How many times have you all heard that the lathe is just the beginning in terms of costs associated with woodturning? Statements like this one from a recent thread: "I recently picked up a [insert lathe model here]. As is well known that was the cheap part." It's repeated so often, that it is not even questioned by most, and the notion is spread that you will need to sink a boatload of additional money into tools, sharpening systems, chucks, rests, centers, etc… or you won't be able to do squat on that newly purchased lathe.
Well, you sure can spend a ton of cash on all that stuff… but you don't have to if you don't want to. I was surfing around the net the other night, and ran across this article over at the FineWoodworking web site titled "Turning Tools on the Cheap". That got me thinking that it would be nice to start a thread discussing other methods of turning on the cheap. It should be interesting (and informative) to hear what others have done to keep the cost of woodturning down to a minimum.
I'll start it off with one of my favorite tips - a thread tap matched to your lathes spindle. With it, you can make all sorts of spindle attachments out of scrap wood to do a wide variety of tasks. For just the cost of the tap and using free scrap wood, you can make your own faceplates, threaded glue blocks, jam and screw chucks, mandrels, sanding discs and all sorts of other really useful additions to your lathe:
(I described the process of making them in this post)
For example, you can make a threaded faceplate/glueblock to use to turn bowls, lidded boxes, heck, just about anything. Just glue it onto a blank and have at it - no need for an expensive chuck:
Those blanks turned into these finished bowls:
Glue an extra piece of wood on there and turn it into a jam chuck… or a cone that can mount pipes and other hollow forms for turning or polishing (and it's self centering). Drill a hole in the center and put in a screw/bolt to make a mandrel - for turning pens, gear blanks, wheels, etc… and it will be perfectly concentric around the shaft when you are done. Here is one I made so I could make some small 2" rotors (from this thread) that I then drill and tap for a set screw (cut down machine screw with a screwdriver slot cut into it using a dremel tool) for mounting on a shaft:
There are a ton of possibilities. And because it's directly threaded, it turns true even after dismounting and re-mounting. They are also re-usable. Turn a project, part it off, then just re-true up the face so you can use it again. If it gets too short from being parted off, just true it up and glue on another piece of wood.
You don't need a fancy tap - cheap steel ones work fine since you are just threading wood. If you have any kind of home construction around you, that is an unlimited source of free scrap 2-by material - it's amazing what those guys throw out!
Total cost - probably around $10 or less.
Cheers,
Brad
Well, you sure can spend a ton of cash on all that stuff… but you don't have to if you don't want to. I was surfing around the net the other night, and ran across this article over at the FineWoodworking web site titled "Turning Tools on the Cheap". That got me thinking that it would be nice to start a thread discussing other methods of turning on the cheap. It should be interesting (and informative) to hear what others have done to keep the cost of woodturning down to a minimum.
I'll start it off with one of my favorite tips - a thread tap matched to your lathes spindle. With it, you can make all sorts of spindle attachments out of scrap wood to do a wide variety of tasks. For just the cost of the tap and using free scrap wood, you can make your own faceplates, threaded glue blocks, jam and screw chucks, mandrels, sanding discs and all sorts of other really useful additions to your lathe:
(I described the process of making them in this post)
For example, you can make a threaded faceplate/glueblock to use to turn bowls, lidded boxes, heck, just about anything. Just glue it onto a blank and have at it - no need for an expensive chuck:
Those blanks turned into these finished bowls:
Glue an extra piece of wood on there and turn it into a jam chuck… or a cone that can mount pipes and other hollow forms for turning or polishing (and it's self centering). Drill a hole in the center and put in a screw/bolt to make a mandrel - for turning pens, gear blanks, wheels, etc… and it will be perfectly concentric around the shaft when you are done. Here is one I made so I could make some small 2" rotors (from this thread) that I then drill and tap for a set screw (cut down machine screw with a screwdriver slot cut into it using a dremel tool) for mounting on a shaft:
There are a ton of possibilities. And because it's directly threaded, it turns true even after dismounting and re-mounting. They are also re-usable. Turn a project, part it off, then just re-true up the face so you can use it again. If it gets too short from being parted off, just true it up and glue on another piece of wood.
You don't need a fancy tap - cheap steel ones work fine since you are just threading wood. If you have any kind of home construction around you, that is an unlimited source of free scrap 2-by material - it's amazing what those guys throw out!
Total cost - probably around $10 or less.
Cheers,
Brad