Not enough HP

[Deane Allinson]

I am having to turn 10 large pieces that are a part of the lower portion of some pedestal tables. I only have a 1HP lathe and am turning outboard. The dia. will be about 20 1/2" out of 12/4 mahogany. I had an 18" blank that I mounted just to see if the old Delta could handle it. I got a practice one turned but it was very slow turning. If I tried to take off a reasonable cut, the turning would almost stop in it's tracks. I ended up turning (on a 6" face plate) at about 360-400 rpms to avoid tear outs and take off more than 1/64" at a time. I little faster than I would like. Any suggestions other than Sharp tools? I'm using a 1/2" bowl gouge mainly. The photo is of a solid blank but I plan on using segmented blanks on the larger turnings.
Deane

[Paul Engle]

With out being able to either slow it down via variable drive or buying a motor you can add speed control to or lathe built to do larger turnings .... nope, you are stuck with trying to get the blanks as round as you can get on the band saw before turning and keeping the tooling as sharp as possible , stand back in case it comes off before you get it running smooth .. yikes ! You could turn thinner blanks , say 4/4 then glue em up and sand the edges up by hand . Lot more work but way safer to have a light weight blank on your machine . You really on need the edge treatment and the top of the base to conform to the design.

[Michelle Rich]

might be a silly idea, but what if you used an angle grinder with those carving discs? They really hog..then you could use a standard gouge to get the detail..THe bases look simple..

[Reed Gray]

I am wondering if you have belt problems. I would think you could take off more than that. Old worn and stretched out belt would do that. Link belts work far better, though, don't know if you have a Reeves drive which the link belt might not be compatible with. Some belt dressing maybe? If it is the older heavy metal type lathe, you should be able to turn at 600 or so without too much trouble. Could also be a worn out motor.

robo hippy

[Deane Allinson]

I am wondering if you have belt problems.

robo hippy

Duh! I should have checked the belt first. It is a Reeves drive on an old heavy duty Delta/Rockwell that I rarely use. It seems like I am getting too much slack in the belt on the lower RPMs. I will mess with it tomorrow. I just assumed the work piece was too heavy.
Thanks,
Deane

[Jamie Donaldson]

I have been using link belts on my old General 160 Reeves drive for many years, and it also makes the belts much easier to replace and maintain.