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Thread: New G0632Z set up questions...new turner

  1. #1
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    Apr 2016
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    New G0632Z set up questions...new turner

    Happy Labor Day everyone. I just ordered Grizzly’s new G0632Z https://www.grizzly.com/products/Gri...d-Lathe/G0632Z This is my first lathe...

    FWIW, Ive been a woodworker for over 20yrs...with the past 3-4, power carving bowls (chainsaw with log to rough out, 4 1/2"angle grinder with various attachments, down to various tools and then finishing). Currently sitting on a large amount of spalted maple that’s been anchorsealed...2 to 3 coats....walnut, pecan and other wood on hand.... A lot of the bowls were successfully carved with wet/green wood. Needless to say, turned bowls from the wood on hand is the goal. With the lathe soon to arrive, Im curious about other needed accessories . The plan involves seeking some education from nearby turners. The budget for additional items is $500. ....$125 4 jaw chuck? ....someone donated 5 piece set of HF chisels....they "might" work, but a correct and properly honed edge would be short lived.....thinking a couple higher quality chisels might work best? ...will add a dedicated 220v circuit...... When doable, a bandsaw will be added to the mix. I am currently reading "Features and chucks for woodturning", Doc Green, and "Turning", Richard Raffan.

    Safety has always been my first priority. Your experience, knowledge, wisdom etc would be greatly appreciated. I’ve probably left out some info needed, so please feel free to ask.

    Thanks everyone, and take care.

    Stark

  2. #2
    Welcome to the vortex, Stark.
    Like you, I spent 20 years woodworking before diving into this abyss. Never turned back.
    A good chuck is definitely worthwhile....but I won't go into tools because I prefer to mostly make my own and there's plenty of experts around here that will be more helpful in that arena.
    Just wanted to say welcome.
    ~john
    "There's nothing wrong with Quiet" ` Jeremiah Johnson

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Cambridge Vermont
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    Try to find a local club. $500 is going to get spent real quick as there's always something you will want. A club will allow you to get with people who have turned for years. You can watch how to correctly use tools and find out which ones will be the backbone of what you are going to start off doing. You are going to want a way to sharpen those tools. A local club will probably have a grinder and someone to teach you how to sharpen your tools.

    Don't go cheap on things like a chuck or a bowl gouge (if you are going to make bowls). You'll just end up replacing them sooner than you realize. That doesn't mean you need to buy the best. I swear by my Vicmarc chuck but it's more than half your budget with just one set of jaws. Another great thing about a club is the chance to get some hand me down tools. After a little more than a year turning I have found that the biggest part of turning is the people. I have yet to find one who is not someone who is willing to do so much to help out new people.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stark Suggs View Post
    Happy Labor Day everyone. I just ordered Grizzly’s new G0632Z https://www.grizzly.com/products/Gri...d-Lathe/G0632Z This is my first lathe...

    FWIW, Ive been a woodworker for over 20yrs...with the past 3-4, power carving bowls (chainsaw with log to rough out, 4 1/2"angle grinder with various attachments, down to various tools and then finishing). Currently sitting on a large amount of spalted maple that’s been anchorsealed...2 to 3 coats....walnut, pecan and other wood on hand.... A lot of the bowls were successfully carved with wet/green wood. Needless to say, turned bowls from the wood on hand is the goal. With the lathe soon to arrive, Im curious about other needed accessories . The plan involves seeking some education from nearby turners. The budget for additional items is $500. ....$125 4 jaw chuck? ....someone donated 5 piece set of HF chisels....they "might" work, but a correct and properly honed edge would be short lived.....thinking a couple higher quality chisels might work best? ...will add a dedicated 220v circuit...... When doable, a bandsaw will be added to the mix. I am currently reading "Features and chucks for woodturning", Doc Green, and "Turning", Richard Raffan.

    Safety has always been my first priority. Your experience, knowledge, wisdom etc would be greatly appreciated. I’ve probably left out some info needed, so please feel free to ask.

    Thanks everyone, and take care.

    Stark
    Doc's book and Raffan's "Turning Wood" are great. Another must-have book for me is "Fundamentals of Woodturning" by Mike Darlow.

