wood Lathe

[JWFilips]

Jon,
If you can find any American cedar That wood makes for some beautiful turnings!
Back in the 1970's I knew where the was a 4" diameter "Sumac" tree....Biggest one I have ever seen! It was in a farm field I used to frequent.
Actually took a photograph of it on a misty morning back then and won an artistic award! Shortly after that I was out in that field and found the tree was down on the ground...I was able to cut up a few big hunks of it and gave them to an older gentleman who was a wood turner.
He could not believe the diameter of the trunk... He gave me a gift of one of the pieces turned into a covered bowl which also acted as a candle holder! Big fat candles were all the rage in the 70's I still have it here somewhere ...when I find it I will post a picture...very interesting grain structure.

 

[JonB]

The black cherry smells better, too. Sounds like you're allergic to fine wood dust in any form. I'd move the operation outside if I were you and wear a smock and painter's head sock, dust them off outside and don't track the dust into your house. Your beard will be a problem getting good dust filtration to your face so the head sock may help give the dust mask something to seal against. Do you get allergies form sawing aged firewood?

I do get the symptoms when chainsawing dry logs (that started a couple years ago), and also last November, when I used the table saw to cut the slabs into 2 x 2, that I have turned and was planning on turning.

 

[JonB]

Today, I noticed a couple crab apple logs that I hauled home from the compost site in November. Since it's been frozen and uncut, maybe I do some green wood turning?

 

[JWFilips]

JonB,
Back in the early 2000's I was building a bunch of Flintlock Jaeger rifles...Original wood was European Walnut but now days it is just old Black walnut! Black Walnut is near deadly to me ! I had to wear a respirator type filter Every time I was filing or sanding the wood! I have used English Walnut with no Problems but it is the American Black walnunt that attacks my lungs!

 

[Ian]

Obeche is the death of me, I know what you guys mean.

 

[fiver]

black walnut will keep everything from growing under it too, it seeps some sort of oil.

crab apple makes pretty good fire wood.... jus sayin.
Lilac bushes have a nice red center with a white outer part that might make some good turned pieces.

 

[JonB]

I commented above, about the yellow poplar being 10 months old, well facebook popped this photo on my newsfeed as a 1 year memory. So I guess I cut it up on March 5th 2021...I thought I'd share, as it's a fun photo.

 

[Ian]

Jon, is that plywood box something you made to contain the mess when you saw up wood at home? I see concrete so assume you didn't do the dicing at the compost site.

 

[Brad]

Ian, I think the stump was sitting in a trailer. Easier on the back to lift the work for cutting.

 

[dannyd]

the only items I have left from my time on the lathe. The police officer that ask me to stop making the bongs also asked to stop making the billy clubs.

 

[fiver]

that's cause the billy's didn't have enough thickness on the 'bonking' end.
he didn't want any honest citizens being sued for someone catching a splinter.

 

[JonB]

Yep, my plywood box is my trailer.
Works great for chain sawing the logs I haul home from the compost site.
Just easier to cut 'em at home in my driveway.

 

[Ian]

It looked like the box was sitting on the ground, I don't know why I didn't think "trailer". I do a lot of projects on my little trailer too when the weather is good because I don't have room in the shop and the mess stays outside.

 

[Bret4207]

I haven't yet had time to play with the Walker-Turner wood lathe I got a couple months back. I did get the boys to help me get it out to the future wood shop. It sits there with my Foley-Belsaw Sharp-All and I got Gordy to get my Delta Planer out there yesterday. When it warms up, the 4 rabbits in the building are going out to what used to be the dog shed, with it's attached runs, which I also need to move a bit to higher ground and do a little work on too. Then I can kick the cats out of the wood shop and go to town! Really looking forward to that. IIRC I traded an Amish guy a cow and $400.00 for the 14x28 (I think) bldg on skids. He used it as his woodshop and there are 2 swing out doors on one long side that give a good 8 or 10 foot doorway for moving big stuff in and out. I'd really like to add a deck off that side for air drying wood and painting. It's quite a project, but a guy has to dream a little. I hope I can add some pics later this year to the "Look what I made!" gallery here.

