My lathe

[new_guy90]

ok im finally going to post my pic's of my lathe and everything thanks everyone who helped me before. hope you like them

heres the wood lathe it took a bit of work to take it apart, bolt it down and get it to run true but its going good very fun :U we have been having some bad storms so its very wet down there and we had to put the little fridge on the bench so its never that clutterd up there ok, behind the headstock covered by the plastic bag is my 8" grinder still need to dress it and make a jig for it.
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0444.jpg

standard accessories 2 face plates 1 as a screw chuck, drive center, live center, 2 tool rests and a Jacobs chuck. the yellow thing is my bad attempt to make a drum sander.
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0446.jpg

here are the chisels that came with it. there are 3 roughing out gouges (one really large:) ), 2 skew chisels, 2 square end scrapers, 1 parting tool, 1 bowel gouge and one home made square end scraper made from a file (wont be using that)
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0411.jpg

if the pics are to big just tell me im not sure how big there meant to be :? C&C welcome

[Pat]

NG90, Good looking lathe. 1 thing, don't discount the home made bodgy tools from old files. I received a few when I first got my lathe, although now I have replaced the majority, I keep the rest to utilise for spares or to grind a specific profile.

[orraloon]

Welcome to turning NG.
The lathe looks to be in good nick. Grab some wood and go for it.

Regards
John

[Ed Reiss]

Looks like your all set to turn some good stuff NG!:2tsup:

Like the stand...is it Federal or Victorian style?::roll:

[rsser]

Cool.

One of those tools looks like an old Henry Taylor. Good score.

So what do you use a bowel gouge for? Decorative or functional pieces ... :wink:

[tea lady]

So what do you use a bowel gouge for? Decorative or functional pieces ... :wink:

That sof rhwn the frustration gets Tooooooooo much. Maybe should be in one of those "break glass in emergency" cabinets.:rolleyes:

Looks great NG.:2tsup: Now all you need is woodshavings and it'll be perfect.:cool:

[new_guy90]

wood shavings lol yeah i have had a go on it just practicing spindles with some pine, used the screw chuck that was fun. the bench is just a large work desk from life line, 2 draws and heaps of space at the back for the grinder and any other gear. ill keep the file but wont need it much, its a square nose scraper i have 2 more one larger and one smaller so i really wouldn't need it, could round the nose for the insides of bowels. right now i want a spindle gouge (sick of the dig-ins from the skew chisels in small beads) but that will have to wait a bit longer

i have a wood class tomorrow (i hope the club is ok there close to a river and with all the rain we have been having:?) and hopefully the shed will be dry enough to get some practice in. ill post pic's of what i have done so far latter

thanks for the comments

[new_guy90]

damn it, damn it, i know, i know i was meant to post these pic's yesterday, i uploaded them ........but i just forgot to ..........so with out any delay here they are my good work i have turned so fare, there is the first spindle i made just in crap pine, a plinth i made i think its in gum, a goblet/scoop i didn't want to chop it but it was :( and lastly my Camphaloral bowl i finished yesterday morning very fun now i know why everyone likes making bowls
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0452.jpg

hope you like them

[Manuka Jock]

Nice work NG :)

[Ed Reiss]

NG...yep, your well and truly hooked on turning....no going back now, mate:doh::no: lol

[new_guy90]

yeah im hooked :doh: lol this could get bad

so this is my second post here today after posting the pic's this morning i did more work in the shop. first i was playing around with a bit of scrap in my screw chuck, wasnt to good just turning it down and the like in the end i got it very small (then it broke lol) so i made a chess piece. the wood was crap so it wasn't ever going to be really good, i don't have any proper finish but i was thinking about using candle wax so i gave it a try and amazingly IT WORKED :U latter on i went back down to to the shed to make a plain blade for a block plain im fixing (ok i neglected it in the first place) i made it out of an old wood saw blade and gridded it to shape, its not yet finished just a bit more honing to go but then i remembered that i needed to remake the plastic fittings that i didn't like (and broke :() so i looked around for some good wood to do it. i found a piece of wood that i thought was good, the old man i got it off told me that it was from a door and was very old! that was my mistake i cant remember what it was but after turning it down between centers and putting it in the screw chuck, it didn't hold it spun around on the tread i even took it off and put the other (that didn't have a clearance hole) end on the screw, lathe running and it went strait on and striped the tread, no go anyway i did it! so i scraped it after looking at it i realized it was to soft and to dry. i looked around and i have some hardwood posts that i didn't want to use because i because i dint want to cut it up :(( i did, i cut a 15cm blank, turned it down and decided i could make a "nob" for the steel rod that pushes out the drive dog and centers out of the tapers in the lathe. i put it in the the screw chuck (see pic's below) and was fine for a most of the time but came out at the end :(( some screws through the face plate fixed that. it sanded very good and i finished it with the candle wax and it looked very good. tomorrow or latter this week ill turn up the fittings for the plane latter from the same blank. sorry for going on but once you start well you get it here are some pic's

