I'd written a few weeks ago, prior to the inundation of timepiece peddlers on this group, that my Jet lathe was stuck, or more precisely, I had only 3 speeds, the lowest two, and a faster one. She is now hitting on all 5 (6?) speeds. Light persuasion with a piece of wood and gentle taps of a hammer and the application of some sewing machine oil did the trick. I call it sewing machine oil 'cause my grandma used it on her treadle machine and mom used it on her electric singer. I will probably head off to the local hardware store in a few weeks and pick up some silicone lubricant. The small issue of cleaning the oil off the shaft should not be too much of a task. It is so nice to see the spindle singing at whatever the heck the top speed is. I have been making pens for the last few weeks mainly for gifts. The wife and I, her daughter and son-in-law make a trip to China every couple years and the last two times we took bowls. The pens should be a nice change. Pens were the first item that I ever actually bought wood for. Like many others on this group, I used the best wood [read:free] for bowls. I noticed that ease of turning varies quite a bit between species as well as within species. Bocote in particular is a bit on the brittle side as is the mesquite I have used. We went to the farmer's market this Saturday and bought a few tomato and chile plants. I saw the craft folk were out and had an enjoyable
10 minutes chatting with a turner - the first I have ever met face to face. His favorite item was tops.- posted
15 years ago