what I've learned

[barrysj]

Reality...I'm a fairly new turner, focusing on burls, celtic knots and wothless wood crack blanks. Turned a few with my standard rykon midi lathe setup that turned out pretty good, then noticed a host of problems form out of round (OOR) and dullness on the ca finish and painful hours of polishing with micro mesh (MM) on the lathe because I thought my technique was off. Learned a few things...turn as close to the bushings as possible...learn to use a skew...dont' start your sanding with 220 grit, try 400 to start and use it softly, don't man handle it--it will save you countless hours in final polishing prior to applying CA...after 600 grit, the first micromesh is probably more like 650 and will reintroduce scratches especially on acrylics, try the next finer grade...after each sanding, stop the lathe and hand turn the blank while sanding lengthwise to remove the vertical scratches THEN and only then move on to the next finer grit, otherwise you will end up going thru the whole process again...old CA glue = bad. temperature for appying CA not a big deal. high humidity can cause complications so try to avoid. Mylands finish doesn't last and can't give you a high gloss....5-7 coats of medium CA is the key(crap load of ways of using CA but this works for me)...leave it to cure over night before sanding/polishing .......AND turning between centers is slower, but solves many of the above problems with dullness and OOR. I ordered two mandrels trying to cure my OOR condition and Johnny CNC was right! the factory live center is not a 60deg cone. If you want repeatable perfect precision results, turning between centers is the only way to go. A bit costly upfront for the bushings, but worth the precision and product you get. I've studied this forum every night for a while now and have come to the conclusion that the videos/tutorials from Johnny CNC, mesquite man and george will get you light years ahead of the power curve.

NOT AN Advertisement, just want to save time and money for the new guy. These folks are professionals, and with the exception of dealing with some difficult wood/blanks that can be problematic due to their moisture content or density variations ( worthless wood) which can be challenging in my honest opinion (IMO) their techniques give you repeatable results to make high end high gloss pens. Throughout countless internet searches, I'e always looked for the golden nuggets, that weren't advertising, but would honestly hone my skills, I've never found a better forum. I hope some will see this thread and learn from these masters.

-Dude
Steve Barry

 

[fiferb]

Great Summary! Looks like you're well on your way to being a professional yourself.

 

[leehljp]

Great lessons learned and fairly quick too! For me, I find TBC to be considerably faster than using a mandrel.

 

[PaulSF]

I've taken a few half-hearted attempts at TBC so far, and the one problem I've been having is that the blank won't spin fast enough, or will stop too easily. I seem to be having an easier time with an adjustable mandrel, doing one blank at a time.

 

[bitshird]

It sounds like you've gotten over the rough spots, TBC does cost a bit more to get into and waiting over night for CA to cure you don't get the "instant gratification", but doing it the way you are doing it now will pay bigger dividends down the road The humidity thing is a problem, unless you have a dehumidifier in your shop.

 

[barrysj]

I've taken a few half-hearted attempts at TBC so far, and the one problem I've been having is that the blank won't spin fast enough, or will stop too easily. I seem to be having an easier time with an adjustable mandrel, doing one blank at a time.

Just some thoughts...

Are you using a 60 degree live center ? or the one that came with your lathe(it won't work because the pin isn't a 60 deg cone)? Also, I've found you can crank it down a little more than you would a mandrel since your working with thick gage steel bushings that won't bend like a mandrel will.

-dude

 

[PaulSF]

I do have a 60-degree live center. I don't have the fancy JohnnyCNC bushings yet, though.

 

[leehljp]

I've taken a few half-hearted attempts at TBC so far, and the one problem I've been having is that the blank won't spin fast enough, or will stop too easily. I seem to be having an easier time with an adjustable mandrel, doing one blank at a time.

I am not sure I understand where you are coming from with that problem. What does TBC have to do with the RPM? You should get the same results from TBC as with a mandrel. IF not, you are missing something. I suspect that you may not be drawing the tail stock live center tight enough. I run at about 1800 RPM but some people run slower and many turn faster.