Did you miss me?

[Jenny Brandis]

I have been very quiet on here of late but have been using the Delta Midi Lathe whenever I could get my husband off it :(

Bottom line, I am now going to buy a Jet Mini Pen lathe to turn my bobbins and the little stuff I seem to be gravitating towards. Have you got any hints?

Big question - how do I get the spiral effect I see on others work?

The only thing I turn is East Midland Bobbins for bobbin lace making - see my site http://www.brandis.com.au/craft/lace to see what I do with the bobbins I make) or http://www.brandis.com.au/craft/lace/bobbins.html to see the bobbins I have done.

Back to the husband taking over - I must confess I did tell him I bought the lathe so he could make the bobbins but he decided to learn by making pens and since they are selling at the local markets...... the bobbins have gone by the wayside and I have all but lost access to the lathe :) - hence my buyng my own mini lathe and my original questions.

Jenny Brandis
sunburnt from selling pens at the markets - the things one does for ones husband :rolleyes:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

G'day Jenny, welcome back. :)

The only hint I can give is to buy a Teknatool Midi Precision chuck and a set of pin jaws to suit. Perfect for lace bobbins... and for drilling pen-blanks pens too, so ya might need to buy a set for hubby as well. :rolleyes:

The spiral effect? The only reliable way I know of is to mark it out using a ribbon or string wound around the shaft, and then hand-carving it with a needle-file, chisels, dremel or similar. Sorry.

I see you still don't do much in the way of scottish thistle ends! :D Love the pen on the far right, Honduras Mahogany. Lovely, lovely wood isn't it?

[Hambone]

Hi Jenny,
My method may seem slow but I get there. I use a piece of the old pressed metal meat safe as a template to mark with a pencil equal lines around the bobbin .Then I mark length ways 4 equal lines along the bobbin .That gives you a heap of little "squares" on the bobbin .I then with a junior hacksaw cut diagonally across the squares turning the bobbin by hand .This way you have 4 spiral cuts on the bobbin .Now I cheat I use a small chain saw file to gradually enlarge each spiral cut until they are all equal . I then finish the spiral grooves with a fine sandpaper on a piece of rod before the final polish with S/Wax. Let me know if you require any more info that I can help in regard to bobbins .
Ron

[CameronPotter]

I thought that spirals were done on an ornamental (router) lathe.:confused:

[powderpost]

Hi Jenny, have you tried making bobbins from bone yet? If you are interested I can give you more information...
Jim

[adrian]

I have been very quiet on here of late but have been using the Delta Midi Lathe whenever I could get my husband off it :(


More to the point - how did you get him ON it. You must have one hell of a chuck on that Delta.

[soundman]

good to see you back jen'

Have agood think before you buy the pen lathe, have a look at the jet mini with a nova precision midi chuck. you never know you might want to turn something bigger & the extra power wont go astray when you are trying to chop down some hard oversized blanks.
GPW are doing a jet mini & a nova midi for $400 neat. that will give you some idea

cheers

just a twisted thaught
have you thaught of making some giant lace bobins to make some giant lace?:D

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I thought that spirals were done on an ornamental (router) lathe.:confused:

They can be, but when you start talking about the degree of precision needed for the scale of lace bobbins you're also talking $$$.

And my apologies, Jen, I missed the "pen" part after the "JET Mini." Soundman has the right of it. ;)

[CameronPotter]

Ahhh, true enough about the degree of precision required... I hadn't thought of that.

However, I thought that I would point out that most spiral things are probably done that way (or by hand) so I was more meaning that Jenny's options were by hand or another significant outlay of money. :eek:

Cam

[Jenny Brandis]

just a twisted thaught
have you thaught of making some giant lace bobins to make some giant lace?:D

Had not thought of that but have been toying with the idea of making a pen shaped like a bobbin, spangles and all. Just need to get better at centering the drill holes :)

[Jenny Brandis]

I thought the Aussie bone available were not dense enough to turn. You needed to be from a cold environment to get the denseness.

[Jenny Brandis]

Soundman and Skew ChiDAMN!! - you are right. I went to www.gpw.au.com (http://www.gpw.au.com/) and placed an order for the Jet pen lathe and the chuck/pin jaws only to hear from Gary Pye that the chuck would be too much fo the pen lathe and he suggested the JML-1014.

My response was rapid and in the affirmative to the change of models. It is great to have dealings with suppliers who consider their clients in such a manner.

Now I must *try* to wait paitently for parcel to arrive - this is where I get antsy about living so far from everywhere else.

UPDATE:
Gary has just emailed to say that the cost of getting it here is $150 and I fear that puts it out of my reach - can you see any way I can justify spending $550 on the lathe, chuck and pin jaws? I had to do some fast talking just to get my husband to agree to a second lathe and then it was only agreed to so that he could have the Delta midi all to himself. I fear that is not going to work this time as he *knows* it only cost $100 to courier the Delta to us, so PLEASE guys, give me hints on how to win this one.

