The chipmunks are using my lathe...

[ozmandus]

I have a Jet 1442 and had to change a belt the other day... the change went smooth and everything back together and working fine... for a while... then suddenly, with a 12" bowl blank on the faceplate, the lathe went from 450 rpm to somewhere around 1200 rpm... that in and of itself was exciting...suddenly to have an out of balance propeller whirling in your face...

I opened the headstock to see what was the problem and discovered I had a slipped "C" or something that let the Reeves unit slip and jam against the housing.... since it was near the end of the day, I just left it for the next day, but it turned really cold for this area and I haven't been back to the shop for about 4 or 5 days..

This morning I went out to take a look.. it's still about 36 or 38 in the shop, but I have a new heater and decided I would try to fix the lathe... when I shined a light inside to take a better look, this is what I found.

I don't know how they got that grub screw out... gonna have to take away their allen wrenches I guess..

About 3 weeks ago, I discovered two or three caches of these in my big tool box.. in two different drawers... they probably knew this cold weather was on the way.

[brendan stemp]

I reckon that would have to go down as one of the more unusual causes for lathe problems. A great story, thanks for sharing it with us.

[oldiephred]

I started my drill press awile ago and after it ran for about two minutes there was a loud thump. When I opened the belt cove I found a squirrel in a state of confusion and a lot of acorn. It's tail had gone between the belt and pulley. No damage to the drill press.

[tea lady]

I just get those wasps that build mud nests full of paralyzed spiders. A real pain when they build one in a tea pot spout. I guess they'll discover the hole in the head stock at some point.

[Ed Reiss]

coulda' been worse ozmandus ...timber rattler or rabid possum come to mind

[Rum Pig]

I took Friday off work so I could do some turning. I have not been able to do any turning for over a month due to rain I think it is around 800mm in 5 weeks anyway.
i went out removed my lathe cover only to find flying termites all over my lathe and in all my draws and box's they were at lest 50mm thick on my lathe and the early arrival's had died and started to smell
So I spent all morning cleaning my lathe area so i could do some turning. I stopped for lunch and you guessed it, it started to rain so I did not even turn 1 pen bring on the dry season.

[tea lady]

I took Friday off work so I could do some turning. I have not been able to do any turning for over a month due to rain I think it is around 800mm in 5 weeks anyway.
i went out removed my lathe cover only to find flying termites all over my lathe and in all my draws and box's they were at lest 50mm thick on my lathe and the early arrival's had died and started to smell
So I spent all morning cleaning my lathe area so i could do some turning. I stopped for lunch and you guessed it, it started to rain so I did not even turn 1 pen bring on the dry season.

Weird! Wonder why they were attracted there. Do they like CA?

[Rum Pig]

Weird! Wonder why they were attracted there. Do they like CA?

Could be all the shavings that I did not clean up

This time of year they send thousands and thousands of them in search of a new home and they do not care where they go but the do head for light and there is a light on over my lathe. Anyone who has lived up hear through a wet season will know what I'm talking about and remember waking up to finding your floor cover in their wings

[hughie]

Welcome aboard , one of the best introductions I've read in a while.

[Sawdust Maker]

Yeah
welcome to the Aussie forum the font of all knowledge - if we don't know it we'll make it up

Not bad, squirrels in the lathe, best I can say is possums knocking things off shelves etc (bluudy things)

[rotten_66]

Here was I thinking that the kids have started turning, but no you mean real chipmunks!!


Ron

[Manuka Jock]

I was trying to figure out how your lathe sounded like a 45 record playing at 78

[IanW]

I just get those wasps that build mud nests full of paralyzed spiders. A real pain when they build one in a tea pot spout. I guess they'll discover the hole in the head stock at some point.

TL - I got fed up with the damn things using the spindle hole of my old Woodfast & made a wooden plug for it. In a moment of inspiration I made it as a hand-wheel. It's just a bit of Tea-tree, which happened to be the right size, but it has lasted for many years more than I expected, & has been a boon!

The mud-dauber wasps are a pest, alright, and there's enough water in the mud they use to leave a nasty rust patch on bare metal. But they have a cousin who builds its pupal houses from a hard, waxy secretion that glues tools in a drawer together better than Araldite - it's a real bear of a job to get that stuff off!

Cheers,

[ozmandus]

coulda' been worse ozmandus ...timber rattler or rabid possum come to mind

Fortunately it's been too cold for snakes.. don't know if we have timber rattlers in my area or not... know we have copperheads and black snakes..

The 'possums keep getting out on the road .. guess it's easier traveling, but a lot of these boys in Tennessee use their cars as hunting weapons... 'possums, raccoons and Skunks are major road kill here... in Texas we also had armadillos, but they haven't migrated this far north yet.

[ozmandus]

I just get those wasps that build mud nests full of paralyzed spiders. A real pain when they build one in a tea pot spout. I guess they'll discover the hole in the head stock at some point.

I don't worry too much about the dirt daubers...they will pretty much leave you along... I had one use the key slot on my riding lawn mower as a nesting place... imagine my shock when I tried to put the key in to mow and it was full of dirt.... cleaned it out and now must leave the key in place.. fixed his(or her) wagon.

We have red wasps here that build paper honeycombed nests around under eaves, and other sheltered places.. my ship has a form of corrugated metal on the outside and the inside walls are all sheathed with peg board... they love the inside of my walls for their nests... I don't mind as long as they stay outside the shop.... but my dust collector shed is also outside the shop and I have to open it and spray the nests there before I can clean the DC... they get a little irate about me messing around in there and their stings hurt.

We also have a ground wasp, called a yellowjacket... they burrow in the ground and if you walk over the nest or in my case push a lawnmower over it, they'll swarm out and since they are about 1/2 the size of the red wasps, harder to see... I got zapped 3 times one day while mowing before I found the nest and put a stop to that nonsense.. I was mowing in shorts and the first one hit me on the calf just above the ankle... the other two went for the back of the leg, just about where the shorts ended... I don't normally dance, but I did that day.