Oh man. I'm really diggin' this
This lathe work is GREAT FUN! I dont know WHY I waited so long to get into it!
My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter are here for the holidays and today was a sort of "rest up from all the eating, shopping, eating, cooking for the men's breakfast at church this morning, eating Thanksgiving leftovers, hanging out in front of the TV and eating some more, and just generally enjoying our granddaughter" kind of a day.
About mid-day they all wanted to take a nap, but I never have been one who could sleep in the middle of the day. So I spent a few hours in the shop. Finally decided where I wanted the lathe to be, so I bolted it to the floor and I also threw together a 3-lamp fixture and added some more lighting directly above the lathe. The sun was coming directly into that side of the building, and even with the blinds closed it was difficult to get a decent pic.
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The immediate improvements I notice are …
1. I can SEE a
WHOLE LOT better with those 3 CFLs directly above me. This building came with fluorescent fixtures built in and even though I put in all new 40watt bulbs, the light from them still has a sort of "yellow" glow. I've been considering taking the plastic lenses out of the fixtures, but I'm not certain how much dust will get up in there. You cant see it in this pic but I also added a second 3-lamp CFL fixture directly above my workbench, which is to the left as viewed in this shot.
2. With the lathe bolted to the floor, I'm still getting a pretty good bit of chatter, but at least the lathe
STAYS PUT and doesn't dance across the floor like before. I'm sure with practice the chatter will get less and less, as I learn how to better control the tools while I turn.
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So yeah BAAY-BEE…. THIS BOY is makin' some SHAVINGS!
My daughter came out and snapped a few shots of me at the lathe. I haven't had this much fun since I got my first car!
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I have noticed that when the turning is going smoothly, the chips really do fly. Rather than order a new face shield I took the headgear out of an old welding helmet that I no longer use and mounted a face shield from my old motorcycle helmet to it. Works like a charm.
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Oh yeah, what I'm turning here is going to be bowl #4. I'll be posting bowl #3 which I finished up and took pics of the final project. I'm pretty proud of the improvement in my work.
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And that stack of lumber you can see up there in the top picture? Yeah, that's my
"Wood Gloat" that I'll have to tell y'all about
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