Shopping List..Need Help

[autiger1]

I need your help to spend my money! Which I figure is no problem for this board.

I am contemplating the purchase of the Jet VS Mini Lathe. I have never turned before, nor do I know much of anything about lathes. Once I have the lathe, what else do I need or want? Here is a list of things I think I need...please let me know the brand, size, etc, specifications that I need.

1) Stand
2) Chuck(s)?
3) Tools (Size, Brand)
4) Tool Stand
5) Grinder
6) Other Accessories?

I want to turn pens...but also eventually bowls, pepper mills, legs...etc. Becuase I have become attached to all my fingers, I will probably take a class to get started. I really appreciate the help.

Thanks,
Tom

[GeekMom]

Along with the grinder, you may want to look into a jig for sharpening. I'm hoping for one for Christmas Also, a face shield is inexpensive, but could save your nose from a blowout.

[gmack5]

If it were me, I'd add a good book for beginning turning to the list.
I'm not the one to do the recomending, but I'm sure someone here can steer you towards a good basic book on turning.

[Whaler]

The Jet is a great choice. I have the standard model not the VS. I find that I change speeds 3 times when turning a pen and it only takes a minute to move the belt. If you go for the standard over the VS you will have $100.00 towards the other things you will need.

I am not impressed with the Jet stand, I have mine on a homemade workbench.

For the grinder I have the Woodcraft 8" slow speed and it works great. A sharpening jig is nice but you can get along without one. After 2 years of turning I just ordered a Wolverine jig today.

The chuck. You don't need one for pens and I would suggest waiting untill you get some experience and know what you will be turning.

I started with just a full size 3/8" Crown gouge from Woodcraft, I have since added a 5 piece set of Crown tools.

Do you have a drill press for drilling the pen blanks?

A great book is "Pens From The Wood Lathe" by Dick Sing.

You will need a pen mandrel, the Woodcraft 126705 is a good one.

A center drilling vice and pen press are nice but you can improvise.

Hope this helps.

[Mort]

My two cents
First Welcome to the Vortex - The Vortex produces the sound one hears as the money is sucked out of ones checking account to feed the ADICTION!!!!
Dust mask - replaceable filter type
Gouges - Sorby, Crown, Hamlet, P & N [my favorite] - Ken George got the Benjamin set from Penn State and has a review - I think - of the tools on his web site. Do go for High Speed Steel [HSS] tools.
Second or third the motion on the Wolverine Jig. OneWay has a free DVD on how to use the Wolverine system available for order on line on their website.
HTH
Grinder - for sure - 8" wheels - 80 grit white wheel - will result in less "hollow grinding". It appears to me the wolverine system is setup to use 8" wheels. I initally bought the 6" and have since bought an 8". A grinder with a slow speed 1,750 rpm is best.
I don't do pens but Penn State was offering a few months back a free DVD as a how to turn pens.
Books - Woodturning by Phil Irons is a fairly good starting place.The Richard Raffen videos are recommended. IMO the man is so fast and sure it is difficult to get much from the videos. His skew technique; however, is something to behold and emulate.

[kwgeorge]

Just to add a few things since I think the guys have you pretty well setup. And Mort has it right it is defiantly a money sucking vortex as my wallet is about $250 lighter after this weekend again!

On the tools I like the PSI scrapers. You just can’t beat the price and you can grind them to any shape or profile you want. They are very good tools and stay just as sharp as any of my Sorby or Crown. I am however a firm believer in buying good gouges. The reason is due to the finish and the selection. My favorite used all the time gouge is a Henry Taylor 3/8” spindle gouge.

I agree with Mort that Raffan is very good but does not have the safest work habits and can be hard to follow. For tool usage Dick Sing is with out a doubt the best teacher out there so if you can find one of his videos or books it would be well worth the investment.

I just bought the Lacer video on the Skew this weekend and it is not bad at all but I would suggest you learn the basics before jumping off into that beast.

[GeekMom]

One more thing . . . A CLOCK! It's amazing how fast the time goes by

[mudder]

quote:Originally posted by GeekMom

One more thing . . . A CLOCK! It's amazing how fast the time goes by

I second that!

Now there is a clock in the shop because I go in there at 7:00 for a "few minutes" and when I finally pull the watch out of my pocket to look at the time it is after 10:00. I get up real early in the AM so this is sometimes a hardship.


Mudder