Newbie - Thick but keen and been away for 7 years

[WaggaSteve]

I am relatively new to woodturning ( and fairly thick) and whilst I had some primitive bits, I have been away from my place near the salt air (and rust) for the last 7 years. No its not the wheelie bin joke - I was working in Angola and not in jail except for the last couple of days (long story involving $50 m of corruption and deportation).

Anyway I now have 3 major challenges:
1 I have purchased an oldish Coronet No 3 lathe and seek some advice - specifically if I want to make wooden face plates using a tap (which I have never used), what size (spindle is apparently 3/4" x 16 tpi) and are there any other specifics I need to supply eg right handed or any sources you can recommend. Also my few bits are MT2 but Coronet is MT1 - any idea if/where converters are available or any alternative advice
2 I did have some bits eg a Vicmarc chuck but the time away hasnt been kind to them so am looking for advice on rust loosening.
3 I have a woodfast 280 but no manual and little help from woodfast. Anyone got access to an electronic copy of the manual

Thanks in advance and any advice on working in Africa gladly given though I didnt bring any wood back as I was actually lucky to escape
Steve

[smiife]

Hi steve,
Welcome back and welcome to the forum,
can, t help with your lathe but I am sure someone will
help you sort it out:U

[TermiMonster]

Record lathes use 3/4" 16TPI, if that helps (or the old ones did, anyway)
TM

[BobL]

I'm not sure tapping a piece of wood to direct mount a faceplate onto a headstock thread is a good idea.
Normally a steel flange is used and a piece of wood attached to that.

Anyway a 3/4" 16tpi tap costs $16 at McJing
https://mcjing.com.au/categorybrowser.aspx?categoryid=50

An Mt1 female to MT2 female adapter can also be purchased from McJing
https://mcjing.com.au/categorybrowser.aspx?categoryid=37

There are as many Rust removal recipes as their are brands of soap.
Some are quick, maybe too quick and can leave you with a black puddle and very little metal
Others like electrolysis are quick and safe but require a bit of gear and know how.
A very safe but slow way is using a 10% solution of molasses/water put it in there for a couple of days, inspect and keep repeating this until you are happy

[Treecycle]

This should be the adapter you need for the drills as per BobL's suggestion.
342748 342749

[Paul39]

Waggasteve,

For removing rust I like white vinegar. It works gently, is cheap and available at your grocery store.

Put your chuck in a plastic container and cover with vinegar, keep in a warm place and have a look the next day. Scrub with an old tooth brush. Still rusty, let it sit another day. When you see gray metal it is done.

A friend gave me a .32 revolver that had been stored with pool chlorine. It was rusty and locked up. I soaked it in hot vinegar to start, and kept scrubbing and wiggling for 10 days. I got it to work and shoot, but it is ugly and pitted, part chrome, part gray metal. See below for before photo.

After the outside is done try to open and shut the jaws, don't force, just get some movement and let soak, then more movement and soak. When you can easily take the chuck apart, soak all the bits some more until all the rust is gone.

Get a pot of boiling water and put all the pieces in it, swish around for a minute and pour off the water and put all the bits on some newspaper, IMMEDIATELY dry and oil them.

Muriatic acid (dilute Hydrochloric) works faster but the fumes will make everything in your shed rust. Dilute Sulfuric will work faster yet. I soaked a piece of auto sheet metal in dilute Sulfuric overnight and pulled out a piece of steel lace the next morning.

Considering the cost of MT1 to MT2 adapters, you might be better off buying new MT1 drive and live tail centers. Also the adapters take up space between centers and if there is the slightest misalignment it will be magnified at the end of the adapter.

Some chuck manufacturers make a drive center that fits in the chuck. I have a Oneway chuck that stays on the lathe all the time. When I want to do a spindle I put the spur drive center in the chuck.

Good to hear you got back home with your hide intact.

[issatree]

Hi Steve,
You will find pieces for your Lathe quite expensive, as most of them are No.1 Morse taper, not much around in 3/4in.16UNF.TPI.
Because of the 2 Bars, they Bounce a bit when Turning a bit over their size.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but maybe the wise thing to do is to find a more recent Lathe, that almost certainly will have No.2 M/T, & 30 x 3.5 Thread on it.

[BobL]

. . . . Get a pot of boiling water and put all the pieces in it, swish around for a minute and pour off the water and put all the bits on some newspaper, IMMEDIATELY dry and oil them. .