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0462.jpg
see the candle on the banjo?
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0468.jpg
from start to finish, the post, the blank and the finished nob on the steel rod
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0470.jpg
my block plain i cleaned up/painted and the plastic fittings i hate (broke) that ill replace latterhttp://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0473.jpg
please tell me if the pictures are to big so i can re-crop them, hope you like them :U

[Ed Reiss]

NG....trial & error and experimentation are a good way to gain experience turning:2tsup: ...your doing OK!!

[Rum Pig]

HI NG

Looks like you are really getting into turning:U
your bowl and bits and pieces look good that is a dark piece of CL you.

[new_guy90]

did some more turning today. made replacement fittings for my block planes broken plastic ones out of the hard wood from yesterday. the flutes on the "tensioning wheel" was made by using my indexing head and a rat tail file, finished it with the candle wax again and used a hairdryer to melt it unto the flutes worked out well. the next was the nob fairly strait forward finished the same way. anyway here are some pic's

heres a comparison of the new and broken old fittings
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0492.jpg
assembled plane
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/100_0495.jpg
there are more pic's on my photo bucket heres a link if anyone wants to see
http://s366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/Stag_hound27/
hope you like them it was very fun making them :U

[tea lady]

Doing really well there. :cool: Nice knobs.:D That's a very looooooong bit of wood to be holding on a screw chuck.

[new_guy90]

really tea lady? at it longest i think it was 15 or 20cm long but it did slip out at one stage and spin in the thread but i just put it back on and kept on turning after i finished the big ball nob for the steel rod i put 2 extra screws in the face plate and had no problems.

[Manuka Jock]

really tea lady? at it longest i think it was 15 or 20cm long but it did slip out at one stage and spin in the thread but i just put it back on and kept on turning after i finished the big ball nob for the steel rod i put 2 extra screws in the face plate and had no problems.

NG ,
it pays to put every screw in . If a screwhole has wood behind it , fill it .
With the longest screws possible .
Bring up the tailstock , and keep it there for as long as possible .

Think safety , and safety , with a bit of safety thrown in for safety's sake .

[Robomanic]

Great work NG! Good to see another one validating my addiction, I mean getting enthusiastic...

one thing you will learn pretty quick is that you don't get a lot of warning about when something is going to leave the lathe. I would suggest really pulling on any workpiece you mount, if you get any movement between it and what you're holding it with - it needs more screws or a flatter face to mount to. If the base is solid but the piece is long and you get flex within the piece, then tread carefully and vibration will slow you down.

I recommend wearing a full face shield until you know what is not going to break your nose. Wish I still had pictures of the aftermath of my second segmented piece flying apart. That was spectacular!

[Stu in Tokyo]

All looks good NG!

I had one of them, or at least a very similar one as my first lathe, just before I sold it, I blinged it up a bit. :D

89654 89655 89656

It was a good lathe to learn on, and I got a LOT of use from it :2tsup:

The linked belt really improved how smooth it ran.

Best of luck!

[ozziozzi]

Hi mates, this is my first post on this thread and meant to be helpful for YG90 and others with this type of lathe. I am just past the novice stage, but certainly no expert. I am interested in lathe work, furniture restoration, building renovation and general woodworking/carpentry.

NG90 Great work on a lathe which I find sometimes frustrating to adjust and a bit lightweight for bigger pieces. Roughing 300mm unbalanced stock requires skill and daring and is best tackled with low speed and the live-centre tailstock holding the timber hard up to the faceplate (as many screws as you can put in!!!) until you get to a rough cylinder. Otherwise vibration tends to shake lathe, bench and operator and has the potential to maim operator if stock flies off. I have witnessed a professional woodturner who received a minor injury. The only reason it was minor was because he was wearing a full faceshield and hardhat combo.