I have told Gary to hold the order for 24 hours while I consider my options.

[soundman]

The freight to WA might be a killer on the deal in this case unless you feel like a gold coast holiday.
Is there a jet dealer in WA.

cheers

[Lignum]

.

However, I thought that I would point out that most spiral things are probably done that way (or by hand)
Cam

By hand. The Darkside way is by far the the best way to do spirals;)

[Jenny Brandis]

It is a pity you fellas are not female or you would understand my desire to cry - I lost the battle for my own lathe, chuck and pin jaws - and I really want to sit down and cry (or kick the sh#$%^^ out of something)

Oh well, trying to be philasophical and must say that Chris is feeling bad enough that I can't lay the guilts on. Will just have to sell more of his pens down the markets (a lot more at $30 each)

[Lignum]

Big question - how do I get the spiral effect I see on others work?



Hi Jenny:) Heres my way. This is a wizard i carved with a spiral base. Its all up around 600mm in height and this is how i done it.

(All these measurements are not exact as im trying to remember them, but the idea is the same)

I made the tapered spiral by wraping a peice of thick cotton around the thickest part at the top and a seperate one around the thinnest part of the base. The carving chisels i used were all Phiel .They were a 11/3 (3mm) for the smallest part and a 9/13 (13mm) fot the thickest at the top and a 8/7 (7mm) to help with the graduation of bringing them together.

I divided the bottom circumfrance by 3 (because of the 3mm chissel) and divided the top curcumfrance by the same number. Then i marked them on the cotton and wrapped them back around and marked that indexing on the timber.

Then with a rule i verticly joined them up with a pencil mark.

Because i wanted the spiral to not only taper in curcumfrance but also in the width of the chanelling. i then had to graduate the spacing as it went further down. So the bottom width is 3mm i had to start the first spacing at 3mm up. And the top ( i carnt remember what width it was but just for argument sake ill say 12mm) So the first top spacing was 12mm down. Then its just a matter of using your own mathamatical way of graduating the spacing (7,5mm in the center)

Once you have worked it out then mark those down on all the vertical lines. Then as Ron Hambone kindly pointed out you will end up with little graduating squares. So you just draw a line (try to curve it as carefully as you can) diagonaly all the way around and down the base. Now all you need to do is carve inbetween the lines.

Make sure you leave the visible pencil line at all costs as thats the part that will give you the crisp clean look.

The best way to carve it is to put a pipe clamp in the vice and place the timber to be carved in the clamps. That will give good clean easy access all way around. I hope i havnt confused you . But its worth having a go:)

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

It is a pity you fellas are not female or you would understand my desire to cry - I lost the battle for my own lathe, chuck and pin jaws - and I really want to sit down and cry (or kick the sh#$%^^ out of something)

Wrong. We don't need to be female to understand how you feel. :( The only real difference, is we tend to go for the latter option. :rolleyes:

Believe me, I sympathise, but don't give up. How does the Perth Carbatech's prices compare? Failing that, have you done any looking around for 2nd-hand mini lathes?

[Jenny Brandis]

How does the Perth Carbatech's prices compare? Failing that, have you done any looking around for 2nd-hand mini lathes?

Its the freight that kills the deal - $150 from the first company and $106 from Carbatec:(

And *NO ONE* else in the whole town/shire of Kununurra does woodturning so second hand is out too. :(:(

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

:eek: :eek:

OK... secondary plan. Hubby's letting you share your (errmm... his) lathe part-time? And you're the only turners in town? Hmmm... sounds like you may be able to start a small monopoly.

You can make a lot of small, usable and, most importantly, saleable items on a mini lathe. The little things, like potpourri bowls (lids sell for around $5-$10), condiment shakers (top inserts sell for about $10 per 6) and Salt'n'Pepper mills (from meory, about $4-$9 for a 7" mechanism) Desk sets to go with your pens (about $3ish per trumpet) Perfume atomisers & applicators, keyrings, etc., etc.

The thing is variety... there's more chance one person will buy a couple of different items (esp. matched sets for pressies) than that they'll buy several pens. Even if you only sell to family & friends,

Little things, but they can sell for much better than cost. 12 months and you could have more than enough cash to cover all expense on a new toy... just make sure you let hubby knows that the money is already earmarked. ;)

[Jenny Brandis]

Hi Jenny:) Heres my way. This is a wizard i carved with a spiral base. Its all up around 600mm in height and this is how i done it.
... I hope i havnt confused you . But its worth having a go:)


I am confused but that is a normal state of affairs:) I love your wizard, what an interesting design! I am in the process of upsetting my husband by cleaning up around the lathe area - I can't work in 4 inches of sawdust :)