If the object has lots of narrow gaps and cracks that cannot be checked to see if all the rust has been removed, then rinsing the vinegar off with regular water and then distilled water and then boiling in distilled water will convert any remaining red rust into black iron oxide which is a bit better than the red oxide. This is the principle behind basic metal bluing.

[WaggaSteve]

Thanks for the response.
My limited experience is that wood turners are enormously generous with their knowledge and time but also have a wicked sense of humour. Given that, is the molasses advice a look for the stripped paint issue for a newbie or real. If real, I am assuming 10% molasses 90% water - any thing else I need to know - eye of newt involved anywhere cause they're hard to find nowadays
Re the faceplate - I am assuming the concern is that the wood isnt actually that strong . Are you recommending I buy a nut and implant/glue it inot the wood (if so any idea what I should ask for) or that I should use the tap to make a fitting in steel (again I assume inserted into the wood and again what should I ask for

Thanks in advance
Steve


I'm not sure tapping a piece of wood to direct mount a faceplate onto a headstock thread is a good idea.
Normally a steel flange is used and a piece of wood attached to that.

Anyway a 3/4" 16tpi tap costs $16 at McJing
https://mcjing.com.au/categorybrowser.aspx?categoryid=50

An Mt1 female to MT2 female adapter can also be purchased from McJing
https://mcjing.com.au/categorybrowser.aspx?categoryid=37

There are as many Rust removal recipes as their are brands of soap.
Some are quick, maybe too quick and can leave you with a black puddle and very little metal
Others like electrolysis are quick and safe but require a bit of gear and know how.
A very safe but slow way is using a 10% solution of molasses/water put it in there for a couple of days, inspect and keep repeating this until you are happy

[Treecycle]

No the Molasses is not a newbie joke. I have not used it myself, but have heard about it in the past as being an effective solution.
For your face plate, buy a nut that fits your headstock spindle and weld it centrally to a round disc. Drill 3 or 4 holes through it to put screws through. Cut out a wooden disc and screw it on to the front of the steel disc using the screw holes. This wooden disc can be trued up and used to attach other pieces to.
Ready made faceplates are available to purchase too, but may take a bit of searching to find one to match your thread.

[dougturner]

Steve, we have a Coronet 3 at our local Men's Shed, and also have the manual. If you need a copy, let me know, and I will copy it and get it to you somehow???? Also, I had a good mate who has gone to the big workshop in the sky, who only ever used wooden face plates. He was a marvellous turner and a very accomplished cabinet maker, and he swore by 20mm MDF, with a tapped hole to fit his lathe spindle. His method was to drill the required size hole for tapping, use a tap that matched his spindle thread to tap out the hole, cover the newly cut thread with superglue, let it dry and harden, tap it out again when hard, then give another very thin coat of superglue. His argument was that it was safe and would not delaminate, as he put the screws holding the blank right through the MDF faceplate from the headstock side, and this would then hold the MDF in a clamped position with no screws depending on the MDF to hold the blank. Take all the necessary precautions, speed, size, bring up the tailstock centre, etc., and there will be no problems. He only used this method to rough down the blank of bowls, and to shape and finish the outside, including the recess or spigot to fit his chuck for finishing the inside. It may not be for everyone, but it worked for him. Doug :U

[WaggaSteve]

Doug thanks for the advice and offer. If it wasn't too much trouble to scan and email the manual my email is [email protected] but I appreciate this can sometimes be easier said than done.
TIA
Steve
[QUOTE=dougturner;1852783]Steve, we have a Coronet 3 at our local Men's Shed, and also have the manual. If you need a copy, let me know, and I will copy it and get it to you somehow????

[dougturner]

Doug thanks for the advice and offer. If it wasn't too much trouble to scan and email the manual my email is [email protected] but I appreciate this can sometimes be easier said than done.
TIA
Steve
[QUOTE=dougturner;1852783]Steve, we have a Coronet 3 at our local Men's Shed, and also have the manual. If you need a copy, let me know, and I will copy it and get it to you somehow????
Steve, I will be at our shed on Wednesday next, so will get the manual to you soon after that date. Doug.

[WaggaSteve]

A combination of transmission fluid and acetone (50/50)as a penetrating oil followed by the white vinegar worked like a charm. Thanks all

Waggasteve,

For removing rust I like white vinegar. It works gently, is cheap and available at your grocery store.

