I have really bad news for the world of woodworking. As of today, I am a woodturner.
I have a huge metal lathe, and I made some parts that would allow me to use it for wood, but I moved 300 miles, and my metal lathe has not caught up yet. In frustration, I went to Harbor Freight yesterday and picked up their 65345 wood lathe. I had very low expectations, but I was very impressed when I unboxed it. It looked great, and it was 100% ready to go, but for a handle which needed to be screwed into the tailstock dial. I have bought some really crappy Chinese tools, such as my Northern Tool horizontal band saw (looks like I made it myself), but I have zero complaints about this new lathe.
I was surprised to see that the lathe didn't need a spur or live center. You can literally buy this thing and a few chisels and start turning.
I had a bunch of NOS Craftsman HSS chisels I had found on Ebay, so I grabbed what probably used to be a broom handle, cut a piece off, and went to town. I had never turned anything by hand before, so I was nervous. My training consisted of watching Youtube videos.
Man, this is easy. I see why people like it. In a few minutes, I had created a completely acceptable file handle shape. Unfortunately, the wood was very brittle and easy to split, so it blew apart when it caught one of my chisels.
I have questions.
1. What do people do to keep from being drowned in sawdust? There must be some kind of garment they put on over their clothes, unless woodturners change every time they work. I'm not worried about getting the dust out of my shop, because I turn next to a huge garage door, and I have a leaf blower.
2. I am planning to start out by creating a bunch of file handles. What's the best wood to use? Should I go to Home Depot and buy a few $4 hardwood roller-handle extensions? I know they turn well, because I've used my metal lathe to make bench dogs out of them. Should I cut branches off my trees and turn them green? I have a sugar maple which got hit by lightning, and a lot of branches are going to have to come off. If I turn a file handle from green wood, should I do anything to keep it from distorting and cracking as it dries?
I have acres and acres of live oaks, which I despise. I know this wood is not great for woodworking, but I was thinking it might be okay for small things. It's as hard as my law school girlfriend's tiny heart. I also have some maples and hickories, but I would like to spare them and kill live oaks.
3. What's the best way to put holes in file handles? My drill press is far away, standing next to my metal lathe. I am considering Craigslisting another one. I found a great deal on an old Rockwell. Buying it would allow me to have one drill press in my wood shop and one in my metal shop.
It would be nice to drill holes using the lathe, but I assume the work would come flying off the lathe if it were not supported on the right. I have a miniature metal lathe, and the drill chuck has the same Morse taper as the wood lathe.
4. Is there anything I should do to upgrade the lathe? I know a million people use these things, so there are probably issues and fixes that are well known.
10 07 18 Harbor Freight Lathe first spindle turning effort obliterated small.jpg10 07 18 Harbor Freight Lathe small.jpg10 07 18 Harbor Freight Lathe first spindle turning effort small.jpg