Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee! Happy!

[Brian Kent]

The Lathe has come.

The bench is finished. 200 lbs of rock added.

A beautiful box full of cherry turning blanks arrived from Prashun!

Got my Harbor Freight HSS starter tools.

2 Thompson gouges on the way.

Wolverine jig on the way.

Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee! Happy!

I will rest happy tonight and not turn it on until I am starting fresh and thinking clearly.

[Rich Greinert]

Very nice set-up Brian!

[Joe Watson]

Good for you, im sure your gonna have lots of fun.
Nice job with the bench and cleave idea with the weight in the hollow legs.

[Jon McElwain]

Yup, I really like your bench design and the weighted legs. Maybe the best I've seen for a home made wood lathe stand! Congrats on the lathe - that one is a little workhorse. You won't be disappointed! Now get some sleep!

[Bill Wyko]

Congratulations!!! The vortex grabbs another one, come on in:D.

[Rick Markham]

Nice looking Rig!!!

Yes welcome to the vortex, hehe, before you ask where the cookies are, Mike Cruz and the roving chainsaw gang ate them... ;)

I'm excited to get to see what comes off that thing now... it would look much better covered in curlies... just saying :D

[Harvey M. Taylor]

sure looks better than my open 2x4 stand with no top. enjoy. Max

[John Keeton]

Brian, one sure can tell you roots are in flatwork!!! Very nice job on the stand, and you will love this lathe.

I am curious as to the vent looking thing in the wall behind the lathe - hopefully, that is not a return duct for HVAC. Since it appears to be a garage, I would guess not, but being CA I am not sure of customary HVAC stuff there.

[Roger Chandler]

Nice set up............great idea on the stand............you are on your way! Congrats Brian!

[Prashun Patel]

Congratulations. Nice bench. Can't wait to see what you produce.

[Harvey Ghesser]

Congratulation and welcome to the vortex, Brian! You'll really enjoy it!

[Primvs Aebvtivs]

I think this guys a newbie - there's no tools on the wall, there's no dirt on the floor. HURRY UP, and make something! You'll fit in like the rest of us addicts Brian. Congrats on the tools / and new lathe, let's see what you make on it!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looking good! Have fun today! Looking forward to seeing some photos of your first turning!

[Greg Just]

Nice job on the lathe stand. Now get turning! That floor is way to clean :)

[Joe Bradshaw]

An another one bites the dust

[Doug W Swanson]

I am curious as to the vent looking thing in the wall behind the lathe - hopefully, that is not a return duct for HVAC. Since it appears to be a garage, I would guess not, but being CA I am not sure of customary HVAC stuff there.

John, it's probably just a hole in the wall that vents outside. My in-laws live in Phoenix and they have then in their garage....

Nice looking setup. I love the stand!

[charlie knighton]

congratulations on lathe, nice setup on stand

[Prashun Patel]

I bet your car doesn't think this is a nice set up...

[Billy Tallant]

Welcome to the vortex!!! Very nice lathe you have there. Your job on the table looks great. Take another look at your clean shop. It want be long & it will never look the same. You will have more chips than you can imagine that will keep that floor covered. Looking forward to seeing pics of that 1st job coming off that lathe.

[Brian Kent]

Brian, one sure can tell you roots are in flatwork!!! Very nice job on the stand, and you will love this lathe.

I am curious as to the vent looking thing in the wall behind the lathe - hopefully, that is not a return duct for HVAC. Since it appears to be a garage, I would guess not, but being CA I am not sure of customary HVAC stuff there.

John, that went is just an open hole to the outside, covered in screen. Nothing attached. There are two of them, which keeps fresh air in the garage.

[Bill Bolen]

Congrat's on the new lathe and a hefty looking stand too. Looking forward to the pic's of your first turnings from her.

[Baxter Smith]

Congrats Brian! The stand looks great and should be easy to clean up around without all sorts of cross braces to collect chips and dust.

[Jeff Fagen]

No looking back now you are in.Excellent choice and nice bench.:)

[Brian Kent]

And now I'm off to 5 hours of "tips and techniques" at San Diego Wood Turners. I'm hoping to find out where the "on" switch is.

David DeCristoforo, watch out. I'm coming!

