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Another Newbie

Hello all. I'm charlie b from San Jose, CA, yet another newbie to the group and to turning.

I've had a little Unimat for years, used to turn wax rings for lost wax casting jewelry. The Unimat is more of a mini-metal lathe than a wood turners lathe, with a fixed tool holder and X-Y table. While great for making dowels, it was like an Etch-A-Sketch when trying to do curves and beads. When I got into woodworking and bought a set of mini-lathe gouges, and one ?real? Sorny Spindle Master, I tried some small spindle turning - initially just to see if I could do it. Found that small wooden tops were easy to do and kids found that you CAN have fun with toys that don't require batteries or a PC. Then Harry Potter came along and the neighborhood kids who hang out in the shop wanted magic wands.

Because the UniMat is limited to about 7 inches "between centers" (actually between the three jaw chuck and the center) and a swing of just over an inch and a quarter, handles could be turned but not the wands themselves. A kid with a block plane and some sand paper can make the wand piece pretty quick. As a bonus, they find the curlies produced pretty cool too.

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Turning is a great Between Projects diversion. Unlike furniture making, it provides almost instant gratification (and occassional screw ups that happen so quickly!) - though the limits of the UniMat were quickly reached. So, after seeing great reviews of the Jet VS Midi-Lathe and a bit of harassment by a buddy who likes to see other people spend money like it's water, I bought one at the annual woodworking show, along with the bed extension and Ernie Conover?s Turning for Furniture. Just picked up Richard Raffan?s book - Turning Wood and am going through it. Here?s where I?ve been in turning so far.

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Now, having spent a few hours playing with the Jet I?ve discovered a) that turning a blank from square to round is very different when you go from 1? square to 3 or 4 inches square b) having a longer tool rest (on the Unimat it was about 1 1/4? long) makes for more coherent turnings c) dull gouges cut very very slowly - or catch d) sharp gouges cut very quickly and catch even faster e) like hand planes, bench chisels and carving chisels, turning gouges proliferate f) I?m gonna need another jig for the Tormek This turning thing is FUN. Perhaps someday I?ll get to bowl turning. For now, spindle turning suits me. I hope to add half columns to some of my future woodworking projects and for sure some drawer and door pulls.

If I learn as much from this group as I have from rec.woodworking figure on me being here regularly. Hopefully, in time, perhaps even have something useful to contribute.

BTW - is there a turning equivalent to alt/binaries.pictures. woodworking or furniture?

charlie b

ps - tried a skew ?gouge?? Was using it just for scribing lines but inspired by an ealier thread and a little looking in the Raffan book, now have an idea of how to use it. Slick tool.

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charlie b
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Hi Charlie, welcome to the quieter side. This is a slightly less boisterous NG than the wRECk. You've got a good hand for turning, based on the pix, and when you see a trembleur, I think you'll recognize it from one of your pix. The catches come from improper presentation of the tool to the wood. Get a copy of Bill Gumbine's video at

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and watch it several times. He'll take you from forest to finish. When you do get to bowls, you'll want to get a bigger lathe, more clearance over the ways, what we call swingover. You'll also find a new use for your BS. Very fast way to rough out the blank before mounting it on the lathe. We sometimes post to ABPW also, or use liks to websites, just like you did. Skews are different from gouges, but there's also a thing called a "skewchie gouge" was that what you were using? One nice thing about turning, is that making your own tools is a very common thing, DAGS on Oland tool. You'll want to look at Darrel Feltmate's website,
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as well. That should keep you going for a little bit, don't forget to look at my sig line for the AAW link and follow it to your local chapters. NOTHING beats having a person standing next to you to help you learn quickly and avoid bad habits. NO gloves, good eye/face protection, and a good dust mask, the prettier the wood, the more toxic the dust. Free wood is Good wood, fresh wood turns easiest. Fresh/wet wood needs to be sealed immediately or dunked in LDD (Liquid Dishwashing Detergent (hand)). Welcome again Charlie, Dave in Fairfax

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Dave in Fairfax

Dave,

Heard LDD before but never dreamed it meant Liquid Dishwashing Detergent. So how is this supposed to seal/preserve the wood??

TomNie

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Tom Nie

That's been debated and wondered at for years. Studies have been attempted, anecdotal evidence has been gathered, but it remains a matter of faith. %-) Theories abound, I recommend running your own studies. You can google for the info or Leif or I can send you the doctrine. For that matter, I posted it a few months ago. It doesn't "seal" or "preserve" wood in the normal meanings of the words, what it does is stop the wood from cracking before and while you are turning it. The turnings are finished as soon as they come off the lathe. I've had luck with 1:1 up to 1:3 LDD:water mixes, YMMV. Unlike boiling or nuking, LDD doesn't change the grain, and if you use a light colored soap, doesn't change the color either. Plus, your hands are clean when you're done and there's less dust to worry about.

Dave in Fairfax

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Dave in Fairfax

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