Baby's first lathe

[Juffy]

No, I'm not letting babies loose on lathes. But I haven't touched one since high school, which was....14 years ago :o...so what the hey.

Anyway....a mate's FIL sold me this one cheap. He used to be a furniture woody, and it obviously did the job for him. Yes it's a pole lathe, which are apparently the devil's work, but it spins stuff around and the centres line up with a bit of shimming at the tail end. :2tsup:

First job was to make a bench for it of course, extending out from my existing work bench and constructed from some of my vast collection of recycled tassie oak. The crossbars where the sash clamp is are now filled with lots of clamps and some more wood, so she's not going anywhere in a hurry.

Second job was a vice handle for Wongdai, made from a piece of old jarrah roofing beam. Simple stuff, but good for learning what my collection of tools do. Made the end caps from the same piece of wood, cut off and drilled a recess in each cap for the handle with an auger bit - I suspect this would be have been easier with a chuck, but all I've got for now is a spur drive and a faceplate or two.

I'd forgotten how much I like turning. :U

[munruben]

Well done mate. Great pastime eh? :)

[arose62]

It's a slippery slope downwards from here! Watch out, or folks on here will have you making pens in no time at all!

BTW, looks like a 'tube-bed' lathe to me, not a pole lathe.

AFAIK, a pole lathe has a bendy bit of tree attached to a cord which wraps around the workpiece, then goes down to a footpiece which is pumped up and down to provide the motive power to the lathe.

Lots of lathes have flat beds with a slot down the middle, and some (like yours) have a single tube for the bed. The tube makes it a bit more interesting to line things up.

Cheers,
Andrew

[jmk89]

Have a look at this for a real pole lathe:
YouTube - George Lailey commemorative bowls</EMBED>

[jmk89]

or this:
YouTube - battle of the bowlturners

[Ed Reiss]

I suspect this would be have been easier with a chuck, but all I've got for now is a spur drive and a faceplate or two.

...hope you've got a big bank account 'cause that's going to change :doh: lessee, 2 chucks, deep hollowing tools, P&N gouges, all kinds of other accessories, wood, and, oh yes, an upgrade to a Stubby....gee, seems that someone on the forum just happens to have one up for sale :U

Good luck with the new found hobby, Juffy.

[Juffy]

Good luck with the new found hobby, Juffy.

This is more to support my real hobby of making furniture and toys...for now, at least. Not being able to make round things is a real limitation. :)

It seems to do spindles pretty well....well, better than I do spindles anyway. I'm currently reading Richard Raffan's book and eyeing off my skew chisel...if you hear a loud bang from this side of the country, you'll know what it was.


BTW, looks like a 'tube-bed' lathe to me, not a pole lathe.

Argh. Yep, my bad. It's got a pole, so I call it a pole lathe. :U

[Juffy]

The guy who sold me the above lathe bought a Sherwood MC1100 because he couldn't afford the lathe he wanted. Then, of course, the lathe he wanted (some monster Symtek lathe) came up for a good price and he bought that....so I bought the MC1100. :)

'tis very purty, and much nicer than the old one - twice as much power, four times as solid.

BUT, inevitably, I have a newbie question.

I threw a piece of old jarrah roofing beam in to have another play at spindle turning, and I can't easily get a smooth cylinder out of it. Particularly in the middle, the wood bounces off the roughing gouge a lot and I get a strange beaten-copper kind of surface. (see attachments) If I watch the far surface as the tool meets it, I can see the wood actually flexing away from the tool and presumably bouncing along as it spins.

What's likely to be the cause?
Is it just a limitation of turning a 1m spindle, 30mm across made of old, very dry jarrah?
Are my tools ridiculously blunt? They don't seem it, but I'm not that good a judge - they still cut quite well.
Does my technique suck? (duh, of course) It doesn't seem to matter what angle I present the gouge at, it still bounces merrily along.

Cheers for any help! :)

[bowl-basher]

:omg:A pic of the gouge might give a clue as to what is happening
I think you may have to use a steady to support over that length at such a small Dia :U
bowl basher

[Juffy]

It's a very rough roughing gouge, but the same thing happens with a smaller roughing gouge and to a lesser extent with two different skews - the skews still bounce a bit, but I can at least get a smooth surface.

[thefixer]

G'day Juffy

To turn a spindle that long and thin you will to support it in the middle.Probably the most common method is using a 3 point steady. These can be purchased at all the regular turner suppliers or you can make your own. Not too hard to do. Do a search on the forum. Plenty of info on them.

Cheers
Shorty

[Juffy]

Thanks - I thought that might be the case once I noticed the thing flexing on me.

I'm tempted to let it ride for this particular piece - it's an interesting effect, and looks better in person than in the pics - but I wanted to know why so I can stop it happening next time. :2tsup: It's important to discover just what you can do with your new toys - it was inevitable that the first thing I'd put in an 1100mm-bed lathe is an 1100mm piece of wood. :)

[thefixer]

It's a very rough roughing gouge, but the same thing happens with a smaller roughing gouge and to a lesser extent with two different skews - the skews still bounce a bit, but I can at least get a smooth surface.


The business end of your roughing gouge should look more like this. Have you got a bench grinder yet? If not then I would make that the very next thing you get. You cant turn timber with blunt tools:(.

Cheers
Shorty

[Juffy]

The business end of your roughing gouge should look more like this. Have you got a bench grinder yet? If not then I would make that the very next thing you get. You cant turn timber with blunt tools:(.

That roughing gouge is by far the worst of my chisels - the rest look a bit more like yours. I figured it wasn't too critical to have it razor sharp given what it was roughing out - this piece of jarrah is very rough itself - and it was still cutting quite well.

I do have a grinder, like the lathe I'm slowly learning how to use it properly. :)

[thefixer]

That roughing gouge is by far the worst of my chisels - the rest look a bit more like yours. I figured it wasn't too critical to have it razor sharp given what it was roughing out - this piece of jarrah is very rough itself - and it was still cutting quite well.

I do have a grinder, like the lathe I'm slowly learning how to use it properly. :)

Ok Juffy.Have fun learning and remember that there are plenty of very experienced turners on the forum who are more than willing to help and part with their knowledge. So never be afraid to ask what may seem like stupid question. We all have to start somewhere.


Cheers
Shorty

[artme]

Stop it Ed!! don't discourage the lad!:q:q

Well Juffy you sure are in a pickle! You are on both the slippery slide to the darkside and the steep learning curve towards the light. God help you!

No! Forget that last comment _ bowl-basher and thefixer will give you all the help you need!:D:D:D

[RETIRED]

Welcome to the Black Arts Juffy.

[Juffy]

I thought that was pyrography? :q The only black art I do is when someone lets me loose in the kitchen and there's a funny burning smell.

I thought I had a lot more time to learn before that dastardly young'un jackliveshere showed me up, but nooooo he just whips out a bowl like he's been doing it for years.

[Juffy]

Aaaand after a couple of trips to the green shed and raiding one of SWMBO's old rollerblades, I have a four-wheel steady!

Gave it a quick try and it's made a huge improvement, to the extent that I can get an actual cylinder rather than....whatever that thing I was getting before was. Now I just have to work on that roughing gouge.... :2tsup:

Thanks for the help guys, I'm sure I'll be back with more newbie questions before too long...