Sharp tools. Most are hand held on the 'arm' so elbow at spindle height. Sitting? Nope like casting, need to be able to move fast. Get to know wood! Knots and mesquite are not your friend. Small table or band saw also needed. FIL gave me his, chisel, cup point various sizes. Forget what that thing with the spike (goes into spindle) is called. Guy I worked with made me a nice mesquite pen, burned up a bunch of tools making them.
wood Lathe
- Thread starter JonB
- Start date
blackthorn
Active Member
You can grind lathe tools out of old files.
JonB
Halcyon member
Popper, I sit while casting, so I guess I can sit while turning??? ...at least I gonna try it.
The Lady with a toddler's double desk listed for free on craigslist got a hold of me, this morning. I made the 2 hour round trip...cuz it's free. It is only 20" tall. The HF lathe from bottom to spindle is 13". So that's 33", that should work good for sittin with a taller swivel chair I have. That Chair is between dining room chair height and bar stool height, and I can always mod the chair height. I need to clean that entryway yet. If I get the desk in the entryway and put the lathe on it tomorrow, I'll post a photo.
Another desk I am considering for a Lathe base, if I want to do the standing thing, is a adult sized small antique black walnut desk that looks fantastic, The top is 2" thick planks glued together, with beautiful grain figure, it's been listed for several weeks, started at $200, now at $150 ...and is 15 miles away. I just love the patina look of real wood that is likely 100 yrs old. $150 is more than I'd like to spend for something that is just a machine stand, but spending it on something as fantastic as that wouldn't be so bad.
The Lady with a toddler's double desk listed for free on craigslist got a hold of me, this morning. I made the 2 hour round trip...cuz it's free. It is only 20" tall. The HF lathe from bottom to spindle is 13". So that's 33", that should work good for sittin with a taller swivel chair I have. That Chair is between dining room chair height and bar stool height, and I can always mod the chair height. I need to clean that entryway yet. If I get the desk in the entryway and put the lathe on it tomorrow, I'll post a photo.
Another desk I am considering for a Lathe base, if I want to do the standing thing, is a adult sized small antique black walnut desk that looks fantastic, The top is 2" thick planks glued together, with beautiful grain figure, it's been listed for several weeks, started at $200, now at $150 ...and is 15 miles away. I just love the patina look of real wood that is likely 100 yrs old. $150 is more than I'd like to spend for something that is just a machine stand, but spending it on something as fantastic as that wouldn't be so bad.
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JonB
Halcyon member
More on Sitting:
Someone at the other forum mentioned a "modified" sitting position, basically standing but leaning your butt on a stool or tall chair ...Because sitting regular style, you have less body leverage and less ability to see the work. Which, for me, is good to know...also is common sense, which I should have thought of. But as I start out with basic turning of small spindles (handles and such), I doubt leverage will be much of a factor...same with vision.
Someone at the other forum mentioned a "modified" sitting position, basically standing but leaning your butt on a stool or tall chair ...Because sitting regular style, you have less body leverage and less ability to see the work. Which, for me, is good to know...also is common sense, which I should have thought of. But as I start out with basic turning of small spindles (handles and such), I doubt leverage will be much of a factor...same with vision.
JonB - when turning a 'round' out of a 'square', tool will jump a lot so you need space to 'recover'. Now, I haven't used any lathe since HS. I did use a reversed rasp couple times to get the edges off. If it catches, it goes away from you. The one he made for me. Make sure the wood is really aged!
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Gary
SE Kansas
Here's an example of a small lidded box I turned a few years ago from Osage Orange (Bodark to Ian) that required NO SANDING. It is an End Grain turning which in some woods is difficult because of tear out but Osage Orange turns beautifully. Originally the finished box was a bright Orange color and with this species as well as the Mulberry(s) turn to a golden brown.
Attachments
JonB
Halcyon member
Well, I got setup for a test run.
I was anxious to try it, to see if I needed to return it for exchange...since, you know, it's HF and all, LOL ...and to see how messy it's going to be, since it's in the house.
Desk <Check
Lift Lathe out of box <Check
tighten all preassembled bolts <Check
Assemble the rest of the lathe <Check
Check alignment of the Head to Tail <Check
...alignment looks real good
Cutting Tools arrived today via USPS <Check
...Honest to God, they arrived while I was assembling the Lathe
...that was great timing, but most of the tools seem real dull, and it's too cold in garage to sharpen them today
Find a small chunk of Elm <Check
Double check Belt for slowest speed <Check
Plug in power cord <Check
Turn it on <Check
...dang, this thing runs quiet and smooth
Turn it back off and insert Elm chunk <Check
Turn it back on <Check
I began roughing in the elm, the large gouge tool was sharp and cut well. Everything was nice and stable, no jumping around of gouge tool or machine or desk. Sitting in tall chair worked very well.
