Its impossible to turn a pen with...

[DaveM]

a live center installed in the headstock!

The worst part was that I tightened the tailstock twice before I figured out why the pen stopped turning every time I touched the tool to it! (It must have had slightly more friction than the live center in the tailstock)

The worse than worst part is that I seem to remember making the exact same mistake a year or two ago. (I think I might have even posted it in an oops thread)

Time to quit turning for the night, and hit the computer where accuracy isn't so immmporttant...

(I have a safety center for driving spindle work that is about the same size and feel as my live center, but I don't use it for turning. I just use a dead center. I guess I have too many centers piled up on the shelf, and it is pretty late at night to be turning...)

Dave

 

[pianomanpj]

But just think, at least you won't have any nasty catches!! :tongue::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[Art Fuldodger]

a live center installed in the headstock!

Only if the bearings in it still work.

 

[Rifleman1776]

A mistake like that is much more than an "oops".
It shows a total lack of awarness of what you are doing.
I suggest that you should find a hobby that does not involve power tools and sharp things.
I also hope you don't use tools like tablesaws.

 

[wolftat]

It's one of those mistakes that you can laugh at at least. It's all good as long as noone was injured and you are able to keep going. I have learned that I should stay out of my shop when I am even a little bit tired.

The best part is that you didn't call anyone over to help figure out the problem or you would never live it down.:biggrin:

 

[VisExp]

A mistake like that is much more than an "oops".
It shows a total lack of awarness of what you are doing.
I suggest that you should find a hobby that does not involve power tools and sharp things.
I also hope you don't use tools like tablesaws.

So Frank, we can safely assume that you have never made a mistake, minor or major?

 

[DaveM]

I am usually very safety conscious in my shop. I do have one major problem though. I tend to only get to work in it when I am tired. The penturning always comes after a full day of work, and after the "Honeydo" lists have all been completed, and after Cathie has been fully entertained. I recognized that I was too tired to work safely anymore, and I quit at that time.

The drive center and live center were part of a matching set. while not perfectly identical, they are really similar. THey are the same size and weight, and have exactly the same shape and proportions. They also have the same finish and patina, and they are both worn about the same. If I don't specifically look at the point or the writing on them, I cant tell them apart. As of today, the live center lives in the tool box under the lathe, since it only gets used a couple of times a year. (It is smaller than my other live center, so it can be handy when turning at the length limits of the lathe)

I laughed a bit at the error, but a good point is brought up. I have a bandsaw, and I always double and triple check my setup before I touch the switch. I always double and triple check my router setup before I turn it on too. With the lathe, I have a mental safety check before I flip the guard away from the power switch. I check that the tool rest is free from the swing and has been properly tightened. (I watched another very serious turner miss that step once, and have his tool rest pivot as soon as he entered the wood! He was doing a demo!) I also don't touch the power until I have checked to make sure my workpiece is secure. My last check is to sweep my hand over the front of my body and make sure I have no clothing, strings, or other things that could catch on the piece while turning. Eye and face protection are swung into place, and then the cover is flipped off of the power switch and the lathe can be turned on. My one concession has been that I will sometimes work late into the night. I have nights where I will work in the shop, but I pull the plug on the saw as soon as I step into the shop, figuring that I am too tired to deal with it. From now on, I will not work on any tool when I am that tired. THose times can be used for assembly, hand polishing, shop cleaning and dreaming up new projects.

For today, I am going to work on the lathe this afternoon instead of late tonight.

It is still a little bit funny, though. It is also part of my penance for buying that cheap foreign made set! (I may also want to modify the drive block that I use to insert into the end of my tube so that it won't obscure the end of the center so much. Then I would have a better chance of seeing that the point on the center was wrong.)

Dave

 

[babyblues]

Oh...well, I was going to say a herring, but a live center in the headstock is a good answer too! :biggrin:

 

[DaveM]

Now, the live center has a flourescent stripe around the outside of the housing. I just finished cleaning the surface, masking it off and spraying it. When it is dry, it will go back into isolation in the bottom of the toobox. (Like I said, Now that I have a bigger, better live center, this one only gets used when I am turning a 34" piece and the tailstock is right at the end of the bed.)

No harm was done by putting the live center in the headstock, but if the safe center had been placed in the tailstock of the lathe, it could have been pretty nasty. I usually reserve the safe center for spindle work and striker handles, but I use it for the bodies of Toro pens. I have decided to leave the turning fixture I use for Toro pens the way it is, as I like the way it covers the cup and point of the safe center for support and rigidity. That is the only time I use the safe center instead of the dead center for penturning.

I built the fixture for the Toro pen because turning between centers with the really short barrel left me with no room for the shortest toolrest. I drilled and centered it to fit the safe center because I was afraid that the dead center would be hard to keep straight with it. The safe center gave me better support, and spun if I got a catch. I am a bit more likely to catch with a Toro than any of my other pens because I use a different skew to turn them. My favorite skew is wider than the blank, so I go to a smaller skew that I just don't have as much comfort with. It also seems that the angle is a bit touchier with the small skew. (I normally use the gigantic Alan Lacer signature skew for my penturning. It's really big, but it's stable, and it's easy for me to work from the flat onto the heel at any angle without catching.)

Back to the workshop to play with pens before dinner...

Dave

 

[MesquiteMan]

So Frank, we can safely assume that you have never made a mistake, minor or major?

Keith and everyone else...just ignore Frank's rude comments.

 

[thewishman]

Oh...well, I was going to say a herring, but a live center in the headstock is a good answer too! :biggrin:

Thanks for making me chuckle. Love that silly movie.