Simple questions about turning

[bfrikken]

Okay, these may seem kind of odd. Recently I've come to realize that I'm not going to be getting a whole lot of opportunities for some big projects with 2 young kids. The only real work space I have is one side of my garage that is getting invaded by tricycles, sandboxes, inflatapools, etc.

However, I have a small space in my basement that I've considered using for small projects. I've admired a lot of the work in making small bowls and especially the pens. Here goes with my questions...

1. does turning create much of a mess? Is it easily controllable?

2. any idea on how much floor space becomes dedicated to a minilathe? or just an area for a normal lathe?

3. any videos that you have used in getting started? I was looking at some turning classes at Woodcraft in Grand rapids here?

[Uncle Cracker]

The Woodcraft classes will give you good information in order to familiarize yourself with the process and the work area, but, in a nutshell:

1) Yes, you'll make a mess. Turning, even pens, can generate a lot of small shavings, and even a dust collector hood (which usually gets in the way) will still leave you with a cleanup job. Turners just learn to wallow in it, and clean up with a vac after every job.

2) Turning, even on a mini-lathe, requires that you move from side to side in front of the machine, at different angles of attack. Don't crowd yourself. An area of 6'x6' would be about minimum, but more is better. Ideally, a rolling cabinet with good locking casters will allow you to move everything for easier and more thorough cleanup.

3) There are many good videos available. Woodcraft has them, but not at real great prices. Shop Amazon or even Ebay for better bargains.

4) The only way to get good is practice. Turning is probably the most feel-oriented WW endeavor. It's more a craft than anything else.

[DonHo]

The amount of ;mess kinda depends on what you are turning, pens don't generate a huge amount of mess. Bowls on the otherhand generate a lot of mess. It's not too hard to contain, you will probably need some kind of dust extraction to pick up the sanding dust if not part of the shavings. I have a very small shop (12' X 14') with a lot of tools, all on casters so they can be rolled out for use then rolled back out of the way. My lathe (The Rikon mini) is on a stand (about 14" X 32" with 3 shallow storage drawers below the lathe and a bag of sand on the bottom shelf). I'd say you could get by with an area of say 40 sq ft or maybe less if you clean it up after every turning session. As for videos, you can get a free dvd on pen turning from PSI. By far the best bowl turning dvd I've seen is "Turned Bowls made easy" by Bill Grumbine. It covers everything from harvesting the wood thru to finishing the bowl. I also have "Turning wood" and Turning Projects" by Richard Raffan which are very good for turning techniques but maybe not as practical the the Grumbine dvd.
I should warn you that turning is a very slippery slope, the lathe and first tools are just the begining of the cost BUT it's also about as much fun as you can have legally and by yourself. Well at least that you would want anybody to know about

Good luck,
DonHo

[bfrikken]

I'm thinking I may go out to WoodCraft. I think They have the Delta Midi and Jet Mini (1014 I think) . The Delta LA200 is 229 shipped from Timberline.


My wife is really concerned about the saw dust. As it is now, when I cut anything, I generally take the tool and wood out in front of my garage, hook it up to my dust collector and make my cuts. I figured a lot of the turning would be more like wood chips then the fine dust, but I forgot that I've seen people sand their piece right on the lathe.

Would dedicating my Jet dust collector to the lathe work well, or will i be fighting dust constantly?


Also, i Just noticed I had the filter to the forums set to the last 2 weeks (i was surprised there were only 2 turing topics), so I guess I have a lot more reading to do before I should have posted I do appreciate the responses.

[Uncle Cracker]

Dedicating a dust collector is probably overkill, not because of the expense, but because you will still make a mess. A dedicated shop-vac with a HEPA over-filter would work just as well. Your shavings will be fairly coarse from most turning, but sanding and finishing on the lathe will both put stuff up in the air you should be concerned about. For this reason, you should make sure (with an exhaust, preferably) that this does not enter your home air system.

(And if you are looking for a good mini for the money, check out the Rikon (Woodcraft has them, also). The Jet is nice, too, but if you're gonna bite that bullet, get the VS model.

[Carlos]

We have our Jet mini lathe sitting on a 2' x 4' work table (Gorilla brand from Sam's Club, nice and solid). This leaves a lot of room for parts/wood/supplies on the table top, and below the bench. The turning supplies and station are basically self-contained, using only their own space. Beyond that you need room to move around in front of the lathe, just a little for pens, much more for bowls, particularly to your right. I would say that 3' behind the bench would be plenty, 2' would be too tight.

