My first lathe 2nd project

Well, Dog, it looks like you’re on your way. Having fun.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Congrats on the lathe snowdog. A lidded container for a second project, wow. I can’t wait to see how you will incorporate your carving with the lathe.

-- Andy Stark

Great job! You must be a fast learner.

-- Greg Mitchell--Lowell, AR--gdamitchell@sbcglobal.net

I was just thinking, a lidded box for a second turning is ambitious! It looks good. Congrats!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Very nice, my friend. Now when if I ever get the chance to stop by, I will have something to have my coffee out of HA HA.
PS: I stopped at the mill today, Bill is having some sales on Cherry, Maple and Red Oak if you need any.

-- Guy Kroll

Very nice work. Great to see you jumping right in…

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Great job! I’d like to try my hand at turning some day.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

You did a great job on that. One thing I learned about my nova chuck is that the jaws (depending on the set you have on it) are tapered. If you taper the wood to match, and dont let it bottom out (make the tenon longer or as long as the jaws) it wont slip. I tossed more than a couple cups, bowls, and whorls across the garage, before I learned that. Actually heard it on the woodturners workshop show, and said “duh…”

Keep up the good work. You can do a lot on a Jet midi. I know, as that is all I have myself.

Looking at the picture, it looks like the tenon holding you piece to the chuck is flush with the bottom, and has no shoulder to support it. You would be surprised on how short a tenon will hold if you have the angle on it right.

-- David, Charlotte NC (http://beechcreeknaturals.etsy.com)

This is the nub of a 8” long x 2” wide piece of maple that I had in my nova chuck, to turn Christmas ornaments.

This is how it sits in the chuck, you can see a gap at the bottom, so the wood is not bottoming out, and the jaws are supporting it. That way if you snag, it is less likely to knock the wood loose. Notice I left a bit of a shoulder so that I knew that it would not bottom out, and it helps with support.

On expansion, this is all the lip you need to hold very small stuff. (I would want much much more for anything heavier than this 1/2oz piece of wood)

-- David, Charlotte NC (http://beechcreeknaturals.etsy.com)

Very ambitious for a second project… my first couple dozen are freeform spindles – odd unmatched pieces in a large alien chess set ;)

Thanks for that info ThreeJ

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Way to go snowdog! That’s impressive…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Thanks for all the words of encouragement that cup started out a bit thicker <laugh> I had to adjust it each time it would snag and move out of center until I found the trick of making the shoulder bigger. The thought of turning it into a baseball and throwing it across the shop was one option (at first <grin>) but I thought better of it and tried again (actually several times).

I’ll search more but off hand:
Does anyone have advice on how to cut the tenon to the correct angle so it holds the wood in the jaws better?

BTW it was not a lidded container, after I cut the cup of I figured I would cut the scrap and see if I could hone my skill a little more. carving out the inside of the cup was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I probably should have tried it on a bigger piece of wood :)

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

When I first started, I would use my 1/8” parting tool to get the tenon to width, and diameter, then use my scew chisel to set the angle on it. Now I have a 1/4” parting tool, that I cut in at a slight angle, and then clean up the shoulder. It doesn’t have to be exact, and you can eye ball the angle. Just get it as close as you can.

-- David, Charlotte NC (http://beechcreeknaturals.etsy.com)

Here’s another tool that works – and that you can make yourself out of an old file. And – let me see if I can put this into words: overall the point (or “nose” of the tool) is 90 degrees but the whole point is offset by 15 degrees away from edge of the tool (look at the short edge of the point)... Do you see what I mean?

There’s more info here.=

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

You’re doing great Dog !

-- -** 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