Long thin turning

Graham Nichols wrote (clip). The finished shaft will be about 1000mm long tapering from about 35mm to 15mm. ^^^^^^^^^^^ I just got through turning a bunch of walking sticks that were almost that long and thin. ^^^^^^^^^^^^ I will use a 3 point steady at about the mid point

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I used a steady rest, but I moved it close to the area where I was turning ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ My best reults in the past have been achieved by applying hand pressure opposite the tool (skew). I hold a concave block in my left hand to apply the pressure The skew

(which also holds the concave block) as the cut moves along the piece. ^^^^^^^^^^^^ I used exactly the same grip, except I did not hold a block--I let the palm and fingers of my hand ride on the turning. It provides good damping of the work, and also gives you a "feel" for how smoothly the cut is progressing. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Is it best to reduce/taper towards the tail stock or back towards the head stock? ^^^^^^^^^^^ I would hold the big end in a chuck, and support the small end with a live center. The chuck gives a more rigid support than a spur drive. Holding the large end should provide more support. ^^^^^^^^^^ Am i using the best tool (skew) for the job? ^^^^^^^^^^ That's what I used, and liked the way it behaved.

What Leo said, with one additional possibility. If you have a deep 'U' roughing gouge, you might want to use the vertical portion as if it were a skew. The broader base of the gouge seems more sure than a skew to me.

Leo presented a pretty good description of how to do the job that you describe. I would simply add some. A chuck in the headstock to hold the wood is most important so that you are not having to push the wood from the tailstock (which can bow it) to maintain drive. Work from the small end back toward the headstock and for the first half, move the steady rest forward, turn a bit to size and then move it forward again. After the mid point run it on the finish turned area toward the tailstock and then move ahead as you turn the stock down.

One further thing that really helps on these long thin spindles, it so have a live center chuck mounted in the tailstock with a draw bolt so that you can apply pulling pressure on the wood. This further reduces the tendency of the wood to bow. The one I use is a 1/2" Jacobs Chuck mounted to a rotating bearing, which is mounted to a Morse Taper with a draw bolt to hold the taper in the tailstock. (There is a review article on the thing at my More Woodturning web site.) With pulling on both ends, the center steady might only need to be located in the center of the wood.

In any case, turn to size from the tailstock end always leaving as much mass as possible toward the driving end.

Fred Holder