I'm not sure what is tedious about removing the spur center, putting the wood on a hard surface ( I use the concrete floor), positioning the spur and striking it with a wood or rubber mallet.
I would think it would be awkward trying to do it with the spur in the lathe, plus some people will tell you that it is not good for the bearings. If you insist on doing it your way, then slide the tailstock off to give yourself more room. It goes on and off very easily.
Having another spur as you suggested is another way of handling the situation. Happy Holidays Martin
I'm just going by what Richard Raffan said to do in the book I have. I'm too lazy to go get it and quote it, but it pretty much says whack it with a mallet while the spur is on the lathe.
Does it? Strangely, I never thought of that. I suppose it would have to slide right past the end unimpeded since it's designed to accept a bed extension.
Anyway, if removing the spur many times a day and re-seating it isn't going to wear out my taper or otherwise cause something stupidly harmful, I won't worry about it. I just felt like I was doing the "wrong thing" by removing it and whacking it into the wood directly.
The best and safest way to mark your wood for the spur is to do it off the lathe. The bearings can handle a constant load on them sideways, but whacking the wood into the center causes a much different type of stress. Get the other spur or check HD and find a 4 blade chisel - pneumo tools - and sharpen the fins on it. then stand the wood on end and whack the spare spur/chisel into the wood. Did I send you a mallett?
However, one advantage of marking the spur on the lathe is for odd-shaped pieces that have ends that are not perpendicular to the centers. This is the main reason 2-spur centers are made. You don't know which way to turn the piece relative to the spurs until between centers. Then you rotate until both spurs are touching evenly.
No question. What I do is saw the ends, whether spindle of bowl, so they'll be parallel. If they aren't real close by eyebal, a couple swipes with a #5 makes them fit just right. I was a mechanic diesel-electric) in a previous life, just can't make my self hit a bearing unless it's being replaced. Dave in Fairfax
OK. I'll write a letter to Richard Raffan and chastize him for leading me astray. :)
(I guess he's more worried about saving time than money.)
Get the other spur or check HD and find a 4 blade chisel -
The four-blade chisel might be a good way to get instant gratification. I don't want it _too_ sharp though, I don't think. I tried pre-whacking with a bench chisel and split my little log clean in two with one medium tap. Man, to think, I used to drive a wedge with a 16-pound sledge hammer to do that, and I could have been using a little ol' 1/2" bench chisel all that time. :)
I had good luck today by finding the center, poking the spur point into the hole and rocking the wood around to mark off the blade locations, then kerfing these lines with a backsaw as suggested elsewhere in this thread. No whacking required. At least not with this wood. It held fine.
Nope, but I think I can make one now. I'm still not getting really smooth surfaces. Lots of chatter and other problems, but I'm getting it.
What should I make a mallet out of? I'm thinking extremely green Norway maple is probably not a good choice, though I think I'll make one tomorrow anyway, as soon as I get home. Practice is always good. (I presume Norway maple is not a hard maple... Does anyone know for sure?)
So anyway, yes, I'm hooked now. You knew this was coming. :)
Oh, and on a final note... SWMBO got me a surprisingly good-sounding little CD player/radio for my shop. Other than the obvious "Turn, turn, turn" by the Byrds, what else is good turning music? :)
Music: Frank Zappa --- "Lather" The Vapors --- "Turning Japanese" Interpol --- "Turn On the Bright Lights" Cher --- "Turn Back Time" Mettalica --- "Turn the Page" The Vogues --- "Turn Around, Look at Me" Loverboy --- "Turn Me Loose" Christina Aguilera --- "I Turn To You" Babys --- "Turn and Walk Away" Capleton --- "Twist and Turn" Brian McKnight --- "U Turn" (album) Statler Brothers --- "Turn Your Radio On" Allman Brothers --- "Seven Turns" ELO --- "Turn to Stone" Headpins --- "Turn it Loud"
WinMX search showed about 1500 hits for the word "turn" in a song title.
Vic who obviously has WAY too much time on his hands.
Norway is a "soft" maple, but you'll be using end grain like a conventional hammer? Not that it makes much difference. When you can make your own, it's not abuse to do some of the things others might shrink from.
On the subject of shrink, if you turn the head green, bore your handle on the quarter grain, and wedge a modestly back-tapered dry handle. Within a day or so, you'll never have a problem with losing the head.
Have looked at the lathe that Raffan uses? I suspect that his bearings are a bit more robust than the ones on your lathe, but even so... I read that too, but I have a tendency to filter what I'm told through my experience. Rowley has a good book as well - Foundation Course - but I find things I don't agree with there also. They both do nicer work than I do, have more time in, and make more money, but I have to buy my own tools and turn my own wood, so I have to answer to myself for the choices I make. We pays our money and takes our chances.
No, don't make it too sharp. The 4-blade has a point on it. What you need to do is brind it flat and then sharpen the edges so it imprints a
on the endgrain. A chisel is designed to cut, and once you learn to sharpen it does it very nicely, don't it. The hacksaw method works nicely too. %-)
I'll send you a plan for turning mallets. The sizes don't atter that much, just make one that fits your hand. I don't hold with the 2 piece mallets, they loosen up. A one piece mallet may crack, but it won't loosen. When it does, just make a fire, or a mushroom, or a plane knob. Any wood will do, ANY wood, some are harder, some are softer, if they're free and easy to make, who cares.
I go with something calming and steady. No driving beats, no cacophany, I want my cuts smooth, not forced.
Yeah, I wasn't serious. Even at my rank newbie stage of the game I can appreciate how my ears tell me things I can't see.
I'll probably play music while planing and such. I spend a lot of time planing since I don't have any of those newfangled motorized gadgets that can do the job in seconds.
I noted that Raffen commented on sounds in one (or more) of his videos. Not just clicking, either. Tool chatter is distinctive and can be a guide to correcting approach. And that high pitched resonance of a thin wall can be helpful in hollow vessels when you are working blind.
Then there is that wack-slam-bump-crunch sound that seems precede design enhancements.
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