I bought my lathe--based on the old 50s American Craftsman but made in Taiwan--second hand, including accessories such as 4 rests (one curved for inside bowls!), 2 faceplates, spare tailstock, spare bolt levers etcetera.

After using it for awhile I compared it with a friends VL300 :C I decided it needed a few repairs and mods. i replaced headstock and live tailstock ballbearings and that **really** made it run smoother and quieter. Slight "notchiness/jerky" rotation & vibration I put down to drive belt/pulleys and fact that tension depends on weight of motor, which is free to move up and down to allow pulley/speed changes. I might try segmented belt mentioned in previous post, although I have bought polyurethane belt which should run smoother over pulleys. Ultimate fix is variable-speed DC motor fixed to benchtop.

Two things I really dislike are the tailstock adjustments and tool rest (banjo) which are OH&S nightmares. Tailstock travel is too little (~ 45mm) for drilling pen blanks and operating knob is difficult to turn. I modified the adjustment levers by replacing 8mm bolt/levers with large fluted plastic knobs which I find are easier to adjust.

I would appreciate info from anyone who may have modified the tailstock and banjo so they more like Vicmarc or similar lathes. i know there are cheap lathes that are better than mine, but I can't justify further outlay at present.

PS One thing I AM glad I bought was Vicmarc VM90 chuck which is as smooth as silk to operate and a good match for my lathe.

[new_guy90]

Stu In Tokyo: you have posted that lathe on the net before somewhere else right? i seen your lathe before LONG before. i think its a Japanese made lathe as i have seen yet another just like it from a another guy in japan, he has made some great stuff with his and there is heaps of stuff like modes for it on his website. its good to hear from someone who has the same machine as i do :U thanks for your impute :2tsup:

when i was using the screw chuck for that big piece of hard wood i first roughed it down between centers and concaved the end i was going to screw it into. after that i felt very safe with it and i used the tail stock for support in the early stages it was only near the end of the second piece that it started to come lose, and after that was done i put new screws in it held very firmly and i was comfortable that it would not come off. in future i will take more measures to protect myself yeah i REALLY don't want it to come out!

ozziozzi: good to hear from you and good to hear that you have worked on your lathe
i think its very importaint to try and improve machines that can do better. you lathe is a craftsman right, cast iron, is it one of those cool art deco ones from the 1930's or40's? i love those lathes they look cool and if i had the choice i probably would have gone with it (and the more problems it probably had :( what can i say im a sucker:q) you asked about modifying the banjo? is it a cam-lock ie has a leaver at the end you turn to tighten and loosen it, or does it have (like mine :(() a screw right in the middle of it? theres no hope for min banjo as it is a bar bed lathe and the cam lock wont work oh and th screw handle broke last night :(( have to fix that latter.

now were talking about problems, mine was very loud when i first bolted it down i worked out the belt cover was vibrating to much so a screw fixed that and rubber feet on the table fixed most of the rest, its not really quiet but im very happy with it now. th tails stock is a pain in the ass the quill is bad the locking system for the bed is very bad it works but badly, oh and i have to be careful that its not off center like it is when its not locked to the bed :((. i don't think the lathe will take to heavy a chuck but thats latter. overall im not to worried about the lathe ill just give it more work

thanks for posting everyone its great to hear from you all:)

[Stu in Tokyo]

Hey NG, yes, I've posted that old lathe before, I sold it in June of 2006, as I got my DVR 3000 that month. It was an old 60's era Craftsman from the US, a buddy there had it and did not need it, so he sent it to me for free, well I paid the shipping :D

The guy your refer to in Japan has the Chinese knock off of the old C-man lathe, I think they call it a WT-300. It is very lightweight compared to the old C-man, and the tube bed is actually two pieces, held together by on very long bolt, it vibrates badly. >> LINK HERE (http://homepage3.nifty.com/manasan/diy/turning/turn-1.htm) << Those pages are in Japanese, he has some English pages, somewhere :? You can still look at the pictures. He has done a lot of amazing stuff with that lathe, but he also has access to an end mill and a metal working lathe :2tsup:

Cheers!

[Big Shed]

Some intersting stuff there Stu, thanks:2tsup:

English pages are HERE (http://homepage3.nifty.com/manasan/english/index.htm)

Particularly like his vacuum chuck and the eccentric chuck, some real ingenuity there.

