Turning wood on a Metal lathe? another Noob.

[sscherin]

After having it sit around in boxes for a year I finally put my Grandfathers metal lathe together.
It's one he built using a slide rest and tail stock form an old Elgin lathe.
The rest he made himself.. (He was a tool and die maker)

I'm not saying it's the best but it's mine and the darn thing works..

This is the old girl as it sat in his basement..


It may look a bit odd but it came with an army of tooling


I've turned a few aluminum bits and was thinking of trying some wood or hand turning some soft metals..

It did come with a tool rest I can use..
I have a 3 jaw chuck too.

So I was thinking of picking up the HSS turning set from HF and start playing..

Think I can make a decent pen on this thing?
I was also thinking of a chess set for one of the kids.. He's a good player and in the school chess club.

[sscherin]

Well I guess I'll give it a try..

I got my shiny new 15% off HF coupon today so I'll march down there and pick up a set of turning tools.

Now do I want this set #47066

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47066

or this set #35444

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=35444

Or just try to score a vintage set of ?? on Ebay?

[seabat]

My input for what it's worth the ash handles ...

And with a 20% coupon you'll be sitting pretty.

[leehljp]

It will work. the main thing is to find the right adapters for your pen that will fit the lathe itself.

Most people look for mandrels to mount the pen blanks on to turn them. But the most accurate consistently and less steps is to use a method called "Mandrelless" or Turning Between Centers. Just mount the bushings on the ends of the drilled, tubed and squared blank and put them on the lathe between the head stock and tail stock. No mandrel.

[affyx]

I've often wondered about turning wood in a metal lathe, no reason I can think of that it wouldn't work.

Just my 2 cents, but I would warn you off of 3 jaw chucks - 4 jaws are many many time more safe with wood. With metal, you don't have to worry about gripping end grain versus long grain thus 3 jaw chucks are OK for metal, but with wood it's an accident waiting to happen. here is a decent 4 jaw on sale: http://www.woodcraft.com/catalog/family.aspx?id=2020042

For chisels, try to find HSS, they will hold an edge longer than carbon steel, but if carbon steel is a bargain, it's still a good choice.

For pen turning, does the lathe have morse tapers? if so finding a pen mandrel at woodcraft, or Penn State industries, or other spots on the web will be easy. If not, if you have a 1/4" collet or drill chuck that can be attached, you can use a drill chuck style mandrel (which is cheaper too).

Good luck and please post your progress!

[sscherin]

Thanks for the tip on the chuck.. I hadn't thought of that.. I have a 3 jaw but it's mostly useless for anything square.

Good deal on the woodcraft chuck..

I have collets for most anything from 1/16 up through 3/4" so the drill chuck mandrel would be the way to go..

Have a dead center for the tail stock.. Should I get a live center?
Tailstock has a MT2 taper.

[affyx]

get one, you'll want a live center eventually anyway

if you use a dead center to support the end of the mandrel, excessive heat could build up which, I imagine, might could lead to chatter and other issues

best choice is a 60 degree live center for supporting the mandrel, but any will work. grizzly and PSI have good prices on 60 degree centers

[sscherin]

Picked up the 47066 turning set at HF.
The wood box was falling apart so the manager knocked off $10.. With the 15% coupon it was $30 out the door..

[leehljp]

Thanks for the tip on the chuck.. I hadn't thought of that.. I have a 3 jaw but it's mostly useless for anything square. The cup in the tail stock end of the mandrel is reamed to 60° and a matching center is needed or there will be some problems very soon down the road.

Good deal on the woodcraft chuck..

I have collets for most anything from 1/16 up through 3/4" so the drill chuck mandrel would be the way to go..

Have a dead center for the tail stock.. Should I get a live center?
Tailstock has a MT2 taper.

In pen turning, the dead center is for the head stock end. Yes, you do need a live center for the tail stock. When using mandrels, a 60° LC is a necessity. A different angle will work but it will soon cause Off center or Out Of Round blanks.

It is not absolutely necessary but it is recommended to go ahead and use 60° LC and DC for Turning Between Centers/Mandrel-less. The one time it is required for TBC is if you buy special bushings that are chamfered to 60°. There is a fellow that custom makes pen bushings and the inside shoulders are chamfered at that angle. With Mandrels - 60° is a necessity; TBC - it depends. For my first Dead/drive Center, I made my own from aluminum and it was at a taper not much greater than an MT 2. I used it in a chuck. Worked great!

[Martin]

wood turning on a metal lathe

A metal lathe works good for turning large diameter wood objects because the of the low speed.
Some directions for turning and polishing small diameter wood objects call for about 3000 rpm which is not available on most older metal lathes.

I made a mandrel to turn a wood drumcase for my wife's ceramic drum

[sscherin]

I tried to get a live center at HF but they didn't have any in stock.. Heck they didn't even know what a live center was and tried to say they didn't sell one.

Turns out to be a good thing since I jumped on the woodcraft promo code deal this weekend and ordered a 60° LC for $12 shipped..

Should be here in a few days..

I looked at the Woodcraft Professional Pen mandrel.. All I really need is the replacement shaft, nut and some pen bushings. My Lathe is already equipped with a collet to hold it.

I just need to pick a style of pen to start with..