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View Full Version : Getting into the "Spin" of things.... (lots of pics)



Stu in Tokyo
17th March 2006, 12:58 AM
I'm just getting started on the whole lathe thing, so excuse me for being a newbie at this stuff.

It all started with a simple request from my lovely wife,
we were given a set of wooden chairs by some friends who were moving.
One of the stretchers on the legs broke...and I got asked to fix it.
I had this little hand drill driven lathe that I bought on an impulse buy....
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/turnings/turning_set-up.jpg
It works, but man, just..........

I used a piece of Beech to make the stretcher up, and all in all I think it worked out well.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/turnings/turning_done.jpg
A long time ago, in school, I did some turning on a lathe, but not much on wood, mainly on metal.
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/turnings/turning_thereabouts.jpg

I'm sure it will do just fine, now I have to match the color.
Here are my turning tools...
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/turnings/turning_tools.jpg
Not expensive stuff, but they seem to work OK

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/turnings/turning_tips_detail.jpg
They all need some sharpening, for which I have to make a jig etc.

I wanted to get a lathe, something of a real lathe, not one driven by a hand drill....
I looked at various ones here in Japan, I found some nice ones, but the prices HURT!!!!
The Delta, or Grizzly lathes that I found here were 3 to 4 times the price of the same lathe in the US.

A buddy on one of the Wood Working forums I go to, offered me one that he had sitting around unused. (Thanks again Dalton!)
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/12_inch_lathe.jpg
Like this one.

The lathe is a Craftsman 12 tube bed lathe, not the best lathe going,
but good enough for me to get going on for sure,and the price (cost of shipping) could not be beat.
I got the lathe, and bolted it together, on my work table, and had some fun....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/tokyo_slugger.jpg
The first turning off my lathe, the wood is Blue Keyaki, just a little fun thing to do

I then decided to make a good solid stand for the lathe.
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/lathe_stand.jpg
This is the idea I had of making a stand, I'd use some I beam to make it good and solid, bolt it to the floor,
and then put a big box filled with sand between the legs, to dampen vibrations.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/mock_up_stand.jpg
I bought some I-beam stuff at Joyful Honda, it is 10 cm x 10 cm, good and strong, and heavy.
They cut it up there, as I don't have a cut off saw that big, cost $8 a cut, (ouch) but,
the cuts are exactly square, which made welding the stand a lot easier.
In the pic above, you can see the mock-up I did, it is all just standing there.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/first_leg_welded.jpg
Here I welded up the first leg of the stand. This metal is
fairly thick to weld with my MIG welder, so I had to bevel edges where I could,
and then I cranked the MIG up to the highest setting, and I changed from my
regular CO2/Argon gas mix to straight CO2, as you get better penetration with it, and I needed it. I did weld a few spots
several times to build up a good bead. The Hobart Handler 175 ( a 200V unit) worked great!

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/bolted_in_place.jpg
Here the stand is all welded up, and I bolted to the floor.