[ozziozzi]

i think its very importaint to try and improve machines that can do better. you lathe is a craftsman right, cast iron, is it one of those cool art deco ones from the 1930's or40's?

MY lathe looks *exactly* like yours and _like_ the Craftsman, BUT made in Taiwan ie: a reverse-engineered copy, probably made in the 60s or 70s. I guess you could call it Art Deco, but most AD pieces I have seen are usually better to look at :wink:

now were talking about problems, mine was very loud when i first bolted it down i worked out the belt cover was vibrating to much so a screw fixed that and rubber feet on the table fixed most of the rest, its not really quiet but im very happy with it now.

That thin desk top may act like a sound board in a piano to amplify vibration from the lathe. A heavier stand is usually better. For example, my recycled materials bench top is two layers of 19mm plywood glued and screwed together with plywood on edge as braces underneath. Legs are similar construction. I fitted adjustable pads on bottom of legs to level lathe and make up for uneven concrete floor. That helped too. Many people bolt their cast iron lathe stand to the concrete floor or load up a low shelf with sand bags to stop the lathe moving when they are roughing out an unbalanced bit of wood.

Try checking that the belt runs from the motor to the headstock pulley parallel with flat rear part of headstock. Undo set screws on either pulley to adjust this alignment. Once I replaced the bearings and lined up the pulleys, all I could hear was the hum from the motor and a bit of noise from the belt running over the pulleys. :2tsup: If I pushed the motor down gently there was even less noise and vibration. A spring to hold down the motor may be useful. I am open to suggestions.

oh and i have to be careful that its not off center like it is when its not locked to the bed :((.

That's A PITA about that design. The cylindrical bed is not as good as a flat one--too much movement/rotation. Tailstock is difficult to centre unless you tighten every lock bolt almost to breaking point--much more than normal hand/finger tightness.

i don't think the lathe will take to heavy a chuck

VM90 chuck with M30 X 3.5 adapter seems a good match on my lathe. I also bought some long-nose jaws for VM90 which are good for the type of job you did with the ball or for centre-drilling small (down to 20mm) stock like pen blanks. I also used them for drilling and turning a piece of white Delrin (Nylon) to make bearings and drillbit depth stops. Better than wood or rubber as it doesn't mark wood when it hits or blunt the drillbit if it spins.

[new_guy90]

wow yeah thanks for all the tips everyone
stu: yeah i found the pages in English and it was only much latter i worked out they were from Japan :p

ozziozzi: thanks for the tips mine is a copy that has 2 parts in the bed that was weird to put together even more weird was the long bolt to attach it has a square thread now you don't see many of them. i did take the top pulley off a few times to mark out the locking holes and stuff so ill check there aligned. good to hear it should take a chuck but that will have to wait:(

did some practice on some REALLY badly soft pine just trying to get the best out of my skew chisels as i don't have a spindle gouge, it wasn't to bad just beads and stuff oh and the next time i use my screw chuck ill put more screws in the face plate if i can

thanks for the tips and comments

[Manuka Jock]

The guy your refer to in Japan has the Chinese knock off of the old C-man lathe, I think they call it a WT-300. It is very lightweight compared to the old C-man, and the tube bed is actually two pieces, held together by on very long bolt, it vibrates badly. >> LINK HERE (http://homepage3.nifty.com/manasan/diy/turning/turn-1.htm) << Those pages are in Japanese, he has some English pages, somewhere :? You can still look at the pictures. He has done a lot of amazing stuff with that lathe, but he also has access to an end mill and a metal working lathe :2tsup:

Cheers!
Exellant work alright
This setup that he has here (http://homepage3.nifty.com/manasan/english/index.htm) is well done , and the wee bowl is great .

Stu , I am curious what the word 'mana' in "Craft House Mana" means in Japanese , if it is from that reo , or if it is the 'english' word .
We have the the word in NZ , in te reo Maori , and it is not the biblical 'mana' either.

[Stu in Tokyo]

...................Stu , I am curious what the word 'mana' in "Craft House Mana" means in Japanese , if it is from that reo , or if it is the 'english' word .
We have the the word in NZ , in te reo Maori , and it is not the biblical 'mana' either.

Honestly, I have no idea, nothing comes to mind, it could just be a nickname?

Cheers!