New Lathe Owner Stopping and Asking for Directions

[Bill Evans]

I recently built a small shop space and picked up an old lathe as I have been fascinated by turning for a long time (even thought I don't know anything about it).

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rqLNS-z1IIU/SsakM_G3epI/AAAAAAAAM9c/DfyOeuSxexE/s800/Dual%20MFT3s%20-%202.jpg

While I have been slowly finishing up cleaning and prepping my lathe for use, I have been reading a bunch and checking out books and DVDs from the library. But I still seem to have a few questions.

I apologize if they are the same, tired old beginner questions.

First is off course the question of which lathe tools to buy. I am inclined to buy once and buy quality but I need to find a way to spread out my purchases for budget considerations. So my question is this. Is there a small, very small, number of tools that I could buy to start turning. Knowing that future tool purchases would fairly quickly follow. Maybe a few tools that would let me practice and get wood in the lathe.

Second. Having read and reread forums and books, I still don't know jack about turning. No problem as I like the steep part of the learning curve. But is diving in with the wind on my face and turning book on the headstock a reasonable way to get into this? Or should I look for a class, demo or mentor?

Anyway I appreciate any advice the group would be willing to share.

I still need to get the motor and step pulley setup. And lathe tools. And a live center. And a sharpening jig.....

Cheers and Thanks,
Bill

[curtis rosche]

what kind of lathe did you get?

welcome to the vortex,

[Bill Evans]

what kind of lathe did you get?

welcome to the vortex,

Thanks Curtis,

I picked up an old Power King 7090.

It needed a bit of clean up and I ended up painting it as well.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_rqLNS-z1IIU/Sr7N7EiE8WI/AAAAAAAAM7c/2KwGiDy_K3c/s800/Power%20King%207090%20Lathe%20-%20A.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rqLNS-z1IIU/Sr7OGxiSnYI/AAAAAAAAM7s/BgtjYuVSr-8/s800/Power%20King%207090%20Lathe%20-%204.jpg

Bill

[Reed Gray]

Bill,
You don't say where you are, but go to the AAW site, and check out club locations. Chances are that there is one fairly near you. You can see things being done and ask questions. You may get a couple of different answers as we all tend to do things slightly differently, but it plants ideas. My biggest learning experience has been the local club. I belong to 3 now. When I started, I was a total 'whoffo' (wha fo you doin that fo?), I knew nothing. Now, I belong to 3 clubs, demonstrate, and am on the mentor lists.

robo hippy

[Bill Evans]

Bill,
You don't say where you are, but go to the AAW site, and check out club locations. Chances are that there is one fairly near you. You can see things being done and ask questions. You may get a couple of different answers as we all tend to do things slightly differently, but it plants ideas. My biggest learning experience has been the local club. I belong to 3 now. When I started, I was a total 'whoffo' (wha fo you doin that fo?), I knew nothing. Now, I belong to 3 clubs, demonstrate, and am on the mentor lists.

robo hippy

Thanks Reed,

There is a local chapter pretty near (in Mt Vernon, WA) and I was thinking about joining.

Thanks, Bill
Lopez Island, WA

[curtis rosche]

can we get a picture of your lathe?

as for tools, it depends on what you want to turn. if you want to turn spindles get a spindle gouge, if you wanna do bowls get a bowl gouge. either way, get it from www.thompsonlathetools.com they are great tools, they keep the edge for a long time. you can either make a handle, or buy a handle i suggest the longer metal handle that Oneway makes.it will fit a bunch of different tools, and has a good size and weight. that is what i started out with, you can do pretty much everything with a bowl gouge, except parting things off. the gouge isnt the best for everything but it will be able to do it, till you buy more tools.

others will have different opinions. but i think the best thing to start with is a good bowl gouge, unless you just want to do spindels

[Bill Evans]

can we get a picture of your lathe?

