Saying Hello

[Dustin Cranford]

Hello everyone from Oklahoma. New to all of this and look forward to getting started real soon. Well as soon as I can decide what I want to buy, what I need to buy and what I have the option of buying. Trying to decide if I should just jump right into bowls or start with pens. Would love to learn both but, bowls is where my real interest lies.

Hope to get to know some of you and ask some questions to drive you nuts and keep you awake at night :p . Also looking forward to meeting some Oklahoma turners or some Kansas turners in my area that might be interested in showing me the ropes. Huge learning curve here for me.

Thanks.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Welcome Dustin!! it's OK to meet those Kansas and Oklahoma turners but don't loose sight of Texas.:eek: Just cause the OU Sooners don't like us a lot is no reason to leave us out.:D :D I get to say that since I have had major years in Wichita, OKC and now Houston. Come see us too!:)

[Dustin Cranford]

Would never leave Texas out. Just don't make it down there much. Unless the company sends me to Houston for work which, is never. :D

[Mike A. Smith]

Dustin, welcome to SMC. You've come to a great place to learn. The folks here are both knowledgeable and friendly.



... as soon as I can decide what I want to buy, what I need to buy and what I have the option of buying.


I can already tell you the advice you will get from these guys. "Buy it ALL and buy it NOW!":eek: :D

Welcome to the vortex!

[Doug M Jones]

Welcome Dustin,

Just remember, the lathe is the cheap part.

I'm looking for a company to give me the lathe if I buy a subscription for turning tools and supplies. Kinda like the cell phone companies, no such luck.

[Frank Kobilsek]

Dustin

Pens vs. Bowls? You'll have an easier time with bowls if you get the hang of spindle turning first. If pens don't really excite you or the investment in drills, mandrels, lits and such are an issue just turn 'Bonkers'. Any bat or club shaped stick, a handle for a screw driver or other tool, carving mallets, any thing between centers. Spend a couple weekends making sticks. At first it won't impress the family but then other things will come easier.

You should take Chris's Texas razzing as an invite down to his shop for a lesson. It would be worth the trip.

Oh and Mike is right Creeker Turners love to spend money on their addiction.

Frank

[Bill Wyko]

I would start with at least a Jet 1442 and an Elsworth grind tool and then you might as well mortgage the house. You'll be drawn into the Vortex and you'll have no escape.:D

Welcome to the abyss.:D

[Steve Schlumpf]

Welcome to the Creek Dustin! Lots of great folks here always willing to help out!

I would suggest checking out a local turning club before you go spending lots of money. People there could help out by showing you different lathes, tools, etc. Whatever you decide - have fun and remember to post with lots of pictures!!!

[Paul Heely]

Welcome Justin. I'll repeat what Steve said. If at all possible find a local club and spend some time with them. Its a great way to try out different tools without going broke. Not that you won't go broke eventually but this may help delay it for a day or two.

[Joyce Baldauf]

Ditto on joining a local club. Most clubs have a library of books, tapes and DVD's.

What you save not having to purchase all these by yourself will more that cover the cost of club membership, which is usually around $20.

Welcome to the MONEY PIT, aka wood turning.

Good luck,
Joyce

[Dustin Cranford]

I would suggest checking out a local turning club before you go spending lots of money. People there could help out by showing you different lathes, tools, etc. Whatever you decide - have fun and remember to post with lots of pictures!!!


As much as I would love to there is not one. I have searched and searched. Seems the closest one is a 2 hour drive. I will say that I probably will have to start with a mini lathe. As supportive as my lovely little wife is she is also conservative. It's one of those things that I will need to start small and prove I can do it and will continue to do it before it would be agreed for me to spend big money. Some of my other hobbies didn't pan out to well :o . Is a mini lathe capable of turning a bowl?

I appreciate all the welcomes. Sure is nice to find a place where even a newbie can feel right at home.

[Dennis Peacock]

As much as I would love to there is not one. I have searched and searched. Seems the closest one is a 2 hour drive. I will say that I probably will have to start with a mini lathe. As supportive as my lovely little wife is she is also conservative. It's one of those things that I will need to start small and prove I can do it and will continue to do it before it would be agreed for me to spend big money. Some of my other hobbies didn't pan out to well :o . Is a mini lathe capable of turning a bowl?

I appreciate all the welcomes. Sure is nice to find a place where even a newbie can feel right at home.

Dustin,

First of all...Welcome to the Creek!!!!! Great place here and lots of nice folks to help you along the way when needed.