    I agree about joining a club. You can meet local turners, get advise and specific help, and perhaps find a mentor close by. You might put your location in your SMC profile so readers here can see if you are near.

    Don't give up on the cheap tools too soon - they may be fine, especially for learning. Remember that woodturners worked with worse tools for 100s of years and still turned amazing things. It might be a costly mistake to buy some high-quality tools now before you get some experience and learn what will work best for your situation. Local turners will probably let you try a variety of tools.

    The most important thing is to use sharp tools which usually means learning to sharpen properly. Some shop visitors here have brought horribly sharpened tools for sharpening help - no wonder they were having trouble. An 8" bench grinder is almost required. For turning with sharp tools without learning to sharpen, look at the Hunter tools - but find some to try first since they are expensive.

    The good chuck is probably second on my list of must-haves for the convenience, flexibility, and efficiency. But keep in mind that turners did quality work holding wood to faceplates with screws long before modern woodturning chucks were invented. Just took longer and required more work-arounds. You can sometimes find used chucks - I've bought several for around $50.

    A good bandsaw is incredibly valuable next to a lathe. I'd hate to turn without one. I'd get one that will cut at least 12" thick wood.

    And don't forget to ask questions here. Leave no question unasked, even if you think it might be trivial.

    BTW, I can cite references of famous and expert turners who give one valuable suggestion - even if your goal is to turn only bowls they suggest learning spindle turning first. Spindle turning will teach you the fine tool control that will let you turn anything. It doesn't work the other way. I start all new students to turn spindles with a skew chisel even if they had never seen a lathe. We learn the skew before moving to any other tool.

    JKJ

  5. #5
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    Apr 2016
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    Greer, SC
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    Thanks so much for the valuable information. Got a small bench grinder on hand, need to see if it might work. My apology, but I failed to mention that my entry in to woodworking started on a slippery slope....an old Stanley #5 restoration...followed by many others...now at an unnecessary 30+ edged tools. So,.....How sharp is the required sharpness? A 40-45 degree bevel I can do...but the "sharpness" here is different from a 25-27 degree or so for the general plane iron. Im totally ignorant on this one. A new book is going to be ordered....a decent chuck....probably a gouge/chisel, ...Ill have more questions for the expert advice... The lathe was extensively researched. But, being a new Grizzly lathe limited extra input. Grizzly's reputation with product quality and great customer service drove the purchase. I do feel good about the choice. Due to my major interest in bowls, particularly the larger ones, and other projects, I did purchase the optional 33" tool rest (with the lathe)...very convinced it will be used. At $129 it was hard to pass up. up. https://www.grizzly.com/products/Gri...ol-Rest/T28011 . Gotta run. Many Thanks!!

  6. #6
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    Apr 2016
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    John, would love to know more about how you made some of your own tools. Thanks, Stark

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Stark Suggs View Post
    John, would love to know more about how you made some of your own tools. Thanks, Stark
    Sure, Stark...it's actually pretty fun. Like John Jordan said, it's a pretty good idea to start out with spindle turning to get to know your tools and techniques. So what better spindle is there than a tool handle!
    But my adventure usually starts at a scrap yard. You'd be amazed at the high quality steels available there in a wide variety of configurations. Carbon steel...stainless...bar...rods....everything. and all for just a couple bucks per pound.
    If you have a grinder, then you can create pretty much anything you need.
    I'll take some pictures this week of some examples.
    ~john
    "There's nothing wrong with Quiet" ` Jeremiah Johnson

  8. #8
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    Apr 2018
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    Cambridge Vermont
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    Most grinders are not the low speed you'll want. It'll work but you'll probably be upgrading not too far in the future. Flat tools aren't too hard to sharpen but curved tools, like a gouge, take some skill if you want to do them free hand. If you don't then you'll go the route most people go and get a jig. Turning is like racing. There's always something you can buy that's going to help you. There's nothing wrong with lower quality tools as long as you don't invest a lot into them.

    I started off looking at that same model of lathe but the cheaper one (G0462) with the reeves (variable pulley system) drive. It would only go down to 600 rpm and a lot of people were saying that it just wasn't slow enough for larger out of balance blanks. I read about how people were upgrading it to the model you bought for about the same (maybe a little more) money so I moved up to possibly the G0632Z. Someone here posted a discount code for a larger Grizzly for not too much more. I think you'll find that's going to be a great machine to learn on that you're not going to quickly outgrow.