The only other tool that was sharp was the small scraper. Using it, I was able to get the piece of Elm fairly smooth. Then I tried to put some grooves in using some of the other cutting tools from the kit, there was eight of them. Those tools were all dull and kinda large to put some small grooves, those tools will need some work, no doubt.
Then I shut it down and cleaned up. Surprisingly little dusty mess, that was one of my big worries. I think I can setup some sort of shop-vac type for dust control easy enough, to take care of the majority of dust/chips mess.
Most of the reviewers said one concern was motor gets very HOT. I think I spend about 30 minutes roughing in this Elm. The Motor did get warm, but absolutely nothing to worry about. I suppose I didn't put much load on the motor with such a small piece of wood?
All in all, the first test run was a success ...except for the dull tools, so I couldn't really finish this chunk of Elm. Now with this small bit of positive experience, let the reading begin. In a few days or a week, when we get the next warm spell, I'll be able to get into the garage to shape and sharpen the tools, after I read some details of the best way to go about doing that and what the best angles will be. Then I can try it again.
I was anxious to try it, to see if I needed to return it for exchange...since, you know, it's HF and all, LOL ...and to see how messy it's going to be, since it's in the house.
Desk <Check
Lift Lathe out of box <Check
tighten all preassembled bolts <Check
Assemble the rest of the lathe <Check
Check alignment of the Head to Tail <Check
...alignment looks real good
Cutting Tools arrived today via USPS <Check
...Honest to God, they arrived while I was assembling the Lathe
...that was great timing, but most of the tools seem real dull, and it's too cold in garage to sharpen them today
Find a small chunk of Elm <Check
Double check Belt for slowest speed <Check
Plug in power cord <Check
Turn it on <Check
...dang, this thing runs quiet and smooth
Turn it back off and insert Elm chunk <Check
Turn it back on <Check
I began roughing in the elm, the large gouge tool was sharp and cut well. Everything was nice and stable, no jumping around of gouge tool or machine or desk. Sitting in tall chair worked very well.
The only other tool that was sharp was the small scraper. Using it, I was able to get the piece of Elm fairly smooth. Then I tried to put some grooves in using some of the other cutting tools from the kit, there was eight of them. Those tools were all dull and kinda large to put some small grooves, those tools will need some work, no doubt.
Then I shut it down and cleaned up. Surprisingly little dusty mess, that was one of my big worries. I think I can setup some sort of shop-vac type for dust control easy enough, to take care of the majority of dust/chips mess.
Most of the reviewers said one concern was motor gets very HOT. I think I spend about 30 minutes roughing in this Elm. The Motor did get warm, but absolutely nothing to worry about. I suppose I didn't put much load on the motor with such a small piece of wood?
All in all, the first test run was a success ...except for the dull tools, so I couldn't really finish this chunk of Elm. Now with this small bit of positive experience, let the reading begin. In a few days or a week, when we get the next warm spell, I'll be able to get into the garage to shape and sharpen the tools, after I read some details of the best way to go about doing that and what the best angles will be. Then I can try it again.
Cadillac Jeff
Well-Known Member
You are gona have a blast with that!
JonB
Halcyon member
Ian,
that's a generous offer, and I can sure pay for shipping. There is no hurry though. I need to shape/sharpen the tools and figure out a dust collection system before I turn anymore wood. The one piece I did was just a trial run. I'd like to get the books I ordered and read them, to learn a few things. Weather is too cold to go out to my unheated, uninsulated, unattached garage to shape/sharpen the tools or to run the table saw to make some interesting figured seasoned firewood the correct size to mount on the lathe. The weather geeks are saying minus temps for the next seven days...and one geek said unusually cold through the end of the month. So I may not sharpen tools until March?
I also bought some M2 HS steel from HF and am thinking of making my own small cutting tools for detail work...of course, need warmer weather for that as it will happen in the garage also.
...Note-to-self: I hope I have some new 1x30 sanding belts in my stash...I think I'll be going through them for all I plan to shape/sharpen.
www.harborfreight.com
that's a generous offer, and I can sure pay for shipping. There is no hurry though. I need to shape/sharpen the tools and figure out a dust collection system before I turn anymore wood. The one piece I did was just a trial run. I'd like to get the books I ordered and read them, to learn a few things. Weather is too cold to go out to my unheated, uninsulated, unattached garage to shape/sharpen the tools or to run the table saw to make some interesting figured seasoned firewood the correct size to mount on the lathe. The weather geeks are saying minus temps for the next seven days...and one geek said unusually cold through the end of the month. So I may not sharpen tools until March?