Put your chuck in a plastic container and cover with vinegar, keep in a warm place and have a look the next day. Scrub with an old tooth brush. Still rusty, let it sit another day. When you see gray metal it is done.

A friend gave me a .32 revolver that had been stored with pool chlorine. It was rusty and locked up. I soaked it in hot vinegar to start, and kept scrubbing and wiggling for 10 days. I got it to work and shoot, but it is ugly and pitted, part chrome, part gray metal. See below for before photo.

After the outside is done try to open and shut the jaws, don't force, just get some movement and let soak, then more movement and soak. When you can easily take the chuck apart, soak all the bits some more until all the rust is gone.

Get a pot of boiling water and put all the pieces in it, swish around for a minute and pour off the water and put all the bits on some newspaper, IMMEDIATELY dry and oil them.

Muriatic acid (dilute Hydrochloric) works faster but the fumes will make everything in your shed rust. Dilute Sulfuric will work faster yet. I soaked a piece of auto sheet metal in dilute Sulfuric overnight and pulled out a piece of steel lace the next morning.

Considering the cost of MT1 to MT2 adapters, you might be better off buying new MT1 drive and live tail centers. Also the adapters take up space between centers and if there is the slightest misalignment it will be magnified at the end of the adapter.

Some chuck manufacturers make a drive center that fits in the chuck. I have a Oneway chuck that stays on the lathe all the time. When I want to do a spindle I put the spur drive center in the chuck.

Good to hear you got back home with your hide intact.

[WaggaSteve]

Thank you and a dumb question. Cant even remember the right term but I am used to there being a hollow in the head stock spindle so you can use a bar to push out the MT thingy that holds the wood at the head stock end - (yeah I know dont get too technical :U:U. It appears conspicuous by its absence and I am having trouble removing the head stock thingy (boy do I feel dumb here) but if it makes sense any advice on removal
Steve

[QUOTE=WaggaSteve;1853628]Doug thanks for the advice and offer. If it wasn't too much trouble to scan and email the manual my email is [email protected] but I appreciate this can sometimes be easier said than done.
TIA
Steve

Steve, I will be at our shed on Wednesday next, so will get the manual to you soon after that date. Doug.

[Paul39]

The spindle MTthingy is called a drive center. The rod that goes through the hollow spindle is called a knock out bar. A steel rod that can be purchased from your hardware store / engineer's shop or salvaged from a discarded copy machine or printer will work fine. As big as will fit through the hole is best. Thinner might bend.

Soak with your 50-50 solution from both ends, heat the spindle nose with torch, hair dryer, heat gun, and give the end of the knock out bar a sharp whack with a smallish hammer, 8 - 16 oz. You want a fast hit to shock it rather than a heavy push from a sledge hammer. Put a rag over the drive center so it does not fly across the shed when it comes out.

If it does not come out with one or two whacks, heat again, soak more and leave overnight. Beating on the spindle is not good for the bearings.

When you get it out, wet the MT of the drive center with your 50 - 50 and shine it with 400 grit paper. Wipe off all the crud and wet again and stick it loosely into the spindle and rotate around, add more juice and turn more, increasing pressure. Remove and wipe off crud. Twist a rag and rotate in the MT socket of the spindle. Again with the wet MT drive center in the MT socket, and again clean. When it seats nicely and no more rusty or dirty stuff comes out, oil the male & female MT parts and wipe off.

Remove and oil several times a year and you will have little trouble getting it out.

If you should run the lathe a long time turning a spindle with a lot of pressure on the tailstock, the spindle nose might get a bit larger and when cooling grip the MT of the drive center. Heat the spindle nose and drive out the drive center as above.

See here for wood turning terms:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=wood+turning+terminology

Starting out there are no dumb questions.

[dougturner]

[QUOTE=WaggaSteve;1854387]Thank you and a dumb question. Cant even remember the right term but I am used to there being a hollow in the head stock spindle so you can use a bar to push out the MT thingy that holds the wood at the head stock end - (yeah I know dont get too technical :U:U. It appears conspicuous by its absence and I am having trouble removing the head stock thingy (boy do I feel dumb here) but if it makes sense any advice on removal
Steve

Steve, check your emails for the Coronet manual. Doug:U

[WaggaSteve]

Just a quick public thank you to Doug for the time and trouble to find an electronic version of my lathe manual for me.
Also a thank you to the group. Your advice and assistance is wonderful and much appreciated
Steve