I found that there was a fair bit of deflection to the side, so I added some extra braces...
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/right_leg_braces2.jpg
This really stiffened things up.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/lathe_stand_base.jpg
I used the anchors to level the stand, as my floor is not level. With the nuts all tightened up,
I then filled the space between the floor and then stand with concrete.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/bolts_close_up1.jpg
Here you can see how it really looked.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/concrete_forms.jpg
Here you can see the forms holding the wet concrete in place.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/concrete_forms_close.jpg
Nothing special, just some plywood.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/concrete_forms_off_closeup.jpg
Should be good and solid.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/new_motor_mount.jpg
I ended up using a hinged board and a turn-buckle to put the motor in place.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/80kg_sand_in_box.jpg
Next I added the Sandbox. It is made from 21mm thick plywood,
and it is mounted on a cross piece between the legs, there is 80 Kg of sand in there.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/sandbox_done.jpg
I put a lid on the box to, which will make a good spot for putting my tools.....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/sandbox_tools.jpg
A tool bench of sorts.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/ready_to_make_chips.jpg
I put a switch on that I had laying around,
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/extra_gussets_headstock.jpg
I also put some gussets between the top and the bottom of the I-beam near the head and tail stock,
this helped, as the I-beam flexed a fair bit to the side.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/making_chips.jpg
I tried it out, but I was getting a lot of vibrations, something felt loose....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/missing_rivnut.jpg
Upon further investigation, I found a few things wrong, one was the riv-nuts that hold the keyway on
the bottom of the tube bed were loose, in fact one was missing.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/rivnut_start.jpg
What is a Riv-nut?
It is like a pop rivet, but it has no mandrel, and once installed, it has threads that you can screw a nut into.
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/rivnut_squished.jpg
Here you can see a squished riv-nut.
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/doubled_up_rivnuts.jpg
As the space between each riv-nut was close to 12, I decided to put in extra riv-nuts.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/tail_holder_rough.jpg
I also found that the piece on the end of the tube bed, the tail end, had a very rough casting,
this was not letting the holder fully engage the tube, which means it was moving around.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/tail_holder_smooth.jpg
I cleaned it up with some grinding.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/lathebed_plug.jpg
The last thing I did was fill the tube bed with sand, here you can see the wooden plug on the end,
I figured this could not hurt with the vibrations.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/a_fine_mess.jpg
Yep, making a mess for sure!!
The vibrations are all but gone!!

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/lathe_dc.jpg
The next thing I did was put a pipe above the lathe, this gives me a spot to put a light,
and I can put the DC here to get the sanding dust.

The next thing I needed to do was make a sharpening station, as the tool I have were dull dull dull.....
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/sharpening_station_gouge.jpg
I made this up, and it worked well, but the hinge in the folding shelf bracket wobbled badly....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/sharpening_station_gouge_closed.jpg
in the folded position....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/long_handle_on_grinder.jpg
So I came up with this version instead, it is ROCK solid.
I was not enjoying the short handles on my tools, so I made this longer handle from some 3/4" gas pipe.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/undone_gouge.jpg
Here I've liberated the gouge from it's shorty handle.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/unthreaded_pipe.jpg
I took the threaded ends off, as they are sharp!!

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/hole_ground.jpg
I ground a flat spot to weld the nut in place.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/nut_to_weld.jpg
Like this....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/2_heads_better.jpg
Here you can see the Skew held in place.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/roughing_gouge_front.jpg
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/roughing_gouge_side.jpg

I can get a nice consistent grind on the tools.
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/nicer_curlies.jpg
Yep, seems to work fine!

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/bonker1.jpg
The second real turning to come off my lathe, a carving mallet, or a Bonker.
The wood is Japanese Ornamental Cherry, or Sakura.

Skew ChiDAMN!!
17th March 2006, 01:40 AM
What can I say, except "nicely done!"? Certainly worth a green. :)

Now the fun really starts... you are aware that "improvements" can easily eat up as much of your budget as all your other (including future) tools put together? :rolleyes:

BTW, I believe the most important thing is whether the tail-stock centre lines up with the drive-spur centre... easily checked by bringing the tailstock up close. If it's offset a bit, the lathe won't run true and everything else is incidental. It's worth the effort of shimming things until it's spot on.

Stu in Tokyo
17th March 2006, 01:54 AM
What can I say, except "nicely done!"? Certainly worth a green. :)

Now the fun really starts... you are aware that "improvements" can easily eat up as much of your budget as all your other (including future) tools put together? :rolleyes:

BTW, I believe the most important thing is whether the tail-stock centre lines up with the drive-spur centre... easily checked by bringing the tailstock up close. If it's offset a bit, the lathe won't run true and everything else is incidental. It's worth the effort of shimming things until it's spot on.
Thanks.

The bit about the centers being true, yep, I'd heard that too.

One basic design flaw in the whole deal is that the set screw that holds the headstock in place on the tube bed is located UNDER the headstock, so you cannot get at it with the lathe bolted down.