I also bought some M2 HS steel from HF and am thinking of making my own small cutting tools for detail work...of course, need warmer weather for that as it will happen in the garage also.
...Note-to-self: I hope I have some new 1x30 sanding belts in my stash...I think I'll be going through them for all I plan to shape/sharpen.
M2 High Speed Steel Mini Lathe Bits for Metalworking, 5-Piece
Amazing deals on this M2 Hss Mini Lathe Bits For Metalworking, 5Pc at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
JonB
Halcyon member
It's marketed as a 18" bed...but more like 17.5" realistically between the points...since I'll mostly but using the points.
I don't know if I'll be using anything that long, I would think cutting them to whatever length the flat rate box you intend to use would be the way to go. Maybe one of the Regional boxes will be best value? The Regional "A" is 10" long, but you are limited to 15 or 20 lbs? Or the long med flat rate box if you are sending more than 15 lbs?
I don't know if I'll be using anything that long, I would think cutting them to whatever length the flat rate box you intend to use would be the way to go. Maybe one of the Regional boxes will be best value? The Regional "A" is 10" long, but you are limited to 15 or 20 lbs? Or the long med flat rate box if you are sending more than 15 lbs?
Ian
Notorious member
I'll look at the medium flat rate and see if it's even worth it. For things like this it's often better just to find your own box that fits your stuff and just sent it first class or priority. I've often found it cheaper to send small boxes priority mail but not in THEIR flat-rate box.
JonB
Halcyon member
Sharpening the tools has started.
I've been looking for a bigger belt sander (like 4x36).
While looking at all the options, including a neat Vintage cast iron Wards unit with separate motor listed on ebay. My friend tells me he has a small handheld belt sander (3x21) I can borrow. Then I remember I also have one, buried somewhere in my cold Garage.
I go out to the garage and right away I find my old sander (3x18) and a fist full of the Cheapest belts sold by HF, it was just where I thought it would be, that's a rare thing for sure, and a good Omen. I plug in the sander...DEAD. I think maybe it's just cold? It is -10º F in the unattached garage where I found it. I let the sander warm up by the wood stove for an hour. I plug it in, still Dead. I try rotating the belt...frozen. The sander has a gear reduction, so maybe that's just stiff and/or still cold? Then I decide to bang the sander around some while plugged in and holding the trigger...she starts turning lots of sparks by the brush/armature while spinning. I run it a while and seems to be getting better, less sparks and sounding better.
So, I remove the sanding belt and install a new HF belt. The spring loaded roller doesn't seem very springy and doesn't tighten on the new belt. Must be that sitting around for over a decade that made it sticky? I bang it around some more...you all know I have a Hamfist, I have admitted that multiple times, LOL. The spring mech frees up and grabs the belt tightly. Now it should probably should be cleaned up before I use it much. But I don't have time to spend on that now, I want to sharpen some tools.
I mount the sander "up-side down" in the vice and start shaping a tool edge. The new HF belt got dull quickly, but I got one tool shaped to the way I like it. Then I fine tuned the edge on my HF 1x30 benchtop belt sander, this thing is really under powered, so no shaping would be possible, hence I used the hand held sander. But the 1x30 works great to touch up a edge of a tool or a knife.
I decide to shape another tool edge, and put another new HF belt on the 3x18 mounted to the vice. I start to get a feel for shaping tools on this sander and I am liking the slow speed of the hand sander, making me think this is the way to go, instead of a High powered, high speed bench typw belt sander, but I'm thinking that old Wards on ebay has pulleys that could be swapped for different sizes to slow it down...but then...
I see a ad on craigslist for a Nice looking Skil hand belt sander (3x18) for $5 ...yes, only 5 bucks and it comes with a handfull of new belts. I'm thinking this will be a great backup for my old belt sander, that also uses the same size belts, since I have a bunch of them, and am thinking my old sander will likely poop out sooner than later.
---the rest of this post is a story about this craigslist meetup...it's a crazy story, but nothing to do with the lathe, just in case you are already tired of reading this long post, LOL.
