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Multi-axis turning for the low-skilled

Having been inspired by the Barbara Dill articles, I've made a fair volume of shavings and kindling, and would like to add a few hints for the low-skilled like me who try multi- axis turning for the first time

With apologies for laboring the obvious:

  1. It's great fun, but don't expect to make anything nice on your early attempts. The combinations are just too complex to visualize easily (even with the backing of Ms. Dill's article). I would also suggest keeping the axes fairly close together (no more than 1/4" or so), especially on shorter pieces which amplify the effect of the axis change.

  1. Even if it isn't your normal practice, I strongly recommend wearing a face shield: the pressure on the piece comes at odd angles, the drive spur may not engage equally fully on all the axes, there is a lot of vibration, the noise of the tool hitting the part covers some of the warning signs of an approaching break or slip.

  2. Reset the toolrest frequently, and if you have a choice of rests, use the smallest.That will let you get in close to the piece, and this is really important as the tool edge is going to be unsupported a lot of the time.

  1. Resetting the toolrest on a new axis is a good time for a sanity check. If you cut coves along different axes at the same point on the piece's length, you're going to end up with very little wood at some stage. Sighting across the toolrest while turning the piece by hand willl give you some idea of how much wood you can still remove, and where. Another way of avoiding problems on the ends is to draw radii around the various centers you're going to use, that will give some idea of how much stock can be removed along each axis before running out of material for the drive spur (DAMHIKT).

  2. The "ghost" of the wood is misleading; remember that only the "solid" part is wood all the way through, and even that can be an odd shape...

  1. The vibration on the tool gets worse with every change of axis, and your grip may have to change accordingly. That is equally important for sanding. I find that backing a piece of sandpaper with an old mousepad makes it far more comfortable to hold against the wood, and to get the pressure needed.

HTH

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wells
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A Newbie's perspective on a set of instructions put together by someone who is very familiar with a procedure can be invaluable. It's so easy, when doing instructions, to ASSUME that "everyone knows that - so it ain't worth mentioning." - and leave a HUGE HOLE in the instructions - and thus make it harder for the person trying to follow the instructions. It's a balancing act - spell out EVERYTHING and bore your user to death - or - skips some seemingly insignificant points and KILL the user. (OK so that was a bit of an exaggeration. But newbies are easily discouraged - and you don't want to discourage folks from trying something that can be fun.

who try multi-

Baby steps are always a good idea - at first. Starting with 3/4 x 3/4 x

6 to 8 inch stuff is a good start. Small enough to not be too intimidating but enough wood to work with. And keeping the offset from the blanks actual center to 1/4" or a bit less is a good idea - cuts down on how much Air Wood you need to turn through.

It's also good to start with ONE center on one end of the blank and multiple centers on the other. That way you can work closer to the single center end and get used to turning through what Barbara refers to as Air Wood on her DVD

shield: the

the part covers

A face shield, or better yet a helmeted face shielded respirator - like the TREND or AirStream is a good idea in general.

And when it comes to pressure on the blank, cranking the tail center really hard into the blank is asking for trouble. Getting that balance between holding the blank adequately enough that it doesn't STOP as you make a cut - and having the blank bend - or break - as you turn Air Wood aware is tricky. Best to err on the side of too little than too much pressure.

important as the tool

It's ALWAYS best, after mounting a piece, to turn the lathe OFF, move the tool rest - and hand turn the piece to make sure it clears the tool rest. Moving the tool rest while the lathe is running is not the safest thing to do. Moving it while an off center piece is spinning is asking for a problem - that you REALLY don't want to have.

I use the 6" tool rest that came with my JET Mini and angle it to get as close as possible to where I'll be cutting. With shorter, smaller diameter blanks you usually aren't making long cuts anyway so you aren't using the whole tool rest length.

If you're turning a light wood, put a dark piece of paper or whatever BEHIND the piece. If you're turning a dark wood, put a light piece of paper or whatever BEHIND the piece. This will let you see where the Air Wood is - and where the Solid Wood is. If you see little or no Solid Wood - better pick another pair of centers before proceeding.

Leave the full square ends on until the very end. You DO NOT want to turn them off before you're done with the rest of your turning.

Visualizing Cause & Effect is THE Challenge of multi-axes turning.

If Barbara Dill's papers on multi-axes turning don't work for you, try this idea. Requires a simple drawing program and some understanding of basic mechanical drawing to do - and understand since it requires Top, Side and End views.

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backing a

Believe it or not, I find that using a skew - with a curve in the cutting edge - works best - for me - when doing multi-axis turning. Using the Long Point - down - and starting the cut with just the tip of the long point means starting with very little of the cutting edge - actually only the point - engaging the wood. Little "bites' means less banging.

Thanks for sharing your insights - so well.

charlie b

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charlie b

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