Kathy Marshall
02-02-2013, 7:51 PM
The blank was a Christmas gift and I can tell you that I was absoultely thrilled to get it :D!
Since the lathe was down, it's just been sitting and staring at me, laughing at my inability to do anything with it. Well, who's laughing now :D?
I took it out to the shop and contemplated how to mount it to get the best use of it. It basically was the shape of a clam shell (a giant one), thick on one end and tapering down to the other end. My plan was to turn an off center bowl with a very wide rim. I started it between centers, putting the spur drive as far away from the thin edge as I could and still leave enough clearance for it to spin. At the widest point, it was about 15" diameter, so with a 16" swing, I wasn't able to get it as off center as I wanted and it was REALLY out of balance, max speed of about 200 rpms.
So I removed it from the lathe and gave it a little more thought. I finally decided to swivel the head about 45 deg, that was enough so the ways wouldn't be in the way. To mount it, I used the screw chuck plate I got from Jerry Marcantel. I screwed the plate on the face and then mounted it in my chuck.
The DVR has a nice long banjo, but it's not quite long enough to get the tool rest out to give full access to the piece. I solved that problem by using reverse and turning on the right side of the blank. My new remote control is a godsend for this piece, I would not want to have to try reaching around it with the head swiveled out, to try and use the manual controls since there's really no room since the table saw it as my back and when the long wing swings around, there's probably less than 1 foot of clearance.
I've just taken the one pic so far, just have the tenon turned on the bottom. I now have alot of the waste removed, but needed to come in for a break before continuing. All of the intermitent cuts are taking their toll, along with the fact that I've lost a little of my turning condition while I've been lazing the days away, and turning in reverse feels a little backwards and feels like I'm using different muscles. I've also lost the calluses on my hands from holding the tools.
253303
I'm hoping to have the bottom done tonight, so I guess I better get back to it!
More to come ......
Since the lathe was down, it's just been sitting and staring at me, laughing at my inability to do anything with it. Well, who's laughing now :D?
I took it out to the shop and contemplated how to mount it to get the best use of it. It basically was the shape of a clam shell (a giant one), thick on one end and tapering down to the other end. My plan was to turn an off center bowl with a very wide rim. I started it between centers, putting the spur drive as far away from the thin edge as I could and still leave enough clearance for it to spin. At the widest point, it was about 15" diameter, so with a 16" swing, I wasn't able to get it as off center as I wanted and it was REALLY out of balance, max speed of about 200 rpms.
So I removed it from the lathe and gave it a little more thought. I finally decided to swivel the head about 45 deg, that was enough so the ways wouldn't be in the way. To mount it, I used the screw chuck plate I got from Jerry Marcantel. I screwed the plate on the face and then mounted it in my chuck.
The DVR has a nice long banjo, but it's not quite long enough to get the tool rest out to give full access to the piece. I solved that problem by using reverse and turning on the right side of the blank. My new remote control is a godsend for this piece, I would not want to have to try reaching around it with the head swiveled out, to try and use the manual controls since there's really no room since the table saw it as my back and when the long wing swings around, there's probably less than 1 foot of clearance.
I've just taken the one pic so far, just have the tenon turned on the bottom. I now have alot of the waste removed, but needed to come in for a break before continuing. All of the intermitent cuts are taking their toll, along with the fact that I've lost a little of my turning condition while I've been lazing the days away, and turning in reverse feels a little backwards and feels like I'm using different muscles. I've also lost the calluses on my hands from holding the tools.
253303
I'm hoping to have the bottom done tonight, so I guess I better get back to it!
More to come ......