  9. The G0632Z is a proven workhorse lathe which is a clone of, and has the features of the Jet 1632-2 evs lathe, plus the headstock turns or rotates 90 degrees to the bed for additional capability. It has VFD by means of an inverter, and not reeves drive. You’ve made a great choice in lathes getting started, because you can do so much with this unit. YOur lathe will go from low rpm to high rpm.
    Remember, in a moments time, everything can change!

    Vision - not just seeing what is, but seeing what can be!




  10. #10
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    Apr 2016
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    Thanks Alex.

  11. #11
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    You have a very good starting point. I have never owned a Grizzly lathe, but that model has some nice features. Not sure about the HF chisels, if the are listed as HSS. If so, that is what I started with.I still use some. IMO you need a skew, roughing gouge, parting tool, and spindle gouge. For bowls a bowl gouge is necessary. For less expensive I like the Hurricane tool. There are a lot of chucks, but the SuperNova 2 is a good chuck. I wouldn’t go with a lesser quality chuck. The 50 mm jaws are are what would be used most and other chucks and jaws can be bought later. I have since acquired more expensive chucks, but used them for quite awhile without trouble. For a grinder the slow speed Rickon seems to be the grinder of choice. Some use the 1/2 hp and says it will work fine even with CBN wheels although the 1 hp would be better. I have the no name Woodcraft 3/4 hp I bought years ago. CBN wheels are great, but I would look at them down the road. I would get the T handle wheel dresser for the white grinding wheels. I have the wolverine sharpening system and that is what I would recommend. I do have the skew sharpening attachment, but don’t use it. I use the platform for skews. For gouges the vari-grind is very good. Note most prefer the original vari-grind over the vari-grind 2. Don’t forger a face shield and some type of dust protection. The last thing I would recommender tools is a drill chuck. I use that quite often and they are not expensive.
    When working I had more money than time. In retirement I have more time than money. Love the time, miss the money.

  12. #12
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    Apr 2016
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    Thanks Roger. Great points from you and Alex. Surely, more questions to hit the forum...cannot think of a better place to post them.

  13. Just FYI....I have both the SuperNova 2 chucks and the Hurricane HTC-100’s and HTC-125’s. I truly believe the Hurricane chucks are better than the SuperNova’s. On a couple of Nova chucks there is some play [slop] in the scroll gear/jaw slide mating, and they have to be retightened a few times during a turning session, and that is not the case with the Hurricanes I own. The Hurricanes are a good clone of the Vicmarc chucks, which are basically the Cadillac of chucks. I don’t want you to think you would be getting lesser quality with the Hurricane chucks. And Steve Fulgoni, owner of The Woodturners Store has always given me good customer service. Nova customer service has lacked at times.
    Last edited by Roger Chandler; 09-03-2019 at 12:58 PM.
    Remember, in a moments time, everything can change!

    Vision - not just seeing what is, but seeing what can be!




  14. #14
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    Apr 2016
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    Greer, SC
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    Regarding Nova 2 and Hurricanes.....my lathe spindle specs are 1 1/4" x 8 tpi. I presume that Ill need an adapter to the 1 1/4 inch since 1" and 1 1/2" seem to be all there is? Are the "kits" worth it (a lot of accessories that might not be used, or be that useful)...? Pardon the ignorance. Studying all I can get my hands on. Thanks!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stark Suggs View Post
    Regarding Nova 2 and Hurricanes.....my lathe spindle specs are 1 1/4" x 8 tpi. I presume that Ill need an adapter to the 1 1/4 inch since 1" and 1 1/2" seem to be all there is? Are the "kits" worth it (a lot of accessories that might not be used, or be that useful)...? Pardon the ignorance. Studying all I can get my hands on. Thanks!
    Most of the chucks require a insert including Nova chucks. This is common, there are a few chucks that are 1” X 8 tip that target the midi lathes. Not sure what you mean by “kits"
    When working I had more money than time. In retirement I have more time than money. Love the time, miss the money.

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