Newbie questions

[Dan Forman]

New to turning here, and already deep into the vortex. Bought a Rikon mini a couple of weeks ago, but before even setting it up realized that I would want to upgrade soon, so it's still sitting in the box waiting to be returned/exchanged for something bigger (I know myself pretty well by now). I'd keep it if I had room for two, but I don't, as is the subject of most of this post.

In the meantime, I took a turning 101 class with Russ Fairfield, who some of you might know of from Wood Central, and will be taking an introductory bowl class with him at the end of the month. I also turned a pen for a service person at Woodcraft on Sunday. I think I'm hooked. So here are my questions...

I've read comments about turning green wood, where folks talk about being able to feel moisture getting sprayed about while roughing out. I'm sure this isn't like a hose or anything, but does it pose a problem if you have cast iron tools in close proximity?

How much room do you like to have behind you when turning, and why? The only location that makes sense in my shop would put me between the lathe and a wall. That would allow me to share the 5" dust collection hose from my jointer/planer with the lathe, without tripping over the hose. I don't see any way of getting more than 4 feet between the lathe and the wall. Is that enough to work comfortably?

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010696.jpg

and from a different angle...http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010697.jpg

It would basically take the place of the router table, which will be banished to another room in the basement. For reference, there is about 7.5 feet between the wall and the table of the jointer/planer. The wide angle lense makes it look like there is more room than there actually is. The big white boxes in the corner will be out of the way as soon as I finish the rolling cab I'm making for the sander.

The one other option I'm considering for placement would be the other room mentioned previously, which is currently a storage area, with wood and other stuff in there now. Problem there is that it would be hard to get dc hose in there, and I'd have to run an extension cord for the 220. It would make more sense to me to keep the other mobile things in there until needed.

Another factor for locating would be height of the lathe. I'm considering either the Powermatic 3520B or Jet 1642, either of which stand a little higher than would be comfortable for me, as I am somewhat vertically challenged. That would mean I would probably want to make a platform to stand on when turning, to have better control of the tools. With my back to the wall, I could leave the platform in place. Anywhere else, and I would have to be moving it out of the way on a regular basis.

I'm sure some here would suggest just getting rid of all those "flat tools", but I'm not there yet. :eek:

I would appreciate any suggestions you might be able to make. I want to get in on the one week sale Woodcraft is having in the middle of the month, with hefty WC gift cards as well as Jet/Powermatic product gift cards.

Dan

[John Hart]

Good question....and good foresight.
In my last house, my shop was very small (8X10) and jam packed with all my tools. I had to side-step most of the time to get around. My bandsaw was 2.5' behind me and to my right and my tablesaw about 5' directly behind me. Not much lathe fodder made it to the tablesaw but the bandsaw got it pretty good. Certain woods like green walnut will destroy steel surfaces in a matter of hours and my bandsaw is a testament to that. I got in a habit of sweeping things off right away....but I learned kinda late. I'd say that 90 percent of the spray and chips are going to hit you in the face, chest and lay on your arms.....7 percent will loft to a radius of about 5 feet...then the remaining 3 percent will be a scattershot of about 10 feet.

[joe greiner]

One or two strategically placed shower curtains can provide any level of protection needed. Might even make an arrangement as used in hospital rooms.

Joe

[Terry Quiram]

I got tired of hosing everything down and hung shower curtains front and side. If you turn wood harvested in the spring it will most certainly seem like you are standing in front of a hose.:D

Terry

[Kevin McPeek]

I use shower curtains also and in some areas I have pull down window shades. My shop is very compact (aka cluttered) and shavings seem to find their way all over my work bench and bandsaw.
As others have said you don't need a huge area, but keep some room to work around all sides of the lathe. Chip control is the key to a semi clean shop, in my experience the only time a dust collector is useful is sanding and finishing. I only have a small one but it won't catch the chips from mid air.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dan you have gotten some good advice. The only thing I would add is I would somehow find a way to place your lathe so your back is not at the wall. I had mine there and it is a pain especially when it comes to cleaning chips. It was a pain to step around from behind to get tools, chucks, etc. everytime I had to change for something because I didn't have room for a bench or shelves to hold everything. If you put the lathe toward the wall put up a shower curtain around your back side like I and others have it will keep the chips contained in that area. Also a DC is not going to do much for chips and even if it does I have to take to hose off mine at times because the green wood will plug it. It works super for sanding and finishing.

[Steve Schlumpf]

When turning green - I agree that you will wear most of your shavings. Shower curtains make a huge difference when it comes time for clean-up! Only other thing I can add Dan is if you use your dust collector when turning green wood you can expect the fine dust particles (which are wet) to clog your filter. I have a small Jet DC650 and it cakes the inside of the filter bag in no time at all. I see you have the nice paper filter canister - can only think it would be a real pain to clean!

[Dan Forman]

Thanks for your responses guys. I will post a new f/u question about dc.

Dan