It makes a mess. Most woods make mostly shavings, but some make a lot of dust also, even just making pens. When you sand you will generate huge volumes of dust. So you will need to keep it out of your lungs. You can capture it, or just wear dust protection. I've seen a small turning station with a Festool vacuum (ultra quiet) that captures all the dust and most of the shavings. We just put one of the dust hoods on our lathe, and hooked it up to our central DC system. It is a huge improvement, especially for sanding. Of course that's loud and large, and if we had the Festool vac we'd try that instead. The dust hood is very nice, required only a simple mod to add it, and was cheap. It doen't get in the way at all.

[Carlos]

Oh, and on lathe selections... We made the mistake of buying one from Rockler that "looks like" the Jet. It's nothing like it. Piece of crap. Then we bought the Jet variable speed, and love it. Get a VS. Period. Trust me on that one. And get a Jet or equivalent quality (I have not tried the Rikon).

[Alex Franke]

Hey, I had the same issue with the garage until I added some shelving, cabinets, and moved some stuff out to other storage areas. All the balls, bats, gloves, hockey sticks, etc, are stored in hung mesh bags. I'm a lot quicker to actually deflate the inflatables because I have an air compressor, which makes quick work of blowing them back up again. The tricycle, scooter, helmets, hockey goals, etc, all get stacked into the wagon. When I start to work, I just open the garage door and roll the wagon and stroller out, carry out the basketball hoop and a couple other big toys and then I have plenty of room.

Using a lathe produces a *lot* of mess, but it's mostly manageable. You end up with a pile of shavings at your feet, and a couple feet around you, but it's mostly large shavings which can be swept up pretty easily. Sanding on a lathe will produce a lot of dust, as you might imagine.

You might try www.youtube.com for some starter videos. I seem to recall seeing a pretty complete bowl-turning example on youtube not too long ago.

[eezlock]

turning talk

To answer your questions,(1) yes turning does make a mess with all the shavings and sanding dust,(2) floor space, (6' diameter circle) around the lathe is usually enough,(3) no I haven't seen any videos about turning from Woodcraft or anyone else.

I just bought a Jet mini lathe (1014I) a couple of weeks ago and love it!
Haven't had the opprotunity to do any lathe turning since I was in high
school ( 42 years ago) but it all came back to me and I'm enjoying this
part of my hobby all over again. I guess that if you really like to do something
like turning, you never forget it! So, get started and have some fun...that is what it is all about in my opinion. eezlock

[bfrikken]

I've started watching some videos on youtube. I have my mind made up that I am going to get a variable speed. Will be watching the prices as I'm not in a real hurry to buy until I can get some of my garage cleaned up. After reading the posts, I'm sure my wife will strangle me if I attempt to do anything in my basement. The space I was thinking of is close enough to her crafting area that one dust storm will cause me a world of hurt.

I'm still looking into classes. Found a beginners course at Woodcraft in early March.

[Whaler]

When I set up my new shop I upgraded from a Jet 1014 to the Jet 1220. I haven't needed the extra power and capacity of the 1220 yet but it is there if I do.
I don't find a need for the variable speed as it only takes a minute to move the belt for a speed change. Think about it, is the limited VS worth $80.00?
Amazon has free shipping at this time and the lathes are priced at:
1014 $249.99
1014VS $329.99
1220 $329.99

[Russianwolf]

another option on lathes is the Grizzly G0462. It's a midsized lathe with it's own stand, and has full VS (variable sized pulleys). This is what I upgraded to and love it. It was just over $400 delivered. you can't used it for large, out of balance pieces, but it will do everything else fine.

If you go for a benchtop, make usre that you can clean under the lathe easily, that was the biggest problem I had on my Midi (PSI Turncrafter Pro), the shavings would pile up so fast that it would hide the tools I had laying on the bench.

I need to rearrange my DC to work with the lathe more. I have a feeling I'm breathing alot more dust than I should.

[bfrikken]

I know some that swear by Grizzly. Was looking at their offerings and saw this:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G8690

Also saw this while looking through Woodcrafts sales: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx...fcode=08IN02NL

[Uncle Cracker]

Avoid the tubular lathes altogether. A solid iron bed is the only way to go. Believe me on this.

[Russianwolf]

http://www.amazon.com/PSI-TCLPRO-Tur...3964039&sr=8-4

Have to agree with UC, the problem with tube beds is they can deflect and make your turnings out of round. Also, if the bed is a single too keeping the headstock and tailstock in alignment can be nearly impossible.

If you are looking to get in on the cheap, the lathe I linked above is about the best bang for a small buck you'll find. Everything is MT2 and it has a 1"x8TPI head so most things you buy for it will swap to a bigger lathe very easily.