Tuesday, when I seen the ad, which had been listed 4 days earlier. no emails it says, call only. So I call to see it it's still available and to say I'll take it. No answer, but leave a VM (voice mail) saying I'll take it. I also decide to send a text saying the same. A few hours later I get a text back, saying it's available. We text back and forth a bunch of times, getting info out of this guy is challenging. He is in a Minneapolis suburb (50 miles away) and says he wants to meet at the Burnsville Police Station for exchange. That was kind of a red flag for me. Not the police station part, but my thought was why in the hell are you going to the trouble of selling a $5 item, then force a meeting at a different location, myself I'd just throw away a item before I go through the hassle of meeting a craigslist stranger at a different location...(and that is saying something, because I am a cheap SOB.) I asked to Meet on Wednesday morning, he said he can't, but how about Thursday, I say OK.
Early Thursday morning (5am), I get up, I see a couple missed calls on my cell phone and one VM, time was 9pm, I had already been sawing logs and didn't hear the phone. So, I listen to the VM and it's the belt sander guy telling me "the Sander is still available" *click*. Red flag #2. I don't want to call this early, BUT, I'm wondering if this guy has Alzheimer's? or maybe he got a bunch of calls/VMs for the $5 sander and finally got around to returning them at 9pm and didn't recognize my number as the one from our text convo? but then why did he say it was still available, when I said I'd take it and committed to a meetup time? Then I started worrying about this being some kind of setup? Leaving me hanging 50 miles away from my House? or worse a car jacking...car jackings are all the rage these days in Minneapolis, but at the the PD?
Now, I had told him I would meet him at 10am, so I need to leave Glencoe by 9am to get there on time. I decide I don't want to talk to this idiot, in case he is mental...I'm thinking I'll just skip the whole thing. But then, I figure, what the heck, I'll send him a text at 8:30am to ask if we are still on? because I think I really want this sander and I could do a couple others things in Burnsville if he is a NO SHOW, so the trip wouldn't be a total failure.
9am ...no text reply yet. I am ready to call it this whole dang thing off.
9:05am ...I get a text reply, "yes still on"
So, I pack up and get in the car, drive for an hour.
10:02am ...Just as I pull into the PD parking lot, I get another text, "you here yet". It's a big parking lot, but it's almost empty, I see one car idling with a person inside. I pull up and roll down my window and wave to him. He gets out (it is -15ºF) I stay in my idling car. he hands me the sander, I hand him a $5 bill.
He says, "5 bucks??? NO, it's 25 BUCKS"
I say, "your ad says $5"
He says, "no it's $25"
...we go back an forth a bunch of times until...
I say, "I can pull up your ad and show you"
He gets back into his car,
I am trying to find the craigslist ad on my phone, btw, I never use the internet on my phone, so I am having trouble, while I do find craigslist, it is in a totally different format than I am use to...and I never do find the ad.
5 or 6 minutes go by, Sander guy gets back out of his car and hands me the sander and a bag with the extra belts.
He says, "my buddy put the ad up and he screwed it up, here is the sander and belts"
He looks mad as all get out.
I hand him a $5 bill and then get another $5 from my dusty wallet and give it to him as I say, "Here's another 5, I won't pay 25 but I hope this helps?"
He says nothing and takes the extra 5 and drives off before I can put the wallet back in my pocket.
What a strange time that was, I think I got lucky that something nefarious did not happen.
I've been looking for a bigger belt sander (like 4x36).
While looking at all the options, including a neat Vintage cast iron Wards unit with separate motor listed on ebay. My friend tells me he has a small handheld belt sander (3x21) I can borrow. Then I remember I also have one, buried somewhere in my cold Garage.
I go out to the garage and right away I find my old sander (3x18) and a fist full of the Cheapest belts sold by HF, it was just where I thought it would be, that's a rare thing for sure, and a good Omen. I plug in the sander...DEAD. I think maybe it's just cold? It is -10º F in the unattached garage where I found it. I let the sander warm up by the wood stove for an hour. I plug it in, still Dead. I try rotating the belt...frozen. The sander has a gear reduction, so maybe that's just stiff and/or still cold? Then I decide to bang the sander around some while plugged in and holding the trigger...she starts turning
lots of sparks by the brush/armature while spinning. I run it a while and seems to be getting better, less sparks and sounding better.So, I remove the sanding belt and install a new HF belt. The spring loaded roller doesn't seem very springy and doesn't tighten on the new belt. Must be that sitting around for over a decade that made it sticky? I bang it around some more...you all know I have a Hamfist, I have admitted that multiple times, LOL. The spring mech frees up and grabs the belt tightly. Now it should probably should be cleaned up before I use it much. But I don't have time to spend on that now, I want to sharpen some tools.
