First Turnings and some questions

[poolhound]

Well this weekend I used my lathe for the first time and basically I made a lot of sawdust! I did some experimentation and practice with various tools and produced some ugly looking spindle shapes. wasn't really aiming for anything other than seeing what some of the different tools did. had my fair share of catches. I did end today trying a simple bowl and as a first attempt I wasnt too ashamed. The edge did crack and I am not sure why, its not that thin, I think the scrap stock I used has some defects



Basically I learned a number of things.

1. Sharp tools make life soooo much easier
2. I need to figure out options for dust collection
3. I need some extra direct light.

As far as tools I have a pair of carbide insert chisels and they were awesome. The random set of old chisels I picked up along with a bunch of other stuff didn't seem that good. I did sharpen them and they were ok but nowhere near the performance of the carbide, I dont think they are even HSS. I think I will clean up the set and sell them on and put what I get towards a starter set.

So my first question is what to go for? I dont want to spend any more than $100 preferable less. Should I go for one of the basic HF sets or Penn State or something else ?? I did wonder about just getting a couple of better chisels but my $100 may only get me 2 if I am lucky.

2nd question. As I am on the learning curve whats the easiest wood to use and ideally not going to cost too much as all I am doing is turning it into woodchips! I have used some laminated 2x4s and 4x4s but they dont seem to turn that well although it could be me of course...

3rd, the tool rest with the Nova is only 6" and seems I cant do much without constantly moving it. Is this typical or should I invest in another longer rest?

Oh this is going to be an interesting road...

[Bill in Buena Park]

Jon,
Great looking first bowl! And you're definitely in the vortex now

As for tools, I have the more expensive HF set, and I also have some of the Benjamin's Best from PSI - I would recommend the BB over the HF, the steel just seems to be better. Also, the HF set has no bowl gouges, just scrapers and spindle gouges. You can build up a reasonable set of BB bowl gouges for not too much money.
As for wood - pine lumber is just too soft and not dense IMO. Even poplar is better, if you have a source. You may want to see if you can hook up with a local tree service, or your highway department for free wood, but this likely means wet turning or learning how to cut and seal blanks for drying.

[BadeMillsap]

Jon

I'm not a turner but if my first effort looked as good as yours I would be dancing in the street (... wait ... no one wants to see that!) ... I'd be very happy!!

[Bill in Buena Park]

Jon, I forgot to address your tool rest question. For spindle/handle type turning, a longer rest is helpful, but make sure its beefy, or you risk introducing vibration toward the ends of the rest, which can impact cut quality. Decide on your need, then consider 9 or 12 inch rest. I recently turned a 30 inch wooden stir-stick for cooking in a large stock pot (imagine a small oar), and the 12inch rest came in handy for that.

[poolhound]

Thanks Bill for the info. I think I will look at some of the BB tools. I may also consider making some full size carbide tools as the two I have are the small ones (the guy I bought everything from did mostly pens). I will check out maybe a 9" and 12" tool rest. I have seen them in my local rockler but they are usually the best on price, any recommendations?

Re: wood, poplar is a great idea, I have a bunch of scraps somewhere that I could glue up into some practice blanks. I do already have a bunch of logs salvaged from last summers storms. They are probably still way from dry so I guess it would help if I got the chainsaw out and cut them down to blanks. That way they could start to dry more as the temps increase here over the next few months. I have quite a lot of mesquite and I think some Palo verde. I also have a pile of firewood I should hunt through and see if there are any gems in there :-)

[Bill in Buena Park]

I believe you have the 5/8 banjo on yours, right? If so, check out the 10" version of Rockler's tool rest - I have this for my Excelsior, and it works well. This 2-piece set from PSI has both the 9 and the 12, which appear to be a good option as well. Woodcraft appears to have a number of available options, some more pricey than others.

[schloff]

My favorite woods to turn are cherry and walnut. I don't know what's available out in AZ, though. I've had decent luck with oak, but it seems to make lots of tooling marks that are difficult to sand out. Maple always makes a nice turning (especially when paired with another species like walnut or cherry), but can dull your HSS faster than anything.

As for collecting tools, I've had very good luck at local garage/yard sales and local craigslist ads. No need to buy a whole set that way, you can normally pick up a few piece by piece. Or the whole set, if the price is right. Like clamps, you can never really have too many turning tools. If you have 2 of the same profile, you can always use the spare when your first one dulls mid-project. (see previous comment about maple)

As per dust collection, I once made a jig to clamp the nozzle of my mini shop vac to the handle of the turning tool. That seemed to make a big difference. Other than that, I rely on my ambient air cleaner to do the majority. I've seen those big cone devices that attach to a dust collector, and was curious about that, but never curious enough to invest in the contraption.

Great looking bowl, and welcome to the madness. It's really addictive.

[leehljp]

One small additional thing that makes turning pleasant for me is Lighting. I have a 4 ft fluorescent light above at about 7 ft height, and two spot lights aimed from different directions. This additional light sure helps when fine detail is called for. That is especially true with pen turning. Extra Light helps when turning thin walls too!

[poolhound]

Thanks, I have quite a lot of cherry and some walnut although most is 3/4 so would need to laminate some blanks. I may have some 8/4 that would make some nice shallow bowls. was saving for some future as yet to be specified project so I guess they could be turning projects :-)

My favorite woods to turn are cherry and walnut. I don't know what's available out in AZ, though. I've had decent luck with oak, but it seems to make lots of tooling marks that are difficult to sand out. Maple always makes a nice turning (especially when paired with another species like walnut or cherry), but can dull your HSS faster than anything.

Great looking bowl, and welcome to the madness. It's really addictive.

[poolhound]

One small additional thing that makes turning pleasant for me is Lighting. I have a 4 ft fluorescent light above at about 7 ft height, and two spot lights aimed from different directions. This additional light sure helps when fine detail is called for. That is especially true with pen turning. Extra Light helps when turning thin walls too!

Yup that is what I found yesterday. I did setup one of the newer dual LED 4' strip lights right above the lathe. I found that it didnt help much to take out all the shadows especially when working on the inside of a bowl. Some task lighting spots or similar are on my list.