As an aside, when I was last using the Delta planner for the bathroom project, it had all sorts of trouble feeding wood. Turns out the "rubber" covered roller that drives the wood in has some gouges in it. I have no clue how that happened, but I suppose I'm going to have to replace it. Can't help but wonder if a knot caught and ripped it somehow. I see no other logical cause.

 

[dannyd]

Walker-Turner is a great lathe that's what I started on. To make the billy sticks I would use the maple wood from the butcher block counter tops where we cut out for the sink and range top. Picture of my childhood home like living at Disney for a kid except later in life all the chemicals and sawdust come back to bit you in the butt.

 

[JonB]

Jim - any chance I could piggy back off that offer as well?

I've got a copy of Raffin's Turning Wood DVD I'll send you--PM me a mailing address. Done as an intro, it covers a lot of the safety stuff, and Raffin is a good teacher. It gets into sharpening, spindle turning, and faceplate turning.

When I make file handles, i usually do a bunch of them at once. I drill the blanks, center on the hole, and turn from there. I did hundreds like this (literally--one of my warm-up exersizes while learning) before I got a 4-jaw chuck, so I know it is doable. Copper pipe or shotgun shell bases have worked well for ferrules.

Well, it's been 13 months, I should have got to this sooner.
Oscar, if this DVD still interests you, PM me your address and I'll ship it to you.

 

[Ian]

Bret, replacing the power feed rollers is called "maintenance" where I come from. The rubber doesn't last forever.

 

[burbank.jung]

I hope to buy a wood lathe in the future. My plan is reproduce a stool that belonged to my grandparents with plum trees that belonged to them, and then gift those stools to my grandnephews and grandnieces. So, when they grow up, they can pass down the stools made from wood that belonged to their great great grandparents. Would those basic Sears Craftsman wood lathes work?

 

[Bret4207]

Bret, replacing the power feed rollers is called "maintenance" where I come from. The rubber doesn't last forever.

I suppose you're right Ian. I was just wondering what caused it as these are definitely tears. I have to get an exploded view and see how the rig is set up. Considering I bought this thing at Woodworkers Warehouse back when they were going strong, and that's got to be what? 15-ish years back at least?, this old girl has done pretty good. I've run a lot of Amish rough lumber through it, both softwood and hard wood. You can't take a real big cut and the finish isn't paint ready IMO, but it does a good job for what it is.

I have a 6" Delta jointer, an older one from probably the 60's, out in the barn. Needs the blades either sharpened of replaced as the previous owner either hit a tiny stone or some metal with both. The thing runs scary smooth! It's got to weigh close to a couple hundred lbs with the stand. Same guy gave me 2- 10" Craftsman table saws, the old cast iron table type, again from the 60's I'd guess. ( He was moving back to Alaska,) I've been using a Delta contractors saw I bought from my ex-BIL 30 some years back. It was used and abused when he got it and the years haven't caused it to heal up. It was meant for ripping 1x for trim and such, not 4" hardwood! And a stiff breeze will knock it over due to the flimsy sheet metal base. It does the job, but just barely. Be nice to have something far more solid and that has a motor big enough to allow you to feed at more than a snails pace.

Someday...

 

[JonB]

I hope to buy a wood lathe in the future. My plan is reproduce a stool that belonged to my grandparents with plum trees that belonged to them, and then gift those stools to my grandnephews and grandnieces. So, when they grow up, they can pass down the stools made from wood that belonged to their great great grandparents. Would those basic Sears Craftsman wood lathes work?

That depends on which ones you are looking at.

I've heard some NOT so positive things about the inexpensive Craftsman lathes with one round rail (flex issues). The older heavy duty cast iron frame Craftsman with two iron rails would be a better choice, but it depends if they have headstock and tailstock with modern/standard threads and MT2 (morse taper) connections for accessories. Although, if your lathe comes with everything you need, then I suppose that's not that as important. I've looked at many vintage/antique wood lathes, before I purchased the HF unit, it seems most old lathes have unique (proprietary?) headstock and tailstock ...maybe there just wasn't an industry standard back then?