Lathe tool rack.

[Retired]

Hi,

I'm still converting my workshop to woodworking and over the last couple of days decided to add a new tool rack to the wall behind the Jubilee lathe. It's been an interesting little project and I've managed to make the rack free of charge from salvaged staircase timber and plywood I've had for many years which might come in handy one day?

With a rough sketch and a few dimensions added it didn't take long to cut the materials in fact the longest job was to decide what to use. The Startrite bandsaw was used throughout for cutting making light work of it.

The three panels are simply screwed to the bottom rail and the stepped sections are screwed to the plywood. Everything was hand sanded and last night I couldn't at first decide what finish to apply; stain and varnish would look good but might make the workshop look darker? In the end I colour matched to the walls in "Dulux Raspberry Bellini" I'm now glad I did as the rack blends in nicely. I applied the first coat of paint last night and this morning I was in the workshop very early rubbing down and applying the second coat of paint.

With the paint drying I then went into the garage and made ten mounting brackets from salvaged aluminium sheet again cutting out on the bandsaw; all the holes were firstly maked; center popped and drilled as it is always easier to drill a big lump of metal rather than many small pieces. All corners and sharp edges were removed using the homemade belt sander then the brackets were formed by nipping in the big engineering vice and hammering them over. To finish the brackets they were sprayed black and allowed to dry during dinner.

After dinner the paint on the rack and brackets had dried so then it was just a case of screwing the rack to the wall and adding the tools.

           

I can't take credit for the style of the rack or how the tools are located in the rack; whilst watching the following wooden box turning video on YouTube I noticed the rack in use;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT8bRj5Ekmk

There is still a lot more work needed before the workshop will be finished but then I don't think a workshop is ever finished? This has been a very pleasant little project and with something useful at the end.

Yesterday I visited Rufforth once again and bought a selection of items which I didn't know I needed? A few weeks ago I bought some very comfortable shoes from Boundary Mills in Colne (£20 reduced from £40) to wear during my DIY activities but another pair caught my attention yesterday these costing £25 and these are proper safety shoes so I tried one on and bought a pair so now I'm sorted for shoes at last. All the other items were cheap but I still ended up spending around £70. The new shoes are very trendy but will quickly tone down with some serious use.

       

Unfortunately the two items I did want to buy were not available; these being a 3.8M telescopic ladder and paint thinners. What's amazing is that when I've visited previously not wanting paint thinners it has been on sale on at least two stalls; one stall at £25 the other at £20 both per 5L. I only saw one tin of stripper yesterday and at £35 it remained at Rufforth.

I thought I'd add the tool rack detail because it is such a simple thing to make but so useful; the tools can easily be lifted out and replaced as work progresses; previously I've fumbled for tools rolling around under the lathe bed.

Kind regards, Col.

[camallison]

I'm not sure what price you are prepared to pay for the ladders, but I bought mine from http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALUMINIUM-MULT...7675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D335638876425677185%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D170683057495%26

They are just the job and have so far lasted me 2 years with very heavy use.

Colin

[Yorkie]

Nice to see a woodturning video that's by an English turner - most of youtube seem to be American and a bit gimmicky and 'hyper' like Kermit in the Muppet Show, which I find heavy going. Odd though that he refers to the lidded box as 'burl' oak - it's usually Americans who use that term, whereas we usually refer to it as 'burr', as in 'burr walnut veneer' etc. No big deal. He did rather set my teeth on edge by using wire wool, especially on burr where it can snag. If you use wire wool on sanding sealer, it almost always leaves some fragments of steel, and steel reacts with the tannin in oak, turning it black. In fact some woodturners put wire wool in vinegar and use that on oak as an 'ebonising' stain. For small objects like the little wooden box he turned, it can be difficult to sand by using wet and dry as it's not very flexible. Hence, many turners (for competition or gallery pieces at any rate) use 'Abranet. EG:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=abranet&tag=mh0a9-21&index=diy&hvadid=39052860&ref=pd_sl_8my0r8p23e_e

When you put a video on youtube, you never know who's going to watch it, and I dare say some purists will have noticed that at one point he 'sanded the wood to shape' rather than' sanding the shape of the wood'. (Don't we all - I do when no-one is looking over my shoulder!). It's the end result that matters - a nice little box.

As to the paint-stripper Colin, the stuff you are after, which I found at Rufforth a few months back, is 'Paramose' which is industrial strength. You can get it from JC Penny for £21.95 + VAT + P&P, but they do say on their website: "For professional use only - not to be used in premises other than industrial installations". I guess that's meant as a disclaimer to cover themselves and I assume that they don't ask for a company account for you to place an order for it. I dare say other firms sell it too:

http://www.jpennyltd.co.uk/shopping/pgm-...php?id=382

It really is wicked stuff and makes Nitromors seem quite harmless by comparison.

The tool rack looks great - lots of thread chasers there - that's an acquired skill. A famous pro woodturner called John Berkley does a lot of thread chasing, but as he's developed a wood allergy, mostly only turns acrylic these days. Interesting guy - most of what he does is more akin to precision engineering rather than woodturning - intricate puzzles and what not.

[AlanBeckett]

I was surprised that he still had any fingers after the way he sanded the inside. Not to be recommended I wouldn't think.

Alan

[Yorkie]

I was surprised that he still had any fingers after the way he sanded the inside. Not to be recommended I wouldn't think.

Alan

On larger bowls you'd use a flexible sanding arbor with either Velcro attached sanding discs or Abranet, such as this:

http://www.t-jtools.co.uk/abrasive-discs...ing-arbor/

Some are fitted into a power drill, others rotate in a bearing in contact with the revolving object.

He did use paper rather then cloth for polishing, which makes sense and he did explain that he used it for two reasons - safety as it tears, and kitchen paper towels are made from wood, which is good for polishing wood.

He did seem to be a competent experienced turner, though I didn't see him slow the lathe speed down for sanding, but I don't know what speed he was turning at, and in a belt change lathe it is a bit of a pain to change speed. The smaller the diameter the faster the lathe need to run as it's the peripheral speed past the tool that matters as Alan and Colin will know. If you sand a thin-walled bowl, say 10" in diameter, at the same speed it was turned at, it's an invitation to overheat the bowl, possibly generate steam, and cause it to crack. But then anyone who can turn a 10" diameter thin-walled bowl without it flying off the lathe would know that.

[Joe]

The sanding technique is pretty well par for the course, Alan.

The only criticism I'd make, apart from his appearing to have shares in British Tissues, is that the lid is upside-down.

Here's one I made earlier:-

   

It's not properly finished yet and the first man to say "Answer to a maiden's prayer" gets banned.

- Joe

[AlanBeckett]

I'm getting worried about Col with all this pink paint.
Are you having a late life crisis or thinking of moving to Brighton?


Alan

[pwdrive]

The sanding technique is pretty well par for the course, Alan.

The only criticism I'd make, apart from his appearing to have shares in British Tissues, is that the lid is upside-down.

Here's one I made earlier:-



It's not properly finished yet and the first man to say "Answer to a maiden's prayer" gets banned.

- Joe

Ah, that's ok then, it must be a widows memory...

Lawrence.

[Yorkie]

I'm getting worried about Col with all this pink paint.
Are you having a late life crisis or thinking of moving to Brighton?


Alan

Don't forget Colin is colour blind Al - it might look brown to him!

[AlanBeckett]

Ah, of course. My Mrs is Blue/Green colour blind so we've had some dodgy moments over the years
I had an a Uncle who was Red/Green colour blind. He picked all my Dad's green tomatoes one year when we were on holiday.

Alan