Don't Laugh, Need Help, but Having Fun

[Jim Koepke]

OK, it ain't a great piece of machinery, but it came with tools and a 4 jaw chuck and it was only $100.

I would like to thank everyone that posted pointers on safety in another thread.

I have only been turning for a month. Wish I had started years ago.

My question concerns getting things off the lathe when they are finished. In the video on what not to do, the guy cuts a bat off with a hack saw. I do not like things flying around my shop, be they bugs or high velocity projectiles of wood.

Currently, when a piece is as done as I feel safe on a lathe, it is taken over to the bench and cut from the ends with a hand saw. A band saw would be handy, but that is far down the line.

Is there a proper and safe way to cut it off on the lathe?

Here are some pictures. One is of the lathe. The others are of things made. The mallet and chisel handle on the left are made in my shop. The other chisel handles were made in the school shop in town. The rosewood acorn was also made in my shop. My wife has a thing for acorns, and I though I would surprise her.

The mallet is made from a piece of alder from our firewood pile. Hey, I don't have a lot of wood ready for turning in the shop, so I may have to turn a bit more fire wood and be cold a few days in the winter.

thanks for the help,

jim

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim,

Nobody will laugh at you here at the Creek for asking a question. They might ride you back a little...but they will laugh with you ....not at you!


Do you have a parting tool? Typically I will using a parting tool or a skew and "part" something off. Make sure you don't have too much pressure on your project with your tailstock but enough pressure to hold your piece in place. Using the parting tool, at the point at the tailstock end of the project where you want extra material removed...part down until you have say....1/4"-1/8" diameter left. Stop.

Now go to the headstock end.....if you lathe has adjustable speed...while turning at the lowest speed, use the parting tool at the point of excess material....while holding the piece with one hand, part off the piece with the other hand holding the tool. IOW...if you are right handed..hold the piece with your left hand while it's spinning...and use the parting tool with your right hand...and part it off. Since you are parting it off at the headstock end ..when you cut through the material, the drive is removed from the piece and you will be left with a non-moving piece in your left hand.

Use a sharp skew or chisel to remove the 1/8" or 1/4" that still remains at the tailstock end of your project.

I hope this makes sense. This is true for spindle turnings....say a mallet....a bonker......a spindle.

It would hold true for a weed pot....

It's a little scary the first time but so was putting a stationary tool to a fast spinning piece of wood.

and again....you've heard it a million times...the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim,

Nobody will laugh at you here at the Creek for asking a question. They might ride you back a little...but they will laugh with you ....not at you!


Do you have a parting tool? Typically I will using a parting tool or a skew and "part" something off. Make sure you don't have too much pressure on your project with your tailstock but enough pressure to hold your piece in place. Using the parting tool, at the point at the tailstock end of the project where you want extra material removed...part down until you have say....1/4"-1/8" diameter left. Stop.

Now go to the headstock end.....if you lathe has adjustable speed...while turning at the lowest speed, use the parting tool at the point of excess material....while holding the piece with one hand, part off the piece with the other hand holding the tool. IOW...if you are right handed..hold the piece with your left hand while it's spinning...and use the parting tool with your right hand...and part it off. Since you are parting it off at the headstock end ..when you cut through the material, the drive is removed from the piece and you will be left with a non-moving piece in your left hand.

Use a sharp skew or chisel to remove the 1/8" or 1/4" that still remains at the tailstock end of your project.

I hope this makes sense. This is true for spindle turnings....say a mallet....a bonker......a spindle.

It would hold true for a weed pot....

It's a little scary the first time but so was putting a stationary tool to a fast spinning piece of wood.

and again....you've heard it a million times...the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask.

Thanks Ken.

Luckily, I am pretty much ambidextrous so I guess I can use my parting tool left handed and do the catch with the right.

I find some of the work on the lathe would be difficult to do right handed, do other turners change hands to make the cut from one side or the other?

jim

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim,

If you are ambidextrous, you are lucky. I'm not.

I really like using my skew....I mean I reallly, really like using the skew. And it's only recently that I've started using it with my left hand being the back or bottom hand on the handle. You should see my 270 lb. body up against the headstock when I'm making a planing cut from left to right using the skew. So recently I started practicing using my left hand as the control hand and it's coming along.

I can only speak for myself but I suspect most turners have to work at it to use both hands equally well.

I'm glad you are having fun with it.