Get the Variable Speed Jet Mini if you need to start out the hobby. The mini can do many things to include bowls, goblets, platters, pens, various animal call, and such as that. Just remember that the lathe expense is only the beginning. ;)

[Paul Heely]

A mini is certainly capable of turning a bowl and just about anything else. The mini will limit the size but not the what. Patrick Taylor and Ken Fitzgerald both have minis, sorry Ken until there are pictures you are still a mini owner. Search for their posts and you will see fine examples of what can come off a mini. There are lots of other people turning nice stuff on minis but these are the 2 names that come to mind as posting pictures on a regular basis.

[TYLER WOOD]

Huh, conservative wife???? You should meet my wife. It takes a tractor to pull a peny out of her!!! I love her but just once let me decide how much I can spen on MY hobby!:cool: Welcome to the creek. You should look into jet mini, or if you can get her to go a little higher you may be able to get a 14"er or so. Good luck, I know what fight you have ahead of you. I've fought it. Thanks goodness for loving parnets or I would still be turning on foreign pieces of junk or at friends houses!!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome Dustin. You have already got some good advice so will just tell you look at the green stuff in your wallet. It ain't going to be there long.

[Gary Garmar]

Welcome Dustin; what part of Okla you located in? I work in Bartlesville. You will find lots of information and friendly advice on this site. I can't think of a single question that couldn't be answered by the good folks here. I know of a good turners club in Tulsa and have visited it a couple of times and they are great about making you feel at home and have super Demo's. Be very careful about your initial decisions about equipment and what you want to turn. From my experience, while the initial investment is costly, doing it right the first time seems to be the most efficient method. I do speak from experience, I am now on my 3rd lathe and seem to buy new tools monthly. Still haven't decided what it is I want to concentrate on turning. Again WELCOME, enjoy the site.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Welcome Dustin.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Welcome to the Creek Dustin!

Mini's can turn just about anything a larger lathe can...only smaller and with a bed extension on a mini it can turn longer things. The limiting factor is the swing or maximum diameter you can turn. I have in my possession a Jet VS Mini. It will turn a max diamter of 9.5" so I've turned bowls no larger than that. I've turned pens, bottle stoppers, bonkers, spindles for the steering wheel on a sail boat, goblets and knobs for furniture.

The nearest turning club is 110 miles from me. The inmates here gifted me with that Jet VS Mini 18 months ago along with tools and videos. I bought a book that was recommended here "Wood Turning- A Foundation Course" by Keith Rowley. It is an well written and illustrated book aimed at the beginning turner. It is my "go to" book when I'm having problems.

Videos: "Turned Bowls Made Easy" by Bill Grumbine

Turning Wood by Richard Raffan
Turning Boxes by Richard Raffan

I had to learn on my own. I have only witnessed one other turner turning. If I had my druthers..I do it differently!

Good luck in your Vortexation!

[Dustin Cranford]

Welcome Dustin; what part of Okla you located in? I work in Bartlesville.

I live and work in Ponca. With you working in Bartlesville we may well work for the same company, never know. I'll try to get with you on the Tulsa lead.


Thanks everyone else for the welcomes. I off to search the net for the right net. I think I have read every page here through 75. My understanding is stay away from no name brands. What about something like a Delta midi lathe.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dustin.....a couple of things about buying a lathe.

Low speed is good! When you finally get to turning bowl blanks, you'll be mounting unbalanced blanks on the lathe. The slower or lower the speed while you are making the blank more balanced the better. One of the considerations you should really look for is a good low speed. My Jet Mini has a low speed of 500 rpm....that's exciting sometimes with an out of balanced blank.

Jet, Rikon.....a lot of owner here at this site with those brands and they are mostly happy with them.

A variable speed is good. A lot of lathes, you change the speed by changing the belt on a pair of multi-stepped pulleys. Variable speed....you can change the RANGE of the speed by changing pulley configurations but you also have a knob that varies the speed of the motor within that range. This is handy because out-of-balanced loads will have a "mechanical resonant" frequency or RPM where it will aggrevate the vibration caused by the out of balanced load. With a electronic VS you can change the RPM of the lathe to minimize the vibration. AGAIN.....Low speed is good.....slower is better in almost every case....so a belt-only driven lathe at 200 RPM would be better than a VS say at 700 RPM.....slow is good when you first begin roughing something out.


Good luck with your journey. Research as much as possible. As Jim Becker likes to say " the most expensive tool in your shop is the one you bought, don't like, and have to replace!"