head stock and tail placement questions!

[andrew zukewycz]

while reading some other posts i saw a pic of STEVE SCHLUMPF turning a piece and talking about his awesome new tool his neighbor sent him.

in the picture it appears he is working on the "wrong";) end of the lathe. since im a novice, every video or book ive seen shows the head and tail stock to the turners left of the bed. but this pic illistrates everything over to the right side.

is there a reason for this? i have often thought while turning pieces to big for my lathe that i should move the whole head stock to the middle to reduce vibration, but ive allways been unsure.

anyways, just wondering if there was any methodology i was unaware of:confused:, or a trick i was missing.

thanks
zuke.

p.s. im hoping steve responds, since it was him in the pic i presume...:D

[andrew zukewycz]

the pics are under the thread called "christmas gouge gloat"

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=99514

that link might work.

thx.

zuke

[Reed Gray]

A sliding headstock gives you a combination lathe; a long bed spindle lathe when the headstock is on the far left, and a short bed bowl lathe when you move the headstock towards the right end. Mostly this means that when you turn bowls, you don't have to bend over the lathe to turn out the inside of the bowl. A huge back saver if you spend a lot of time on your lathe. It is also nice for turning boxes and hollow forms.
robo hippy

[Steve Schlumpf]

Zuke - good question!

A lot of the bigger lathes out there have fixed headstocks - so they will all be on the left side of the lathe bed. I usually slide my headstock down where it is located just to the right of the center of the bed. It gives me easier access to the turning as I can move around the side of the lathe if need be. Also, once the outside of the piece is roughed out, I turn the blank around and slide everything to the far right so I don't have to bend over to hollow out a bowl. If I am turning a hollow form - I actually move everything down to the left of center to make room for a steady rest as well as the hollowing system.

Clear as mud right? If I can explain things further - please ask.

Should also add that I can move the headstock close to the end of the bed because of the ballast box that is underneath the lathe. It has 7 bags of quick-set concrete and makes a huge difference when it comes to handling out-of-balance blanks.

[andrew zukewycz]

thank you both for your responses... both make perfect sense!

i think the next bowl i make will involve this new back saving technique!!!


now to the quickrete!

i had several bags of grout under my 1442 jet lathe on a few 2x4s i cut to size. i recently removed the bags in exchange for a 55 gallon drum and no 2x4's.

although i payed for my choice when i turned a large mesquite burl at a 45 degree and had to go on measure center rather than balance to try and get as much material to stay on as possible... and as i pushed my lathe back and forthe with my thigh, i would hold the motor from swiveling with my left and chip away with my right, and since my slowest speed is 400rpm, i would turn on and off to try and keep slow...

to my next question... how do you keep tidy with that box there? DC? shop vac?

should i put the weight back on the lathe and sacrifice the time i save cleaning up by having the shaving fall into the trash?

thanks again.
zuke

[Steve Schlumpf]

Zuke - keeping the area clean is no big deal.

If I am doing rough outs - like I am now - then I grab a dust pan and scoop the shavings up and deposit them in a 35 gallon plastic trash bin. Once that is filled I haul them outside and add to one of several compost piles. About once a week I use a shop-vac and clean the floor area.

When I do finishing work, I use my Jet 650 DC to grab as many of the chips as possible and always keep the hose very close to the turning when sanding. Still have to scoop up some shavings before using the shop-vac but keeping the area clean usually isn't that much of a problem.

[andrew zukewycz]

i think im going to do what i saw in your pic i was commenting on earlier, and just hang a sheet around the whole area... and then keep looking for a cheap DC on craigslist! but that seems to be the biggest problem,that the shavings, somehow, get everywhere!

thanks again.
zuke

[robert hainstock]

Steve has is lathe out form the wall a bit. I believe this so that he cav step to that side sometimes. Bill Grumbine in his video "turning Bowls made easy: has the tip of his gauge handle over the back way. I have to do that too. I often wish I could stahd on that side for taking out the insides of a bowl. I cannot access the back sides of my lathes as they are back to back. I do have an old shower curtain hanging between them to defledt chips. :)
Bob

[andrew zukewycz]

old shower curtain? genius!

i love finding ways to save a buck and try and recycle old stuff. i had been thinking of a way to get a sturdy cloth (or now possibly a shower curtain) to kind of funnel all the shavings into a trash can.

ill more than likely post a pic after xmas to show what ive done.

thanks for the input robert and steve! and reed too!

later
zuke

[Bernie Weishapl]

Andrew just for info sake. A DC unless you get a big one (oneida) is not going to pick up the curlies you are going to make. I have a 2 hp unit and it does a excellent job in keeping the sanding dust down along with the air cleaner hanging from the ceiling but as far as the big stuff goes the DC is not going to help you much.

[andrew zukewycz]

good to know. i think instead of spending money on a DC. i think ill just figure a way to funnel my hanging tarp into the 55gal trash. and ill just keep using my shop vac for dust collecting when sanding.

thanks
zuke

[Scott Conners]

Andrew - that's what I do, using a shovel/dustpan for shavings and just running the vacuum for DC when sanding. Keeping the dust down is a priority when turning in my kitchen =D

[Allen Neighbors]

Here is a link to a couple of pics showing the way I hung the Shower Curtains to contain the shavings a little. The pulleys are old window sash pullies. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=78624

[andrew zukewycz]

that looks pretty sharp. right now i have a huge tarp that cuts the garage in half, as my wife believes half of the garage is reserved for cars!!! whats she thinkin???:rolleyes:

i wasnt able to find a used shower curtain that i could use without a few bottles of CLR, so i think ill resort to the old harbor freight 3$ plastic tarp!

probably this weekend i will have it all done. and ill try and post some pics.

thanks again for the ideas!

zuke

[Jeremy Parkins]

If you are cramped for space like I am I picked up one of these pop-up garden bags. I then pop it up and scoop the curlies into it with a dustpan then collapse it down and hang it on the wall when done.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3013009

Jeremy

[andrew zukewycz]

that pop up garbage can looks neat... a bit pricey tho! i am pretty cramped for space... but thats a bit pricey! lately i just roll my big can in from the street and sweep the bits right in! but the big thing is keeping the dust off the motorcycle and the jeep(wifes car)!

i like the idea of a collapsable can tho. i might try and rig something.

ill post some pics this weekend... of my new contraption, and maybe even my dusty bike!!!:rolleyes:

later
zuke