Thread: Wood lathe vibrations. HELP!!!

Some more information needed.

What brand of lathe? What sort of bench?

Some pics would help as well.

Originally Posted by

Some more information needed.

What brand of lathe? What sort of bench?

Some pics would help as well.

I took these pictures with my phone so not the best quality.


The brand is LEDA and it has a cast iron bed. Don't get me wrong it's still heavy, just not heavy enough to stop the vibrations.

The brand is LEDA and it has a cast iron bed. Don't get me wrong it's still heavy, just not heavy enough to stop the vibrations

Welcome aboard, not sure if this will help but here goes.

Well at the end of the day vibrations are due to balance issues and every lathe has its range or limitations. As turners we need to be aware of our respective lathes limitations and generally work with in them. I say generally for the most part we often push the envelope.

Bolting down your lathe; I rarely if ever bolt any of mine down shock, horror! Rather work on adding wieght to the lathe stand and or redesigning the stand its self, if required.

So my question is what are you going to turn thats going waltz your lathe a round the shed? Also you need to have good floor contact on all the lathe feet, no wobbling.

Can i put some sand bags around the feet or use tie down straps?

Definitley look at sand bags, tie downs might be more of a hassle than a help here.

thinking it would be nice to put some wheels

Wheels you might need to look at some quality type with good brakes, no nylon tires. I would go for rubber tires and look at 3" plus in diameter for the wheels, maybe even 6". The bigger dia will have a wider tire and greater load capacity .Try also to place them so the centre of gravity is low as possible.

Heres my previous expierence with a low cost generic lathe.
I had something equivelant to a Grizzly G0462 Wood Lathe Without the Digital Readout. With abit of fiddling around and building a new bed etc. It could swing a 12'' lump of around 25-30lbs well without bolting it down and without waltzing around the shed. Prior to this it would have been impossible and somewhat suicidle Actually mine would have been closer to yours by the look of it.

As above!

also, you have to look at what you are turning. Some timbers have heartwood and sapwood that are very different densities. If you bolt up a piece of camphor laurel that has a large piece of sapwood on one side, you might chase the thing all over the shed until you have the sapwood off.

Just looking at your photos again, for a lathe of that size with that stand under it, you must be turning a reasonably sized piece of timber to cause the problem.

Sandbags work.

Another thing to watch for is the RPM that you are trying to turn at. If you have a blank in the lathe and it is not round, you need to keep the revs fairly low until trued up. It doesn't need to be very much out of round to create vibration at higher speeds.
As your lathe is a variable speed, you can start off at the lowest speed and slowly increase it until it starts to vibrate a bit, and then back it off a little until most of the vibration is gone.

Agree with all above, you need to add weight on to the lower shelf, a couple of 20Kg bags of sand will do the trick.

An alternative is to make up a couple of box's/trays to hold the sand , I field this is a better way to contain the sand rather than just in plastic bags.

My 2 cents worth.

Jeff

Thanks for the advice, I think one of my problems was how i mounted my timber. I used a face plate with screws but they seemed to come loose and put it out of balance, then it dug into my tool and took a big chunk out the side. I think the problem started with my tail stock, I have a dead centre and found it either burnt a hole from to much friction or was to loose and the vibrations came! i think i will get a live centre, select where the tail stock meets my timber better and put some sand bags around the feet, then try again.
The timber I have is dry Sheoak, pinkgum, redgum, stringybark, blackwood and mallee root.
I've only tried the sheoak so far on this lathe. is that classed as a hard wood? I have lots of Blackwood avalible but want to get a bit better before i practice on it!

Not sure what the problem is ... chasing the lathe around the shed can be good exercise

Originally Posted by asheddie

I have a dead centre and found it either burnt a hole from to much friction or was to loose and the vibrations came! i think i will get a live centre, select where the tail stock meets my timber better and put some sand bags around the feet, then try again.

Good move to get a live centre. Until then, wax the recess in the wood to lubricate the dead centre.

Add most of your sandbag (or other) weight in the bottom of that cabinet under the headstock (if it will fit under the motor) and some on that bottom shelf.

I've only tried the sheoak so far on this lathe. is that classed as a hard wood?

No, if it's fully seasoned I would class it 'as B***** Hard'....

I'm not sure if it is technically a hardwood, I expect so. But strictly applied the botanical term 'hardwood' can be confusing for us woodturners. For example, balsa wood is botanically a hardwood, whereas as Douglas Fir which is harder than some hardwoods is botanically a softwood.

Welcome to the forum.

Nice lathe. Get a couple rubber mats that are sold for standing on concrete, and put them under the ends of the lathe with the feet centered. Get a third for yourself if you get addicted and stand in front of the lathe 4 hours at a time.

Put a 50mm thick piece of timber under the middle of the bottom shelf to make a center leg to the floor.

Fill the shelf with sand bags, buckets of gravel, solid concrete blocks, dead car batteries, scrap steel, etc. You may want to put a piece of plastic or canvas over the stuff on the shelf to make it easier to get the chips out.

The rubber will keep the lathe from scooting on the concrete, and maybe quiet some of the noise of the cabinet, and the weight will hold it in place. 50 Kg would not be too much.

An oiled up dead center will keep you going for a while. If it is put into the waste part of the timber it doesn't matter if it gets a bit hot. Live center is better.

Always start at the slowest speed until you get the corners knocked off the timber. Use #10 screws and enough of them so you don't get a mouth full of spinning timber. Stand to the side when you first turn on the lathe with a new piece mounted. As you turn, stop and check the screws occasionally, especially if you have a catch.

I once had a catch making an interrupted cut on a locust stump that broke two #10 screws, tore out the other two, and the stump flung it self 7 meters into the yard. I was hollowing so I was at the tail stock end.

Have fun!

If I have to use a dead centre I put a dob of grease in the centre hole before inserting the centre. This will stop the burning and wear.
As Paul says, use decent size screws with deep cut threads.

I like the idea of the rubber Mat under the feet. I'll try that, and i will make a box for the sand bags to sit in too. I have to go to town this arvo so i will get some bigger screws and a pot of grease! thanks every one for the advice, I'll let you know how i go.

Originally Posted by asheddie

I like the idea of the rubber Mat under the feet. I'll try that, and i will make a box for the sand bags to sit in too. I have to go to town this arvo so i will get some bigger screws and a pot of grease! thanks every one for the advice, I'll let you know how i go.

Vaseline, olive oil, cooking oil, mineral oil, etc. Wheel bearing grease is nasty.

Gouge out a hole in the timber, put in a half teaspoon of grease / oil, run the tailstock up tight, run lathe 30 seconds or so check tightness, back out tailstock to barely snug to reduce friction. Add a few drops of oil occasionally it things get warm.

Something I didn't see mentioned but important. Make sure your lathe is level.