[ray hampton]

"on switch happen to be next to the OFF SWITCH

[Brian Kent]

San Diego Wood Turners meeting exceeded my high expectations. They had 8 Delta midi lathes and a Stubby set up, with each station having a turner who taught a particular tool. Throughout the meeting I got my first experience with a roughing gouge, a scraper for bowl tenons, various bowl and hollowing gouges, and the Wolverine grinding jig. I finally left after 4 hours because I was completely saturated and my brain was overflowing.

And I found out where my on AND off switch is.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Best of luck with the new tools, Brian. Learning is a real adventure and can consume you if you have the time. Right now, I feel like I have learned just enough to "know what I don't know". I suppose that's progress. If I were starting again, I think I would take advice from one of the DVD's I watched and square up a bunch of clear 2x2's out of construction grade lumber and practice with my spindle roughing gouge. Then learn beads and coves with a spindle gouge. I have found spindle turning takes a lot of tool control and demands sharp tools. It's a great exercise in learning what "riding the bevel" is all about. All that leads right into bowl turning. Have fun and hold onto your wallet.
faust

[Brian Kent]

That's a good word, Faust. Construction grade lumber I have plenty of.

[John Keeton]

Brian, like Faust, I think one needs to learn spindle turning first, because it is a fundamental basic with a lot of transferable skills. As a plus, if you can turn pine and leave a clean cut, you can turn anything!! It certainly will make you appreciate a nice piece of maple, walnut or cherry.

[Doug Herzberg]

Congratulations, Brian. You'll have a lot of fun.

[Brian Kent]

I feel like a teenager with a new drumset. It is real easy to make noise, but may take actual practice to make music.

In my opening hours of practice, I have learned:
1) Sharpening is everything.
2) Approach angles are everything.
3) Practice is everything.
4) Pine likes to laugh at me, but that's ok.
5) I really was supposed to take that knockout bar before turning it on.
6) Goggles are good (see "knockout bar")

Questions:
1) What was the angle on my spindle gouge before I started freehand sharpening? (I ordered the wolverine but they had a shipping delay.)
2) I played with a little 4" x 1.5" deep bowl. Now how do I get that tenon off? I don't know how to hold it.
3) My clear plastic angle gauge with a bubble magnifier is almost unreadable. What is an inexpensive but readable angle gauge / protractor thingie?

Thanks, tutors.

[Prashun Patel]

Not sure what you need an angle gauge for... If it's for turning the tenon, I just eyeball it. Can't get cheaper than that.

There are at least 4 options to get the tenon off:

1) Jam chuck: cheapest option if you have a lot of scraps. You have to turn a convex dome out of another piece that fits into the recess of your bowl. You mount this jam chuck in your chuck, place the bowl over it, then bring up the tailstock to hold the piece right in the middle of the tenon. You can turn off 95% (at low speed) the tenon and smooth the bottom. You then remove the bowl and then snap or cut off the little remaining nub that was once the tenon. A little more sanding. Done.

2) Cole jaws: These are wide jaws that replace yr existing jaws in yr chuck. Instead of vice-like metal threads, CJ's have rubber nibs to hold the piece in place around the rim - gently. This allows you to get full access to the bottom.

3) Donut chuck: Easiest for you to Google it.

4) Vacuum chuck: most expensive. Requires compressed air.

The jam chuck is the easiest for starters. In fact, I've found that pvc fittings make great donut chucks. For my sizes, a 3" to 2" bushing is perfect. The 2" recess side is held in the G3 chuck teeth and the 3" supports the bowl. I had to turn down the rims of the 3" side to prevent digging into the surface of the bowl. You can also line it with weather stripping.

Oh yeah, and about point 6: Personally, I think goggles are not enough protection. I use a facemask. I started with goggles, but had too many chips in my face.

And my #1 rule: don't stand in the path of rotation. I had a 20lb chunk of oak fly off and knock me (thankfully) in the chest last year. It left a deep gash that I have a permanent scar from now. That darn lathe spins heavy things so easily and quietly, it's easy to forget how dangerous those projectiles are. Safety is really 'everything' here (I'm off the soapbox now).

[Brian Kent]

Thank you, Prashun. The angle gauge is not for the tenon. It is for the sharpening - in this case for the gouges, but also for my plane blade sharpening.

I like the 1st idea, the jam chuck, so I'll start there.

[Brian Kent]

First the happy.:D

Prashun, I tried the jam chuck and it worked great. I got the tenon reduced and shaped to be the foot that I wanted.

Now the "Stunned"!:eek:

I mentioned before that Prashun had sent me some blanks. I don't take that lightly, because these are beautiful pieces of cherry, clean and solid and beautiful. Many different sizes. Thank you, friend.