I mount the sander "up-side down" in the vice and start shaping a tool edge. The new HF belt got dull quickly, but I got one tool shaped to the way I like it. Then I fine tuned the edge on my HF 1x30 benchtop belt sander, this thing is really under powered, so no shaping would be possible, hence I used the hand held sander. But the 1x30 works great to touch up a edge of a tool or a knife.
I decide to shape another tool edge, and put another new HF belt on the 3x18 mounted to the vice. I start to get a feel for shaping tools on this sander and I am liking the slow speed of the hand sander, making me think this is the way to go, instead of a High powered, high speed bench typw belt sander, but I'm thinking that old Wards on ebay has pulleys that could be swapped for different sizes to slow it down...but then...
I see a ad on craigslist for a Nice looking Skil hand belt sander (3x18) for $5 ...yes, only 5 bucks and it comes with a handfull of new belts. I'm thinking this will be a great backup for my old belt sander, that also uses the same size belts, since I have a bunch of them, and am thinking my old sander will likely poop out sooner than later.
---the rest of this post is a story about this craigslist meetup...it's a crazy story, but nothing to do with the lathe, just in case you are already tired of reading this long post, LOL.
Tuesday, when I seen the ad, which had been listed 4 days earlier. no emails it says, call only. So I call to see it it's still available and to say I'll take it. No answer, but leave a VM (voice mail) saying I'll take it. I also decide to send a text saying the same. A few hours later I get a text back, saying it's available. We text back and forth a bunch of times, getting info out of this guy is challenging. He is in a Minneapolis suburb (50 miles away) and says he wants to meet at the Burnsville Police Station for exchange. That was kind of a red flag for me. Not the police station part, but my thought was why in the hell are you going to the trouble of selling a $5 item, then force a meeting at a different location, myself I'd just throw away a item before I go through the hassle of meeting a craigslist stranger at a different location...(and that is saying something, because I am a cheap SOB.) I asked to Meet on Wednesday morning, he said he can't, but how about Thursday, I say OK.
Early Thursday morning (5am), I get up, I see a couple missed calls on my cell phone and one VM, time was 9pm, I had already been sawing logs and didn't hear the phone. So, I listen to the VM and it's the belt sander guy telling me "the Sander is still available" *click*. Red flag #2. I don't want to call this early, BUT, I'm wondering if this guy has Alzheimer's? or maybe he got a bunch of calls/VMs for the $5 sander and finally got around to returning them at 9pm and didn't recognize my number as the one from our text convo? but then why did he say it was still available, when I said I'd take it and committed to a meetup time? Then I started worrying about this being some kind of setup? Leaving me hanging 50 miles away from my House? or worse a car jacking...car jackings are all the rage these days in Minneapolis, but at the the PD?
Now, I had told him I would meet him at 10am, so I need to leave Glencoe by 9am to get there on time. I decide I don't want to talk to this idiot, in case he is mental...I'm thinking I'll just skip the whole thing. But then, I figure, what the heck, I'll send him a text at 8:30am to ask if we are still on? because I think I really want this sander and I could do a couple others things in Burnsville if he is a NO SHOW, so the trip wouldn't be a total failure.
9am ...no text reply yet. I am ready to call it this whole dang thing off.
9:05am ...I get a text reply, "yes still on"
So, I pack up and get in the car, drive for an hour.
10:02am ...Just as I pull into the PD parking lot, I get another text, "you here yet". It's a big parking lot, but it's almost empty, I see one car idling with a person inside. I pull up and roll down my window and wave to him. He gets out (it is -15ºF) I stay in my idling car. he hands me the sander, I hand him a $5 bill.
He says, "5 bucks??? NO, it's 25 BUCKS"
I say, "your ad says $5"
He says, "no it's $25"
...we go back an forth a bunch of times until...
I say, "I can pull up your ad and show you"
He gets back into his car,
I am trying to find the craigslist ad on my phone, btw, I never use the internet on my phone, so I am having trouble, while I do find craigslist, it is in a totally different format than I am use to...and I never do find the ad.
5 or 6 minutes go by, Sander guy gets back out of his car and hands me the sander and a bag with the extra belts.
He says, "my buddy put the ad up and he screwed it up, here is the sander and belts"
He looks mad as all get out.
I hand him a $5 bill and then get another $5 from my dusty wallet and give it to him as I say, "Here's another 5, I won't pay 25 but I hope this helps?"
He says nothing and takes the extra 5 and drives off before I can put the wallet back in my pocket.
What a strange time that was, I think I got lucky that something nefarious did not happen.