as for tools, it depends on what you want to turn. if you want to turn spindles get a spindle gouge, if you wanna do bowls get a bowl gouge. either way, get it from www.thompsonlathetools.com (http://www.thompsonlathetools.com) they are great tools, they keep the edge for a long time. you can either make a handle, or buy a handle i suggest the longer metal handle that Oneway makes.it will fit a bunch of different tools, and has a good size and weight. that is what i started out with, you can do pretty much everything with a bowl gouge, except parting things off. the gouge isnt the best for everything but it will be able to do it, till you buy more tools.

others will have different opinions. but i think the best thing to start with is a good bowl gouge, unless you just want to do spindels

Curtis,

Thanks again for your insight. On the picture front, I have already posted a few I wonder if they aren't show up. Hmmmm.

Thompson lathe chisels are ones that I would like to try. And I like the idea of starting with a bowl gouge. And perhaps it makes sense to start with a purchased handle. But eventually I would like to make my own tool handles.

Thanks, Bill

[curtis rosche]

well, for tool handles from what i have heard around here, the best are either the metal handles from Oneway ( i have one and love it), the big grippy handle from http://www.serioustoolworks.com/ , there is one other handle maker around but i cant remember the name.

[Dan Forman]

If you have a local Harbor Freight, you might think about picking up the dark red handled set of tools just to get you going (about $50), then use them to turn your own handles for the Thomson's. That's what I did. I have since reground some to the starters for special purpose tools, so you're not really wasting money on the first set, and they are decent HHS. You will learn a lot about sindle turning while making your own handles, though the ready mades can be handy too.

Looks like you did a nice job with the restoration or your lathe.

Dan

[curtis rosche]

the oneway handle was $50 when i got mine, and i think they are better than hf handles, but everyone has their own opinion

[Bill Evans]

Well it has taken me a while to finish getting the old lathe set up (motor, tools, grinder, sharpening jig etc) but I finally got everything together and dove in. I had planned to get a little instruction first but seeing as everything was there....

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rqLNS-z1IIU/SyLz4O0hqUI/AAAAAAAANH4/aB0iUYwF72c/s800/First%20Time%20Turning%20%20-%201.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rqLNS-z1IIU/SyLz36dsZrI/AAAAAAAANH0/le6sdqXZFcI/s800/First%20Time%20Turning%20%20-%204.jpg

Thanks again everyone for the great advice and encouragement.

Cheers, Bill

[Wally Dickerman]

Thanks Reed,

There is a local chapter pretty near (in Mt Vernon, WA) and I was thinking about joining.

Thanks, Bill
Lopez Island, WA

An exceptional woodturning artist also lives on Lopez Is. His name is Michael Peterson. You might look him up.

A trip from Lopez to Mount Vernon to attend club meetings would make quite a trip. Before moving to Arizona I lived in Anacortes and was big in boating. We've moored in Fisherman's Bay on Lopez many times.

The club in Mount Vernon was formed while I lived in Anacortes, and I was a member. My suggestion to you is to take at least one turning lesson from a good teacher. Watching videos helps but doesn't compare with hands-on instruction. The instructor will help with tool selection.

Wally

[Jim Sebring]

I belong to the Mt. Vernon club - Northwest Washington Woodturners - and encourage you to come to the January 21st meeting. We have members from B.C and around the islands, so folks travel a bit to get there. I'm only an hour away.

If you haven't already found it, here's the club's website: www.northwestwashingtonwoodturners.org (http://www.northwestwashingtonwoodturners.org)

We usually have a 6 p.m. dinner before the meeting.

[Scott Vincent]

Thats exactly what I did! Im looking forward to meeting some local turners at some point, but I figured if you play it safe and get started you can actually make square things round!! Congrats and enjoy.

[Bill Evans]

Jim,

Thanks for the personal invite. I actually just sent a quick not to the club membership email address and then promptly discovered that I don't have a ferry late enough for me to get home. At least not during the Fall and Winter.

Head scratching time...

Cheers, Bill