Finally got a lathe- 2nd turning picture, and a question

[Bill Brush]

After wanting a lathe since I graduated high school (20+ years ago) I got one this fall. It wasn't what I wanted, but my wife found it on Craigslist and told me to go buy it. Apparently she was getting tired of me putting it off. It is not a quality tool, but it does work and it was only $40. I figure if it lasts me a while, maybe funds my next lathe purchase, it can then be re-purposed for something else. The base was flimsy sheet steel and it was bent from being dropped so I replaced it with a 2x10. The base issue contributed to breaking the first test piece. I managed to get another piece successfully turned but I don't have pictures of it.

Anyway, here's the lathe:

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And here's the turning:

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My daughter is a big Harry Potter fan, and my niece got the first turning which was also a wand. This one turned out better though. Lesson to me, patience and creativity can compensate for cheap tools (at least somewhat).

So here's the question:

The wood I used was sold as "Redheart" and it's gorgeous wood, but I don't think that's the right name for it as I can't find it anywhere. The piece I used is one I've had for many years. It's extremely hard, closed-grained, and heavy. Can anyone shed any light on what it might be? It is an awesome wood for turning based on my one experience and it finishes beautifully.

[Marty Eargle]

Congrats on the new lathe! Apologies to your wallet from here on out.

As for the wood, how does it finish? Almost looks like some Bloodwood that I was working with recently, and was a pain to sand and finish.

[Justin Stephen]

Well, there is a wood called (at least sometimes) "redheart." I have seen it sold by this name in at least on exotic lumber store in the past.

Here are some pages with some info about it:

http://www.bellforestproducts.com/exotic-wood/redheart/
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/redheart/

I have never used it so I cannot comment further.

[Steve Vaughan]

Can't help on the wood. It is beautiful though! And, it looks like you did very well on turning that thing out! As your skills grow, you'll be wanting to move up to a larger lathe that allows for a few more options. With what you've done here, you're gonna be doing very well for a while though!

[Dennis Ford]

The wand looks pretty good. Starting with that lathe will either force you to practice good tool control or convince you to get a heavier lathe. Just remember that the craftsman is more important than the tool.

[Bill Brush]

Thanks Justin, that is exactly the stuff. Maybe the local shop will get some more in stock.

The piece I have is a bit heavier and much much harder than the black walnut I have. Even my freshly sharpened carbide tablesaw blades don't like to cut it.


Well, there is a wood called (at least sometimes) "redheart." I have seen it sold by this name in at least on exotic lumber store in the past.

Here are some pages with some info about it:

http://www.bellforestproducts.com/exotic-wood/redheart/
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/redheart/

I have never used it so I cannot comment further.

[Bill Brush]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. In high school I took shop class and fell in love with wood turning. My sister still has a walnut goblet I turned back then.

I can tell the lathe isn't going to deal well with hard use, but as Dennis said, as long as I am careful about how I apply the tools to the stock it does the job. I think it will do the job for starting out but I'm glad I didn't spend any more money on it.

I've got some Ash wood that I saved from a tree trimming. It should be well seasoned by now, would that be a good option for turning items?

And final question (for this post), will standard yellow wood glue be sufficiently strong to glue a sacrificial base to a piece of turning stock for doing a bowl or other faceplate turning? In high school I would turn a peg on the head stock end of the turning stock, drill a hole in the glue base, and glue the peg into the glue base. That seems like overkill based on some of the things I've seen glue do, but I don't want to find out I'm wrong the hard way.

[Russell Johnson]

Great job on the turning. I bet your daughter will love it.

[Mike Campbell KS]

I've seen wood glue do some pretty impressive things that I wouldn't have felt optimistic about, so you should be OK there, but the slowest speed of that lathe creates an issue. For spindle turning it should be fine, but any bowls of face plates had better be VERY well centered or that lathe will be walking all over the room. Good luck.


Forgot to mention, the wand is really cool. I will be turning one for my daughter tonight.

[Allan Ferguson]

Red Heart that I have turned is about the wt and hardness of Walnut. Looks like you may have Blood Wood instead. It is heavier and harder.

[John Keeton]

I've got some Ash wood that I saved from a tree trimming. It should be well seasoned by now, would that be a good option for turning items?

And final question (for this post), will standard yellow wood glue be sufficiently strong to glue a sacrificial base to a piece of turning stock for doing a bowl or other faceplate turning?Bill, first of all - great work on the wand! And, congrats on coming to the round side.

On your questions, ash is a nice wood to turn, though usually pretty bland unless one does something to take advantage of the grain pattern. Yellow glue should work fine for a waste block, but as was noted, the bottom speed on your lathe is 1100 rpms, and that is going to be challenging for anything the least bit out of balance. Do you have a chuck?

[Jon McElwain]

Congrats on the lathe! It will be a brutal teacher, but it will force you to learn good tool control, teach you to take very light and delicate cuts, and make you really think about how the tools and the wood interact. The wand looks great - a perfect project for your particular lathe. I would encourage you to work on small diameter projects until you learn good tool control. Turn lots of spindles with beads, coves, tapers etc. and all with very sharp tools. I think if you go after bowls at this point, you may be disappointed and frustrated because of the limitations of your lathe. The fact is, it is a spindle lathe, and will do reasonably well with small spindles. By attempting bowls, hollowing, or larger diameter spindles, you are going beyond the limitations of the tool. Your statement that "patience and creativity can compensate" is very true.

About your question and the wood - I am not an expert, but you might look at some padauk. The heartwood can have a rich deep red like the wand in your photo, and it is dense, and close grained.

Good luck and happy turning!

[Bill Brush]

Thanks for the answers John. No chuck for this lathe, but it did come with a basic faceplate. I have an idea in my head that should allow me to align the faceplate and turning stock so that being out of balance shouldn't be a problem. It's not immediately obvious from the pictures but I do have the lathe attached to my workbench which is several hundred pounds. Not enough for anything too crazy but enough that it should absorb some vibration. I also have a plan in my head to use some old rollerblade wheels and bearings to make a stabilizing support for the center of long(ish) spindles.

If I can get some cash I want upgrade to a Delta 46-460


Bill, first of all - great work on the wand! And, congrats on coming to the round side.

On your questions, ash is a nice wood to turn, though usually pretty bland unless one does something to take advantage of the grain pattern. Yellow glue should work fine for a waste block, but as was noted, the bottom speed on your lathe is 1100 rpms, and that is going to be challenging for anything the least bit out of balance. Do you have a chuck?

[Jamie Donaldson]

Bill- there may be a possibility of changing the pulley sizes in order to slow down the RPM's on your lathe, and without any significant cost involved. Any speed over 1K is way too fast for any bowl turning by about a factor of 4X, And you may be able to simply reverse the pulleys between motor and spindle to reduce the speed and increase torque.