Hello from Trinidad

[james80]

Morning All, I was thinking about getting a lathe, which became hours of time looking at pictures on IG, videos on Youtube, tons of articles and then I found you guys. Great info here!

A little about me, I'm a Brit who's been living in the Caribbean for the last 25 years, I'm on a couple of watch forums (stay away they'll make you spend money!), co drive rally cars and like offshore fishing, although I can't remember the last time we towed a line.

I've always liked woodwork but haven't touched anything beyond repairing a chair or two since school. Recently I've had a growing desire to start making things and thought about leather work, which would have fit nicely with the watch problem I have, but I wasn't moved enough to start. A friend of mine recently built a knife shop and started making knives which has been very inspiring. I started looking at metal lathes after seeing some custom watch tools online but realized I don't have the area to set that up and then I found wood turning and pens. The idea of crafting a pen from a blank that I could potential make from local wood is fascinating me, so after a couple of weeks on the internet I'm ready to order but have some (embarrassingly newbie) questions that I hope I can ask here? Such as:

Do I need to go MT2 or can I go with a Wen MT1 lathe?
Should I just buy one of the packages from PSI (I like the 10" with the RPM display)?
I'd like to make a chess set as a gift should I try the duplicator and kit or wait till I have some experience and try turning one by hand?

There are more but I'll try to find the correct forums to post in. Thanks for having me here, I'm looking forward to being part of the forum.

 

[turncrazy43]

Welcome to the forum James. Now the addiction begins!
Your idea of the PSI starter with the 10" VS is a good one. I would think the MT2 would be best and would allow you to proceed beyond pens if you wished to.

I would wait on the duplicator as it is geared to production work. Believe you should get your feet wet with turning and learning before trying a duplicator.
Have fun with your new hobby and keep coming back to this forum. Get help and information here from good folks who are willing to share. After you have made a pen or two send us your pictures to share. Best of luck.
Turncrazy43

 

[james80]

Thanks TurnCrazy, more and more I think I'll skip the duplicator for now, my main reason for looking at it was I really want to try a chess set that if it turns out right would make an ideal gift (I have until April), the other reason is it's not cheap getting stuff to Trinidad so getting the most into one shipment makes sense for me.

I forgot to mention I'm left handed which I understand can be a challenge. Although I golf and bat right handed, tennis and shoot left.

 

[tomtedesco]

Welcome from Colorado. We also have a Trinidad but probably much colder.

 

[Woodchipper]

I'm left-handed only with writing and eating. Everything else, I do right handed but have learned to use both sides. Welcome to the forum. Also, look at American Association of Woodturners for more on turning.

 

[magpens]

Hi James !! . Welcome to IAP !! ... Go with MT2 ... there are a lot more accessories readily available.

A small metal working lathe does not take up any more room than a wood lathe.

I have been using such a lathe for pens for 8 years. . Weighs less than 100 lbs. . It is very similar to the smallest of the lathes that Grizzly sells, or Harbor Freight. . You can get a similar, and considerably better, small metal lathe from littlemachineshop.com.
I would also try sources closer to you, like in Florida or maybe even Brazil

 

[james80]

I'm left-handed only with writing and eating. Everything else, I do right handed but have learned to use both sides. Welcome to the forum. Also, look at American Association of Woodturners for more on turning.

I'll look them up, not sure how I haven't come across the site yet.

Hi James !! . Welcome to IAP !! ... Go with MT2 ... there are a lot more accessories readily available.

A small metal working lathe does not take up any more room than a wood lathe.

I have been using such a lathe for pens for 8 years. . Weighs less than 100 lbs. . It is very similar to the smallest of the lathes that Grizzly sells, or Harbor Freight. . You can get a similar, and considerably better, small metal lathe from littlemachineshop.com.
I would also try sources closer to you, like in Florida or maybe even Brazil

It's not so much the size but where I have to put it, I can deal with wood shavings but I don't think I metal filings there would be a good idea. If I get to that I'll put one in your race shop.

