First between center turn

[cowchaser]

Turned my first between center tonight. Did have some difficulty and wanted to ask a question or two.

First I had a hard time with catches at first no matter which tool I used. So basically the tail stock was not tight enough by evidence of black marks on the tips of the dead center and live center. Do I just basically slam the tail up against and tighten down or is there something I am missing.

Also tried to CA finish with my bushings off however the dead center just spun and not the barrel or live center. Same problem?

I was using the kit bushings and not ones from johnnycnc or any others that may make them here. Should I just invest in better bushings and would this help?

First Sierra pen came out nice except I am still have skew difficulties and had to use the scraper most of the time and had a hard time removing tool marks. I will try and post a pic tomorrow. I think I was by far easier to assemble than a slimline. It's my new favorite. Not hard since all I have done since now is slimlines.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

No No... you NEVER "slam" anything into anything! I only need to lightly tighten the tailstock and no more than I would with a mandrel. What it sounds like is your live center does not spin very freely. How is it by hand??
I bring mine up to "touching and just give in maybe an inch on my lathe to tension the blank, maybe from 12 o'clock to 1 o'clock for movement.

To be honest, I think that the kit bushings are easier to get a "grip" than the 60 degree drilled bushings. Now this may just be my dead center because it's been hit with a file a few times and sanded clean, it may not be a perfect 60 any more.

See how much "drag" you have on your live center, if it's firm, you might need a better center for just spinning the tube you should have no problem with it spinning. Catches may stop it, but if the tube alone does not want to spin the live end, I highly suspect the bearing in your live center.

 

[cowchaser]

Maybe slam was the wrong term for whatever word I am looking for. I did go out and test my live center by hand. It spins freely with no effort. So I am lost on this one. Still learning, so maybe I am doing something wrong somewhere that is more user error.

 

[leehljp]

I think this is a "relative" thing. What is barely tight to one person is almost too tight to another. As an example - On a woodworking forum, one fellow finds 12v drill drivers too heavy; spring clamps too hard to handle. I find hand spring clamps wimpy and anything less than 18 volt drill driver as too light. In this same vein I am finding the definitions here similar.

I had a problem early on with "catches" and had to tighten the <s>mandrel</s> tailstock/centers a little more - as you (Lee) said, about a 1/10 of a turn after it was snug. I keep a sharp edge on my chisels, take a couple of swipes (sharpening) every couple of minutes when turning and still got the catches at the beginning. I finally stepped the speed up one belt speed and cut down a bit on the catches. I did not want to over tighten but it still had to be "tight enough." There is a very fine line and "feel or touch" that comes best by experience.

Some people can tighten enough to bend a mandrel and still say they are not tightening it too much. "Tight", to some people, is how much pressure _they_ feel - which makes things highly subjective by definition. This is where experimenting, experience, observation and objectivity is a MUST.

By the way, Lee, My daughter finally sent me the slimline bushings. THANKS!

 

[Firefyter-emt]

That is very true Hank, I myself need to give it a "bit more" sometimes when turning. I was just in the shop roughing a very out of shape bias cut cocobolo between centers and the wood is pretty hard this way, I did have to give it a bit of a "snug up" on the tailstock to let it run nice. If you find that the live center is not spinning, see if a bit more preasure is all it takes to get it spinning. If you center feels good by hand, then it must be lack of tension so you may simply not have enough tension on the blank.

Hank, I am glad you got them! I made you that "extra" one to turn custom slimlines too, right??

 

[Rifleman1776]

Good advice above. One thought is that your skew isn't sharp enough. Do check that. When I'm doing 'no mandrel' turning, I find that I must tighten the tail stock a couple times until it is snug enough for the job. I never muscle crank it down to start. Better a little slip at first until you get a feel for what you are doing. After the second pen, you will be an expert.

 

[rherrell]

Are you turning the blanks round using your mandrel before you turn between centers? If not try that and see if it helps.

 

[Fred]

When using my skew, a 1" Oval stock with straight edge, I found out early on that a higher speed is better for me. Also, keeping a 'scary sharp' edge on it always helps. I usually turn in the 1000 to 3200 rpm range with my skew and the speed is determined by what type/condition the wood is. Experience will show you which way to go. []

 

[Rmartin]

Try turning at the highest speed your lathe will go.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Yea, I am not sure if that was ever mentioned, but I start out full bore wide open for speed. I only drop it down for sanding. Kinda like a 2 speed lathe for pens, as fast, or as slow as I can go for either. I would hate to see what a skew would do for roughing out at low speed, kinda like turning with an axe if you ask me!

 

[cowchaser]

I have a VS so I believe the top speed for the middle belt alignment is about 2800. Do I need to speed it up to the top alignment?

Also I did give it another try today with much better results. Just tightened it up a little. Was able to finish with no bushings needed. Still trying the skew, which for the death of me I will get the hang of yet. I do believe it is a sharpening problem. When I first got my tools I tried to sharpen it and kind of messed up the bevel. So I am trying to get it back to the way it was. Wish me luck.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Hang in there with the skew... it takes practice, but in the end is well worth it! Give the top end speed a try and see if if "feels right". If is, and it works for you, go for it. What is the low end for the top pulley speed when it's set up like that?

 

[cowchaser]

Low end is 1700. I did speed it up and turned a pen a few ago. Wow did the chips ever fly. Granted I was using a scraper. Oh well still learning. I did watch Alan Lacers first video. Who would have ever thought the library would have something like that. The wife found it for me. Don't know if it was the public library or the school. Noticed though it doesn't really show much instruction on how to hold the skew.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Yea, you will need slower for sanding than that.. You could always switch the belt down to sand..

As for videos, spend some time over on YouTube and look up skew turning and you will find plenty of videos that might help you out a bit.. Looking up these videos I noticed that they seemed to all use the skew like a scraper. I tend to take the skew at about a 45 degree angle and slice the wood vs usin the skew like a scraper or "hand plane". Just my method...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roaXHicDbBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qPArxzK9tA &lt;= this is AWESOME..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTF13Mf9ihk