Old lathe running and first turning

[Ken Weaver]

The lathe I pulled out of the barn http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...chTerms=,lathe is up and running after a cleaning, waxing, oil & lube and new belt. Stood there and looked at it and couldn't stand it so...



Pulled a 2x2 pine out of the scrap pile and did my first turning. You'll note that the chisels are hardly worth the name.



So now - its on to some good chisels and a slow speed sharpening tool (my bench grinder I figure isn't good for this) - and a complete reading of this thread to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing.

[Ken Massingale]

NOW!! that just ain't right Ken!
I wanted to be there for the inauguration! Well, I 'HAD' a new tool rest for you, but now you gotta lot of 'splaining to do to get it..
;&gt
ken

[mudder]

Ken,

Any sharp tool will cut wood. I have personally used a sharp stanley chisel (1" flat chisel)and a plane. (tried a drawknife but that was just too much).
Pine is a very difficult wood to cut, I'm sure Kenneth would agree.

Don't lose hope with those tools, sharpen them and try with a piece of hardwood scrap before you chuck them. I frequently use maple limbs that I trim off the trees.

[Ken Weaver]

quote:Originally posted by mudder

Ken,

Any sharp tool will cut wood. I have personally used a sharp stanley chisel (1" flat chisel)and a plane. (tried a drawknife but that was just too much).
Pine is a very difficult wood to cut, I'm sure Kenneth would agree.

Don't lose hope with those tools, sharpen them and try with a piece of hardwood scrap before you chuck them. I frequently use maple limbs that I trim off the trees.

That's pretty much what Ken M. told me. What do you recommend about a slow speed grinder? Ken suggested the twin wheel model from Woodcraft that was on sale (around $75, apparently gone off now).

[mmcduffie]

Ken,
Welcome to the world of turning.

As mentioned, pine is hard to turn cleanly. Even with sharp tools, my first turnings looked about the same as yours.

Altho a slow speed grinder is what a lot of folks recommend, you'll get quite good results if you change the wheel on your grinder to a white (or pink or blue) 60 to 80 grit friable wheel. I have a cheap Crapsmen grinder that vibrates like heck, the wheels shift left and right as it ramps up and it takes as much as a minute and a half to come to speed. With a white wheel and a sturdy tool rest made of MDF, I can get a very sharp edge pretty easily.

Did I see some rust on your tools? If so, yours are carbon steel and won't hold an edge for a long time but are easy to touch up.

Alan Lacer says to not let carbon steel turn blue and to quench it every now and then to keep it cool. He goes on to say that you should not quench HSS tools. Any body have a comment on that?

Michael

PS At least I think it was Alan, could have been somebodys book on turning.

[Ken Weaver]

Thanks Michael - I plan to get a new set of chisels and use the old ones to practice sharpening on. Have got a couple of projects to get out of the way before I can get into lathing, looking forward to it. Went to the University library and got a couple of books to read up on things (found a pattern book from 1892!).

[Stytooner]

Looks great, Ken. That was a nice score. Personally, I think the best part of that lathe is still sitting on the shelf below. Put that metal tool carriage on there and you can turn wooden pens effortlessly like I have done. You could turn metal too.
I have found that the metal lathe will turn pine pretty well. Not the soft stuff, but if its yellow pine, it works pretty good. I guess the key to everything is correct and sharp tools, right speed, and proper tool angle. Have fun with that.

[leehljp]

Great start for a good Texas size pen!