain.com/vms/spanish/medi...ing_sp.wmv
http://www.jjjtrain.com/vms/lathe_collet...et_01.html
I have a few collets in the garage with drill bits inserted to be used as described by David as collets are much better for holding the very fine bits as encountered in watch/clock making where a Jacobs chuck would not even touch them when fully closed.
I can echo your thoughts regarding turning softwood David as it is “spongy” and doesn't cut cleanly unless very sharp tooling is used; this can be very off-putting to a novice who is keen to try wood-turning for the first time and usually on a very low budget; softwood is readily available and can be had free but without gaining a bit of experience in both turning and sharpening tools the results seldom match up to expectations for a novice; the next thing a novice tends to do after suffering poor finish from the tool is to beat the work into submission using abrasive paper creating a dense cloud of dust whilst burning fingers and cracking the work due to heat build up; I'm sure anyone without proper training let loose on a wood lathe will go through this phase; it's called learning. I can turn softwood with good results but using sharp tools and a higher speed; one thing I like to do is to burnish the wood using a wooden stick with the lathe under power; the stick is pressed firmly against the revolving work and it compresses the outer fibers giving a hardened surface; it does make a lot of difference; a short length of softwood quadrant gets into tight corners. Softwood also tends to have lots of knots which cause problems whilst turning as a knot is harder than the surrounding material and care is needed to ensure the knot is tight enough otherwise it could be ejected. Practice takes care of all these little problems; I've turned lamps; candlesticks and farmhouse table legs from softwood without trouble but like David I'm not a novice which make a tremendous difference.
You certainly are beyond redemption David; two lathes already and I think had you got enough space more and bigger lathes would follow; my lathe tally is now four with perhaps a fifth due this Friday? My excuse is that Bron asked of me what I would like as a Christmas present; oh dear!!
Kind regards, Col.
Like you David I too tend to cherry pick when it comes to viewing threads on forums. We are all different and have our own personal likes. I make no excuses but confess to a total incurable addiction to lathes of all kinds.
So of course every time I notice a new addition on the lathe section my interest becomes highly focussed. I know I’m sad but medication doesn't help. I'm also a member of engineering forums so get my daily regular fix.
Your Lorch lathe is truly delightful and I just knew that once you got it restored and running it would prove highly useful as well as something to tinker about with; lathes are wonderful for tinkering around with. You've done a top class job David with the Lorch; it is so clean that it's a shame to use it in fact your working areas are well laid out and very tidy; hardly what is described as messy; I visit the odd workshop where if a bomb was dropped it would tidy things up considerably. I like your idea of the removable working surface added to your lathe bed; a good tip and cheap to copy.
Regarding the use of collets in a lathe; although I've been using lathes for the last 50 years I've never used collets as my lathe work is generally on the heavier items and I can work to very fine tolerances due to nothing more than practice. Collets are intended for use in the headstock as the mandrel will have been machined to extremely fine tolerance on its bore which is tapered; the collet is attached by slipping it into the end of the bare mandrel and secured by what is known as a “Draw bar” the draw bar is threaded at one end with a round handle at the other end; the draw bars does as its name suggests and when inserted from the opposite end of the mandrel the threads of the collet and draw bar engage and as the collet is drawn into the mandrel the taper closes the collet gripping the item to be worked upon. The only lathe I ever owned with collets was equipped with a hollow draw-bar enabling long lengths of material to be gripped making for speedy repetitive work;one piece could be turned and parted then the the rod exposed and so on. Please view the following video as it is clearer than text; nice lathe;
http://www.jjjtrain.com/vms/spanish/medi...ing_sp.wmv
http://www.jjjtrain.com/vms/lathe_collet...et_01.html
I have a few collets in the garage with drill bits inserted to be used as described by David as collets are much better for holding the very fine bits as encountered in watch/clock making where a Jacobs chuck would not even touch them when fully closed.
I can echo your thoughts regarding turning softwood David as it is “spongy” and doesn't cut cleanly unless very sharp tooling is used; this can be very off-putting to a novice who is keen to try wood-turning for the first time and usually on a very low budget; softwood is readily available and can be had free but without gaining a bit of experience in both turning and sharpening tools the results seldom match up to expectations for a novice; the next thing a novice tends to do after suffering poor finish from the tool is to beat the work into submission using abrasive paper creating a dense cloud of dust whilst burning fingers and cracking the work due to heat build up; I'm sure anyone without proper training let loose on a wood lathe will go through this phase; it's called learning. I can turn softwood with good results but using sharp tools and a higher speed; one thing I like to do is to burnish the wood using a wooden stick with the lathe under power; the stick is pressed firmly against the revolving work and it compresses the outer fibers giving a hardened surface; it does make a lot of difference; a short length of softwood quadrant gets into tight corners. Softwood also tends to have lots of knots which cause problems whilst turning as a knot is harder than the surrounding material and care is needed to ensure the knot is tight enough otherwise it could be ejected. Practice takes care of all these little problems; I've turned lamps; candlesticks and farmhouse table legs from softwood without trouble but like David I'm not a novice which make a tremendous difference.
You certainly are beyond redemption David; two lathes already and I think had you got enough space more and bigger lathes would follow; my lathe tally is now four with perhaps a fifth due this Friday? My excuse is that Bron asked of me what I would like as a Christmas present; oh dear!!
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
