First Time Turning

[Robson Valley]

I maintain a couple of diverse sets of full-sized wood lathe tools (Sorby & Brand X).
For that, I get lathe time.
I want to turn a 10cm x 45cm pastry pin. No handles. The stock is good, dry birch, about 30 - 35mm thick, maybe 150mm wide. Really nice wood and medium hard.
1. Can I plan from a circle and do a glue-up of pieces?
2. By the time I get down to maybe 11cm, I want this pin to be a true straight, very even cylinder. Any tricks to help that along?

[chuck1]

I turn alot of French rolling pins the finished product is 48mm diameter and 500 long my blanks are 30 to 35mm thick 60mm wide and 550 long to allow trim up and board slippage when gluing up, I use tite bond in the blue bottle! I have to turn some today and take some photos!

[sjm]

I want this pin to be a true straight, very even cylinder. Any tricks to help that along?
Use calipers to turn a small tenon on each end to the exact size required (or slightly larger), then hold a straight edge (metal ruler) along the piece.

[Tim the Timber Turner]

To get it dead straight and true I suggest you sand it with a piece of 100mm wide abrasive stapled to a flat board.

This will remove any slight variations in the surface.

Cheers

Tim:)

[Robson Valley]

Thanks. I'm starting to get excited about this. I used my biggest pin (70x330) yesterday. Still believe that what I want to make will be useful.
So.
Next question: How close an approximation to a cylinder do I need to make before turning?

[Paul39]

Thanks. I'm starting to get excited about this. I used my biggest pin (70x330) yesterday. Still believe that what I want to make will be useful.
So.
Next question: How close an approximation to a cylinder do I need to make before turning?

Turning is what makes square things round. Use a roughing gouge to get to round and then the skew to smooth, then sand. You could cut off the corners with a saw or a jointer, or a hand plane, but the roughing gouge is faster.

If you are not absolutely sure of your glue up, and even if you are, round the ends of your spindle first and do 2 or 3 wraps of tape around the ends. It is not pleasant to get a mouthful of sticks at 1000 rpm.

If you have not ever turned anything, you really need to do some practice pieces first.

I hope with the use of a lathe you get some instruction.

Here are some of my adventures with spindles:

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/skewing-around-165116/

[Robson Valley]

Thanks for the link, Paul. Interesting read.
Maybe I should make 3 rolling pins. If I get lucky, I'll give them to my D1 & D2.
Murphy's Law of Thirds says that one should look OK. I'm in no rush, even if the glue-up took weeks.
In the meantime, the birch wood is really cheap. I can pick out any board I like
for $3 each. Worst case is about $0.85/bdft (25 x 300 x 300) There are a couple hundred boards to look at, figure I will take stuff right off the top (other wood carving projects in mind.)
The rest of it is stashed up some mountainside in a failed housing build. Owner #2 thinks there's maybe a km of birch in there.

[joe greiner]

While turning the piece, periodically position yourself so that you observe the edge of the lathe bed beyond; or with the slot if more convenient. Align the surface with edge. If the bed is parallel to the spindle axis, the cylinder will be perfect (or perfect enough).

Cheers,
Joe

[Paul39]

While turning the piece, periodically position yourself so that you observe the edge of the lathe bed beyond; or with the slot if more convenient. Align the surface with edge. If the bed is parallel to the spindle axis, the cylinder will be perfect (or perfect enough).

Cheers,
Joe

HA! That is the easy part. Making the accursed skew follow that line is the fun part.

Hi Joe.

[jimbur]

While turning the piece, periodically position yourself so that you observe the edge of the lathe bed beyond; or with the slot if more convenient. Align the surface with edge. If the bed is parallel to the spindle axis, the cylinder will be perfect (or perfect enough). Cheers, Joe
Perfect enough says it all Joe. Once it's in the hands of a cook you can blame any problems on, well on the cook.:D

[Robson Valley]

jimbur: Please: a 'cook' or a 'chef?' Thanks for all the advice.
I supose that for rolling pie crusts and pizza, straight is far more important to me than flat. Some taper = so be it. But, straight? Critical to my kitchen joy.

I broke the handle axle in my (otherwise) big pin. Never fixed it because that allowed me to stand the pin on end on the bench. I'm accustomed to doing that with my wood carving mallets so it was no leap of faith.

[Christos]

....I supose that for rolling pie crusts and pizza, straight is far more important to me than flat. Some taper = so be it. But, straight? .....


It you are going to do Chinese cooking then you need a rolling pin that is a slightly thicker in the middle, no handles and be able to use in one hand. Meaning thinner then the traditional European.

P.S. Look up dumplings and you will know what I mean.

[Robson Valley]

I've been using an Imperia pasta machine for years. The guts seem as tight as when I bought it. That takes all the guess work out of making spring roll & potsticker wrappers, as well as pastas. Once I got the hang of it, the whole process is fun to do.
Tried a Schule a few times. Feels like the gear set is just plain sloppy.
I have an Atlas ravioli press (messy) but I've never used an Atlas pasta machine.

Some days, I just like to roll out crust (pie & pizza) and take my time. I've learned to judge the thickness, when to lean right or left. I considered repairing the handles that I broke off my big pin but being able to stand it up in a corner is a far greater advantage. My dough formulas make 6 pies with tops (eg apple) and 3 x 14" pizzas respectively, provided that I do a good job of rolling.

I just want a bigger pin that fits my front paws. Without hurting myself, my handspan is 10"/250mm.

[chuck1]

these are my rolling pins, my wife does cake decorating so finish is important sanded through to 400 with lathe on then with the grain then a few coats of butchers block conditioner, when turning I use calipers and measure every 120 mm then blend them. I make mine 50mm diameter and 500mm long. from the back we have blue gum, Tassie oak and jarrah.

[Christos]

Very nicely made and thank you for the update.

Will have to see what Robson comes up with.