I fixed this by drillling and tapping a new set screw through the side of the headstock.............

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/lathe/lathebed_plug.jpg
You can see the head of the bolt sticking out of the side of the head stock, right near the bolt that goes through the lathe and holds it down to the stand.

I can adjust the whole deal while it is bolted down, so the centers are right on the nose.

Cheers!

Rip
17th March 2006, 02:47 AM
Stu,

Great project to say the least. I was wondering how long you have been in Tokyo? I spent time back in the 80's and 90's in Tokyo when I would fly in on my way to various customers building our Log Home Kits.

Rip

Stu in Tokyo
17th March 2006, 04:47 AM
Hi Rip.

I've been here since Aug 16th 1990, so I'm going on 16 years now.... :eek:

Thanks for the kudos!

Cheers!

Wood Butcher
17th March 2006, 08:03 AM
Thanks Stu, that is a great read.

Greenie on its way!

TTIT
17th March 2006, 10:18 AM
Ain't that always the way - you can't just get something and start using it!;) Test it, fix the faults, test it, tune it, make a few enhancements etc etc.:) I think I'd die if I couldn't tinker with the stuff I get! Looks like you get just as much enjoyment from the set-up process as using it Stu!:D Man after my own heart! Great stuff Stu, and the pictorial really topped it!

hughie
17th March 2006, 12:23 PM
Hi Stu,

Nice work,It look like a real sturdy set up.I thought i was cramped for space....the joys of asia....lol

It brings back memories, spent some time in S.E Asia back in th 70's, forgot how the some the of the simplest things in the West become major projects in the east. 'AAA' for perseverance.

hughie

Stu in Tokyo
17th March 2006, 01:20 PM
Ain't that always the way - you can't just get something and start using it!;) Test it, fix the faults, test it, tune it, make a few enhancements etc etc.:) I think I'd die if I couldn't tinker with the stuff I get! Looks like you get just as much enjoyment from the set-up process as using it Stu!:D Man after my own heart! Great stuff Stu, and the pictorial really topped it!

I guess I could buy them top of the line expensive tools, they come ready to go, don't they? ;)

But you are right, where would the fun be in that? :D

Heck, I have to build a lot of my own stuff here, so it suits me!

Cheers!

Wongo
17th March 2006, 01:29 PM
Bloody hell:eek:

Stu in Tokyo
17th March 2006, 01:30 PM
Hi Stu,

Nice work,It look like a real sturdy set up.I thought i was cramped for space....the joys of asia....lol

It brings back memories, spent some time in S.E Asia back in th 70's, forgot how the some the of the simplest things in the West become major projects in the east. 'AAA' for perseverance.

hughie

I've seen guys here run businesses out of much smaller spaces than I have, so I'm not going to complain!

"AAA" do you mean battery size or the breakdown service for you cars? :D

One of the funny things I have to deal with is the name of things, sometimes they are nearly exactly the same as we would say it in English, other times it is right off the wall, total Japanese.

For example, they call a wood lathe a 木工旋盤 "mokkousenban" but they use English for all the accesorries, "Faceplate", "Tool rest" etc.

Funny :D

Cheers!

Stu in Tokyo
17th March 2006, 01:38 PM
Bloody hell:eek:

In what sense....?

Translation anyone.... :D

hcbph
17th March 2006, 01:52 PM
Stu

If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were a farmer. Growing up, when you didn't have money for something, you either built; repaired or modified something to do the job.

Of course what we made wasn't up to the same scale, well done, looks great.

Paul

Stu in Tokyo
17th March 2006, 03:28 PM
Well I did grow up in a small town in Canada, not "Farmers" but my family were tradesmen, and we lived in the city, but played in the countryside. My Uncle had a farm of sorts, and I just about grew up there!

Cheers!

Wood worrier
18th April 2006, 03:57 AM
Wow, evolution is a wonderful thing ....