Itching to turn... I'd like some advice

[Jon Eckels]

Herlo all!

I've been lurking around for a while here, and now that I'm starting to have some free time, I've been itching to try turning something, and I was hoping that you'd be able to give me some newbie advice.

I've inherited a MarkV Shopsmith, that's never been used, but has all the parts (my grandfather had bought it as a tax write-off or something... ended up being a 15 year early present for his grand-son :) ). I've read through the instructions and I've figured out how to run the machine pretty well. I've not yet used it as a lathe, but like I said i've been itching... so hopefully in the next few weeks i'll be ready. I'm sure many of you will probably scoff at my amateurness by thinking about a Shopsmith as a "proper" lathe (or something), but it's what I have to work with, so bear with me.

There's been a huge pile of maple wood outside for about a year now - Some of it was cut up as fire wood, but a lot of it was left, only being sectioned, but not cut into wedges... so i've got some pieces that are 16-20" wide, and maybe 18" long or so. No rot, but there's some surface checking (I can't tell how deep it goes, but these are big thick pieces) I was wondering if you think that any of this might be useable. there's also a recently fallen tree that came down in a storm about two months ago. It's not as big as the first tree was, but it also hasn't been cut up yet. They're both maple trees, and I think they'll yield some nice wood if I take care of it right. I can see some definate curls on the surface of the bigger piece. It's gotten me excited, but I don't know how salvageable it is...

Anyways, I tend to ramble... But I'd like some advice on where to start with this. I've always admired woodturners, and now that I've got the tools and the time, I'd like to give it a shot myself.

Also- are there any really good books that you'd recommend that are specifically for the beginner turner?

I look forward to your replies, and I hope to be showing you a bowl or two soon. :)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jon I am no expert but in my short time of turning I would take a chainsaw and cut 3" or 4" off one end and see how deep it is checked. If the wood is solid I would do the same on the other end. That should yield you some good solid wood. If you are going to be cutting any green wood I definately would get some anchorseal or green wood seal so you can seal the ends of logs so they don't crack.

The first DVD I would get would be our own Bill Grumbine on bowl turning. He takes you from how to cut the wood, turning green wood and drying then how to return it to the lathe for final turning along with how to finish. It will take you from start to finish. To me this one is a must for a new turner. I would get Richard Raffans book and video on Turning Wood and also his book and video on turning boxes. Both are excellent in my humble opinion. There are many other books I have bought and looked at. These in my opinion will get you a good start. Others will chime in here and give you some help to.

[George Conklin]

Herlo all!

I'm sure many of you will probably scoff at my amateurness by thinking about a Shopsmith as a "proper" lathe (or something), but it's what I have to work with, so bear with me.



Hi Jon,
In my short time here, I can't recall anyone being "scoffed" at here in this forum. At least not seriously anyway:p .

I'm in aggreement with Bernie. I really like Bill G's video. Great info that I can watch over and over again. I always seem to pickup something new everytime I watch it.

[Jim Becker]

Jon, you have the ShopSmith, it has lathe functionality...so turn it on and turn on it!! :D And I also suggest both the DVD instruction and that you join your local turning club (http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/), if there is one near you. The latter is a great way to find a lot of mentoring!

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Jon, You shouldn't feel the need to be scoffed at. A ShopSmith is a versatile tool. The only caveat I would give you is that lathe accessories may be a bit difficult to come by, as it uses a 5/8 straight shaft (if I remember correctly) as compared to a morse tapered threaded shaft.

My father did quite a bit of woodworking, and everything he did he built using the ShopSmith. The only thing which I believe he couldn't do on it was routing/shaping.

Welcome to the creek, and I look forward to seeing pictures of your work.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Don't matter what you start with, just get turning :D

Welcome, and yes, we like pictures!

Cheers!

[Vaughn McMillan]

Welcome into the abyss, Jon. No need to worry about using a ShopSmith. There has been a lot of good stuff turned on ShopSmith machines. As Henry said, some of the fittings are different, but the basic concept of rubbing a spinning piece of wood with something that's harder than that piece of wood remains the same. ;)

A big pile of maple seems like a great reason to take the plunge.

- Vaughn

[Dale Overman]

WOW, jf you have a pile of maple that has been waiting to be used, you have a gold mine. If it has mushrooms and mold growing on the bark, the wood is probable is spalted. If this is a new term for you, look back on the posts on the creek to the spalted collection I posted a couple of weeks ago. Don't look at my turning but at the color of the wood. Good luck and let's see some round things.

[Tom Sherman]

Jon first of all Welcome to the Creek. We all have something different in our shops not all of us have the Cream of the Crop equipment. Just use what you have available and have fun with it.

[Wayne Bitting]

Hi Jon – welcome to the Creek! I also inherited the same thing last year from my father, but it was broken in with years of use! I have had good results with all of its the functions except for the tablesaw. My dad never felt it was safe so he wouldn’t give me those parts but I already have a good table saw anyway. As mentioned earlier the lathe parts can be hard to find since its is a 5/8” arbor, but if you go to Penn State Industries you can buy an adapter to convert over to “standard” sizes, it was less then $20. Bought a chuck from PSI too which was cheap but it works for me on a budget. Anyways howdy and good luck!

[Jon Eckels]

Thanks for the welcome all, I hope to be showing off some round things soon!

As far as having the parts... I think I have all the parts that came with the shopsmith. I have all the chisels, the tool rest, and (What I think is) the... the spiky things that hold the wood and turn it (whatever the names are). What else should I need? A few people mentioned needing parts, but I think my unit is complete.

Yeah the wood on the pile looks good... Luckily they're some really big pieces. Some pieces look better than others, some have big gray spots and some have some rot in the center (from when the tree was alive - not from being in the pile)... There's got to be ten to fifteen rather large sizes big enough to allow for some freedom.. So I hope I can make something pretty out of at least one of them.

On your recommendations, I've ordered Bill Grumbine's DVD today. It looks very thorough and I'm looking forward to it!