This coming February, I'll have been turning for 3 year IIRC. The idiot turners here took up a collection and bought me a Jet VS Mini with a SN2 chuck. They sent me tools and wood....At the current prices then I probably got about $1100-1200 worth of lathe and tools and videos and wood....I got into a teasing contest....push me shove you...type of thing. So they got even. They threw me into the Vortex. I hate to think how many thousands of dollars I've spent of my own money to get set up for turning. I used to be a rabid elk hunter. I broke my back in April 2001 and our camp broke up because the guy who owned the horses and mules got too old to hunt and none of the rest of us wanted to take on the expense and work involved to own animals 12 months of the year. Then I found the Creek when I was building my shop. My wife will tell you she hasn't seen me enjoy anything as much as I do turning. I upgraded to a PM3520B last year and outfitted my shop with a new b/s and DC. But the shop finishing came to a standstill for 18 months while I turned on that Jet Mini screwed to a 2x12 between two A-frame ladders. I had over $600 in liight fixtures and lamps sitting in the corner gathering dust and I turned using 2 construction lights on a stand. Last year about this time, I dismantled the "diving board", ordered my tools and finished the shop. I'm still building cabinets and I don't have a bench yet. I'm using plywood across saw horses but I had to get a turning fix. I owe the idiots here a lot as I've found a new passion.

Keep practicing and enjoy it!

[Michael Arruda]

That's a nice little Craftsman lathe, made by King Seeley. If you want any more information on it, check out OWWM.com for the database of old woodworking machines. I'm guessing it's a 103.23070. Mid '40s into the mid '50s. On the database, there's three owner's manuals, 1948, '52 and '54.

Have fun! I'm working with a similar capacity at the moment, with a mini lathe... not too much for bowls, but for learning and spindle work, it's great. I wish I had an indexing head on my lathe like that one.
-Michael

[Bernie Weishapl]

[quote=Ken Fitzgerald;958060]Jim,

I'm glad you are having fun with it.

This coming February, I'll have been turning for 3 year IIRC. The idiot turners here took up a collection and bought me a Jet VS Mini with a SN2 chuck.



Hey, hey, hey Fitz there you go again with the idiot thing.:rolleyes::cool:;):D

Jim I generally like Ken does use a skew or parting tool. I hold the parting tool in my left hand and catch the piece with my right with the speed down.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jim, there is always someone doing things different and this time it's me. I follow what Ken said as far as using the parting tool to take each end down to 1/4" but then I stop the lathe, unplug it, remove the tool rest and use a small cope saw to cut each end of the spindle. I have done the catch with the left while parting with the right but have felt that the dangers of getting caught up in the spinning headstock were something I wanted to avoid. I am not ambidextrous and found the contortions I had to go through to part the piece while holding just wasn't being safe. Just me. Whatever you decide - listen to that little voice and if it doesn't feel safe - stop!

[Jim Koepke]

This is why I love this forum, all the great help and information.

There is a plaque on the lathe that says something about King, but I had no idea they were a part of GM. My father used to sell Frigidaire appliances, they were a division of GM back then also.

jim

[Jim Koepke]

I wish I had an indexing head on my lathe like that one.

I am not sure what an indexing head is or how to use it.

jim

[Gary Herrmann]

An indexing head is used to rotate the headstock X degrees in evenly divided increments - some people (metal workers?) call it a dividing head. Some lathes have the feature stock, but you can make one. They come in handy for carving or other decorative additions to a turned item. I'm toying with the idea of carving the handle of the mallet I have in queue.

This page has decent pics and explanation:

http://www.sherline.com/tip37.htm

[Jim Becker]

Parting off "most of the way" with a parting tool or a skew only leaves a little nub to deal with manually...you'll get used to doing this with time. And a band saw is NOT the tool to use for this kind of final cut. It's quite dangerous, as a matter of fact, to try and cross cut something round on a band saw as the item can easily spin and catch the blade...which can, in turn, pull your fingers/hand into said blade. A simple hand saw is all you need, followed by a chisel or carving gouge and a little sanding.

[Jim Koepke]

Parting off "most of the way" with a parting tool or a skew only leaves a little nub to deal with manually...you'll get used to doing this with time. And a band saw is NOT the tool to use for this kind of final cut. It's quite dangerous, as a matter of fact, to try and cross cut something round on a band saw as the item can easily spin and catch the blade...which can, in turn, pull your fingers/hand into said blade. A simple hand saw is all you need, followed by a chisel or carving gouge and a little sanding.

Thanks Jim, that is the way I have been doing it and will continue to do the same.
I really do not know what I am doing, but seem to be doing OK.

It just seems so natural, but not knowing what I am doing worries me that I will do something wrong.

Now, I am looking around the shop for pieces of wood big enough to cut into turning pieces.

Have to figure a way to make some extra $$$ and buy some I guess.

jim

[Skip Spaulding]

Jim, check with local wood working shops, they always have scraps, great for small turnings. Down trees on the sides of road are fair game in some towns. Local road dept., tree cutting, and yard maint. business people are a good bet. I sometimes trade pens or bowls for wood. I just picked up a tub of antlers from a guy that processes deer etc. Going to try a few pens and maybe a knife handle. Once you let people know your looking for wood it sometimes just appears on your lawn! Good luck.