Skew ChiDAMN!!
18th September 2007, 07:04 PM
Well... I managed to end todays work with a bang. :rolleyes:
I started roughing a blank I sourced from DJ, around 16"x7.5" square. I really only needed a 12"x6" blank, but who am I to complain about it being oversized? (Thanks again, DJ!)
It's still fairly green and is bloody heavy, so I was anticipating my poor ol' "finishing" MC-900 (the only lathe I have which didn't already have something else mounted on it :-) would have difficulties. I call it my "finishing" lathe 'cos it's not bolted/weighed down in any way; I usually do my roughing/unbalanced work on another beast and xfer over to this one for the final touches.
So, mark the centres, mounted up the blank with some trepidation... and it just cleared the ways! Phew! The banjo wouldn't squeeze under, but there was just room enough between the end of the blank and the tailstock that I could squeeze it in there and use a long rest. I love it when it all comes together. Started the lathe up at min RPM and... well I'll be! A minor vibration, but nowhere near as bad as I was dreading. Woohoo! Out with the roughing gouge and full steam ahead! :2tsup: So, I knocked it down to exactly 6" diameter, then used my 1" skew and a parting tool to square the ends, also making 40x45mm tenons for mounting in the chuck.
Stopped the lathe and... Oh, Bugger! Grub holes here, there and everywhere! :~ But... Hmmm... :think: Break out the plans for the vessel I'm turning, transcribe 'em over to the blank and... Wohhoo! My luck is still holding! Every grub hole looks like it'll be turned away in the final form! (Maybe I should run down to the local NewsAgent and buy some tatts tickets? :D)
55980
So I thinks to myself "That's enough for today, tomorrow I'll start on the form" and started cleaning up. But then I thought, "the grain looks nice, maybe I'll just clean it up a tad so I can see it clearly."
Out came the 1" skew again, just lightly touched it to the wood and... *BANG!* But nothing seemed to go UFO...? Shut down the lathe to inspect the wood. It's fine. No sign of a dig in or anything like that. :? What gives? Start the lathe up again, introduce the skew and it started chattering like the blazes. Then I realised I was bleeding on it... :oo:
Have a closer look and... that's not right! I'd snapped the last inch off (no wonder it was chattering!) and gashed the ball of my LH thumb... :( I think it borke where 'twas resting on the toolrest and my thumb would've been right over it. Didn't feel a thing, until I realised I was leaking! :rolleyes:
55981
I shut everything down and headed inside to find a band-aid, and on my way out the door noticed the missing piece of skew. Some 15' behind where I was working. Glad I didn't cop that in the face. [Phew!]
And it had been such a good day until then!
I started roughing a blank I sourced from DJ, around 16"x7.5" square. I really only needed a 12"x6" blank, but who am I to complain about it being oversized? (Thanks again, DJ!)
It's still fairly green and is bloody heavy, so I was anticipating my poor ol' "finishing" MC-900 (the only lathe I have which didn't already have something else mounted on it :-) would have difficulties. I call it my "finishing" lathe 'cos it's not bolted/weighed down in any way; I usually do my roughing/unbalanced work on another beast and xfer over to this one for the final touches.
So, mark the centres, mounted up the blank with some trepidation... and it just cleared the ways! Phew! The banjo wouldn't squeeze under, but there was just room enough between the end of the blank and the tailstock that I could squeeze it in there and use a long rest. I love it when it all comes together. Started the lathe up at min RPM and... well I'll be! A minor vibration, but nowhere near as bad as I was dreading. Woohoo! Out with the roughing gouge and full steam ahead! :2tsup: So, I knocked it down to exactly 6" diameter, then used my 1" skew and a parting tool to square the ends, also making 40x45mm tenons for mounting in the chuck.
Stopped the lathe and... Oh, Bugger! Grub holes here, there and everywhere! :~ But... Hmmm... :think: Break out the plans for the vessel I'm turning, transcribe 'em over to the blank and... Wohhoo! My luck is still holding! Every grub hole looks like it'll be turned away in the final form! (Maybe I should run down to the local NewsAgent and buy some tatts tickets? :D)
55980
So I thinks to myself "That's enough for today, tomorrow I'll start on the form" and started cleaning up. But then I thought, "the grain looks nice, maybe I'll just clean it up a tad so I can see it clearly."
Out came the 1" skew again, just lightly touched it to the wood and... *BANG!* But nothing seemed to go UFO...? Shut down the lathe to inspect the wood. It's fine. No sign of a dig in or anything like that. :? What gives? Start the lathe up again, introduce the skew and it started chattering like the blazes. Then I realised I was bleeding on it... :oo:
Have a closer look and... that's not right! I'd snapped the last inch off (no wonder it was chattering!) and gashed the ball of my LH thumb... :( I think it borke where 'twas resting on the toolrest and my thumb would've been right over it. Didn't feel a thing, until I realised I was leaking! :rolleyes:
55981
I shut everything down and headed inside to find a band-aid, and on my way out the door noticed the missing piece of skew. Some 15' behind where I was working. Glad I didn't cop that in the face. [Phew!]
And it had been such a good day until then!