Thread: First chance on the lathe for weeks

They look good to me Eisbaer but the photos are a bit dark.

Hi Arthur,

Sorry. I've tried brightening them up a little using a photo editor, but at the same time trying not to distort the colour. Is that any better? It's a decent camera I'm using. It's just that all the lights in my house are very dull on account of their energy saving capacity. The flash on the camera just makes everything go blue so I try not to use it.

Hi mate Carob takes a top finish and I know it is hard to capture the pale pink colouring as well but in the flesh looks great. I sourced mine from a Carob Tree grower half way up the coast in West Australia, Many years ago I saw some at a place in
northern NSW spent 10 yrs looking for it. Like the Forest Oak as well.

Regards Peter.

[quote]Well having been through the bearing drama with the lathe (it's still not quite right... there's a knocking sound but nobody's home[quote]
I have a woodfast with a similar problem only had it since Feb, but the bearings are ok, seems to be the way the motor is mounted ,too much tension on the belt and it makes a knocking noise with the belt off no noise in either motor or bearings and no free play anywhere.Will get it checked one day hehe before warranty is up . Cheers ~ John

Nice looking pens


I had a unusual knocking on my lathe some time ago in the end I found it was the pulley had moved and was just making contact with the indexing pin quickly realign and so far so good I hope your problem is an easy fix as well.

Better indeed Eisbaer!

Again, nice pens. Grain on spalted Forest Oak looks terrific.

thanks rum pig. I thought that too but it's not so simple i'm afraid. Only happens when under heavy load too. New bearings and new belt. If it starts doing it and i remove the spindle and put it back in it fixes it for a while. I think it way have been the handwheel not being tight enough and the spindle moving back and forth as a result. I had a go at it with a strap wrench and now it's going ok. I hope.

Nice work eisbaer. Pens look good. Pictures look pretty good now.

thanks guys. I need a better lighting set up. That'll make it all easier.

I like the Forest Oak best, with all that knocking inside --Its the broken blanks trying to get out! Amos

the forest oak was really hard to finish. I'm not very happy with it because i couldn't get it smooth. Next one i'm stabilizing with glue.

Originally Posted by eisbaer

thanks rum pig. I thought that too but it's not so simple i'm afraid. Only happens when under heavy load too. New bearings and new belt. If it starts doing it and i remove the spindle and put it back in it fixes it for a while. I think it way have been the handwheel not being tight enough and the spindle moving back and forth as a result. I had a go at it with a strap wrench and now it's going ok. I hope.

Be very careful tightening the handwheel, I have seen bearings destroyed in a couple of days by overtightening the handwheel. There is a wave washer on the Jet's and most other lathes between the handwheel and bearings. The idea is to bring the handwheel so it just touches the wave washer when it is cold. This allows for the bearings to expand as they heat up

thanks gary that's what i've done. I think before it was just too loose (could move the spindle back and forth a tiny bit). Gregory's told me they put a slightly tighter bearing on the handwheel side but it seems to spin freely as easily as it always did so no complaints there. The spindle gets hot (still touchable) if i'm running it at top speed for a few hours. It's a jet 1220 in case you're interested. Can't see a wave washer though. Should it have one? I never noticed it before i got the bearings swapped.