Starting to Turn

Jeff, the lathe sounds like a nice addition to your shop and they do look like a lot of fun to play with. I have one on my list as well. Every time I see a turning posted the lathe moves a little higher on the wish list.

I am looking forward to seeing how some of your project “turn” out. :)

Have fun.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Please keep us posted. A lathe sure seems like fun. It’s a ways down my list, but floating higher.

-- Rich, Seattle, WA

”The second one (purpleheart) was perfect. Well, it was. i was turing some V grooves and things to dress it up a bit. One slight wrist movement and boom, 2 hours were wasted.”

as David Pye would say you just demonstrated the concept of the “workmanship of risk”

-- criticism: the art of analyzing and evaluating the quality of a artistic work...

Congratulations on your new lathe. As for the jointer, it will make a sturding staging area for your turning projects. My table saw is the perfect work station for applying aniline dyes.

Check out your local American Association of Woodturners clubs. They typically have mentoring programs and a library full of books and DVD’s free for it’s members to use. You can check out the AAW homepage and search for clubs in your area.

http://woodturner.org/

Have fun!

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

Look up Palmetto Woodturners. We meet the first Saturday of each month at Mann Tool. A great bunch of people and I always learn a lot.

good purchase

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Check this site out too:

http://www.woodturningonline.com/

They have a lot of great projects and info on how to use the tools. Also, if your looking to get a decent set of chisels for not a lot of money, check these out. I use them and they are great. I did a review of them a few weeks ago if you want to check it out.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCHSS8.html

Good luck and happy turning.

-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken

I’ve been playing with a lathe too for several months now. Great fun. I still haven’t mastered the skew, I have ruined a few projects with it as well. Make sure tto not finish your bowl and let it dry awhile and then return it later. It’s terrible to finish a bowl in a few hours only to have it crack the next day.

-- Bill from Lithia Springs, GA I love the smell of sawdust in the morning.

I had the advantage of learning to use a lathe, when I was in 9th grade.

Wow! that was over 60 years ago. When you’re in ninth grade you have no fears, & you throw caution to the wind.

Most of us kids turned out miniature baseball bats. they were all over the place.

So enjoy your new adventure.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

A lot of the time I cut a close to size blank and then take it off and let it dry. If it is already close to size it dries much faster with less cracking and less warpage. especialy with bowls or vases. once in a while though something will warp so bad that you cant save it at all. But I heat with wood.

-- Tool Maker

Might be worth a try to let your roughed out item lay in the shavings from your turning and pop it all into a paper bag to dry. In the old days turners often let them dry out in stored grain. It can take a couple of months or so before it is ready for final turning. If you turn end-grain pieces to an all-round even thickness you can finish it up in one session without further drying, but the bottoms are a bit more fragile and difficult to get nice.

-- Mike, American in Norway

Welcome to the Vortex called turning. Have fun with it and wear a shield. Stuff coming off the lathe at speed hurts when it hits ya.

-- Jim in Cushing Oklahoma

Looking forward to seeing what you create with it. Have fun!

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

OK, so I’ve been playing now for a week or so. It’s fun. My other tools are getting jealous. I’ve got a little gripe though. The belt on the Shop Fox Lathe was damaged somehow. I can’t say for sure. The treads on about a 2 inch section are now distorted. This could have been a user error thing, but I can’t imagine what happened. Changing the speeds with the belt is pretty straight forward and I find it hard to imagine I mounted it in a manner that distorted it. Must have though, can’t think of anything else. Now the belt will drop to a wheel one lower than where it started on the bottom axis leaving it slanted. Grr. . . Guess I’ll need a new one. I’ll post a mallet I made soon. I find finishing on a lathe is more fun than finishing typicilly is. Seems like less work. Makes it easy to buff it out to the right sheen as well.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

The link to the Benjamin’s Best chisels made me kick myself when I read you’re original review. I think I posted there as well. I bought three of the 8 a la carte not realizing there was a set. Spent between $15-$20 each for the three. Couldn’t obviously gotten more value out the set.

-- Jeff, South Carolina