Then at lunch time my wife said I had a box in the garage that came today. All it said on the return address was "Keeton", along with some address in Kentucky. Can't guess who that would be. Any ideas, John. I opened it up and found a box load of fantastic bowl blanks - all kinds of beautiful varieties.

Prashun and Mr. Keeton, I am stunned :eek: and happy :D. Your generosity and thoughtfulness are AWESOME!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Brian

[Prashun Patel]

no prob! just don't go making all those blanks into jam chucks!

[Paul McGaha]

Congratulations Brian. It's a nice lathe and you seem very happy. Good for you.

PHM

[Brian Kent]

no prob! just don't go making all those blanks into jam chucks!

Nope. A pine 2 x 4 worked just fine for the jam chuck!

[John Keeton]

Wow, that was quick! That box went in the mail Saturday!! Hope you enjoy the wood, Brian. All of it should be dry.

[Roger Chandler]

Hey Brian.............you will find "creekers" are a generous lot............some fine folks turn wood! ;) Very nice and thoughtful of Prashun and John................both are a class act!

[Brian Kent]

Now that I have been turning for some time - 4 days actually - I think it is time for my first on-line exhibition. I have seen some really creative titles for your "named pieces" so I am looking for your creative assistance. Here is what I have figured out so far, but I don't think I have found the definitive names, so I request your creative help:

#1 - "Gnawing with unsharpened molars" or "Before Skill was Discovered"

#2 - "P3" (Purple is Prettier than Pine)

#3 - "Almost not as bad as #1"

#4 - "Encouragement"

#5- "Sycamore Blownaparte" or "Duck" or "From Firewood to Firewood", with special thanks to Prashun for telling me to put my face shield on.

I welcome your name-calling. I will also welcome your critique in the future, but only after I have done anything I actually meant to do.

Brian

[John Keeton]

Actually, Brian, you should be proud of this grouping - particularly the bowl (the one that remains in one piece!) Nice work. You should have posted this in a separate thread to get some exposure. Many folks may not come back to this thread. Let me know if you want to do that and I will delete this post.

[Mike Cruz]

Congrats, Brian. You sound like a ten year old that just got his first bike! Bet that smile won't come off for some time...

[Roger Chandler]

Nice going Brian............you must know this..........a bonker is a prerequisite for a learning turner, so make yourself one and post........."sycamore blownapart" ...:eek::D.....I got a real kick out of that one!

[Brian Kent]

John, I'll keep it right here where I don't feel exposed. Maybe a separate thread after I'm a one-week expert. :)

Even though the last one blew up, it was really fun. We had a big sycamore branch cut down about 18 months ago. Several of the branch sections are so cracked and soft on one half, that I can pull the pieces off by hand. The other side of the branch is solid and intact, so I started playing with it. I don't have a bowl gouge yet and I tried a big roughing gouge to see if I could even out the surface. The answer to my question is "no, I couldn't". So I just found another chunk to play with.

[John Keeton]

A bowl gouge should be on the short list!

[ray hampton]

Brain, I like the bowl, I am glad to know that it is not a scoop

[Brian Kent]

A bowl gouge should be on the short list!

It's on the very short list. Doug Thompson sent it today

[Brian Kent]

This one didn't blow apart. I like that better. From the sycamore firewood pile. Finish is wax.

[Roger Chandler]

Okay, now that you have made a bowl or two [well, almost :eek::D] the question is ....................what is your judgment so far on woodturning..........do you think at this point that you enjoy it enough to continue in the VORTEX?

[Ted Calver]

Brian,
That's a really nice bowl in a really nice piece of wood. Bet you can't wait until you get that bowl gouge :)

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice bowl Brian! Even the one that came apart had an even wall thickness. Good work!

[Brian Kent]

Okay, now that you have made a bowl or two [well, almost :eek::D] the question is ....................what is your judgment so far on woodturning..........do you think at this point that you enjoy it enough to continue in the VORTEX?

I realized today that trees are round, and so making round things out of round tree parts works really well. So yes, I am being sucked in quickly and happily! It really is nice to be able to go to the shop for a couple of hours and have a finished piece.

[John Keeton]

Brian, if you were able to do that bowl without a bowl gouge, this is going to come to you quickly! I am afraid this vortex thing will become the greatest obstacle in your road to financial peace. Dave Ramsey should do a special segment for woodturners!:D