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weekend's work

2K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  john lucas 
#1 ·
I spent the weekend making replacement spindles for an antique clock and desk. The hardest part by far is matching the finish. It only takes a few minutes to turn the finials to match the originals.
I made a large hollowing tool for a friend. It has a 5/16" HSS tip. I mad another hand mirror. I have to make another dozen so I figured I better get started. The piece of steel in the front is for making a #2 morse taper in wood. It is 2" long and has slots cut for sizing the taper at the 2" marks. I part down to those sizes and then simply connect the two with a straight line.
I use those frequently to make odd holders for my Nova Live center. The tips are short #2 morse tapers. This allows me to make tips to fit into special sized holes such as when turning tool handles. I drill the holes for the tool first and then place this between centers.
Morse tapers area also a good way to support the wood when turning small finials for christmas ornaments. I turn a taper and then I drive the wood into the #2 morse taper opening. Then just turn the finial. Not chuck needed.
 

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#4 ·
Tim The morse tapers trick isn't useful for everyone. I started doing them before I had a way to hold small stuff. Now I have chucks with small jaws and morse taper collets in several sizes so I don't use the wooden tapers that much. I use them mostly to make some sort of custom adaptor to either my headstock or tailstock when turning lamps or tool handles.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Very nice work!! I am lurking around the woodturning area hoping that I can learn a bit about using a lathe. I picked up a Delta Lathe as part of a CL sale a couple of weeks ago. I also got a 8 piece set of turning knives, a Rockwell bandsaw and a Delta 12.5" planer in the deal. I have restored the band saw and cleaned up the planer and mounted it to a table, now I'm ready to start on the lathe. I'm not even sure of the correct terminology, but the center pin on the #2 Morse taper for the tailstock was broken. (Did I say that right?) I ordered a replacement from Delta and have it. Hopefully, I can get the lathe cleaned up and start to use it. I'm going to the library to find some books on woodturning. At this point I need to figure out what kind of tapers and chucks I need to use for various turning jobs. Also, I want to be sure I'm doing it safely. That piece of spinning wood looks like it could do me some damage if not handled properly.

Sorry for hi-jacking the post, but hopefully I'll be able to turn something useful before long.
 
#9 ·
Just start with slow speeds and work your way up. There really isn't a need to run the lathe fast. Eventually you will increase the speed naturally as your skills improve but there's no reason to tempt fate.
You can turn almost everything using faceplates and waste blocks screwed to the faceplates. Either screw the wood directly to it for turning or put a waste block on the faceplate and glue the wood to that. A 4 jaw wood turning chuck is nice because it does speed up the operation but I turned for many years with just a faceplate.
You should have a 4 prong drive center with the lathe to go into the headstock. This and the live tailscenter you just got from Delta should let you do spindle turning which is good practice and a safe way to start learning to use the tools.
Watch some of the turning demos on Youtube. They aren't the greatest but usually you can learn something.
 
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