 

[james80]

Welcome from Colorado. We also have a Trinidad but probably much colder.

Thank you, yep just a little warmer here!

 

[rholiday]

Welcome from South Carolina.

 

[Edgar]

Welcome from Texas, James.

You should have no problem finding lots of really nice local woods in Trinidad. I was there on a business trip a couple of years ago and managed to locate a small sawmill near Mayaro on the east side of your island. I aked the owner if he had any scrap wood and he showed me a small mountain of wood and asked me how much I wanted.

He let me select the boards I wanted & then he cut them to the lengths that would fit in my suitcase. I only had room for a few boards, but it is really nice wood and he didn't charge me anything for them. I gave him one of my pens & he was thrilled.

 

[Jim15]

Welcome James.

 

[james80]

Welcome from Texas, James.

You should have no problem finding lots of really nice local woods in Trinidad. I was there on a business trip a couple of years ago and managed to locate a small sawmill near Mayaro on the east side of your island. I aked the owner if he had any scrap wood and he showed me a small mountain of wood and asked me how much I wanted.

He let me select the boards I wanted & then he cut them to the lengths that would fit in my suitcase. I only had room for a few boards, but it is really nice wood and he didn't charge me anything for them. I gave him one of my pens & he was thrilled.

Hi Edgar

Great pics and that pretty much how all our saw mills look, all very HSE and ISO compliant!! Were you visiting Galeota?

I'm intersted to hear what you did with the pieces? I'd like to turn local wood but I'm not sure if I have to stabilize it? I'm really not sure when you need to stabilize and when you don't. In other words should I be ordering a system at the same time as my lathe?

 

[Edgar]

Welcome from Texas, James.

You should have no problem finding lots of really nice local woods in Trinidad. I was there on a business trip a couple of years ago and managed to locate a small sawmill near Mayaro on the east side of your island. I aked the owner if he had any scrap wood and he showed me a small mountain of wood and asked me how much I wanted.

He let me select the boards I wanted & then he cut them to the lengths that would fit in my suitcase. I only had room for a few boards, but it is really nice wood and he didn't charge me anything for them. I gave him one of my pens & he was thrilled.

Hi Edgar

Great pics and that pretty much how all our saw mills look, all very HSE and ISO compliant!! Were you visiting Galeota?

I'm intersted to hear what you did with the pieces? I'd like to turn local wood but I'm not sure if I have to stabilize it? I'm really not sure when you need to stabilize and when you don't. In other words should I be ordering a system at the same time as my lathe?

Yes, our company has some equipment at the BP plant at Galeota. One of our technicians usually makes the trip whenever field service maintenance or installation is needed, but there is a minimum 1 year between trips requirement by Trinidad & Tobago, so he couldn't go back when that trip was needed. As a result, I got to make that trip - I really enjoyed my visit there.

I don't think you will need to stabilize anything you get directly from a sawmill. Usually you only need to stabilize soft, punky woods. I haven't done anything with the wood that I brought back yet as it was still pretty green. It's stacked up on my precious wood shelf air-drying. I might start cutting it up this summer.

The pieces that I got are about 2" thick, 2.5-3" wide and 26" long. I'll start with a few pen & stopper blanks but I'll probably leave most of it as large as possible for other things down the road.

 

[OZturner]

Welcome James, from Sydney Australia.
Brian.

 

[Ligget]

Welcome to the madness, from Scotland!

 

[bud_008]

Welcome from Stilwell, Oklahoma!!!

 

[james80]

Thank you all.

I'm still here, hate to be the join and disappear new guy but work seems to be getting in the way, when you're self employed that is a good thing!

I'm still trying to decide what to buy and have been searching the forum for reviews and thoughts.

Due to budgetary concerns I was considering a Penpal but I think it's a little too limiting, I'm still considering a Wen 3420 8" x 12" or a Shop Fox W1704, also 8x12 and looks very similar to the HF but is variable speed. So far I don't see my self wanting to work anything bigger than that in the near term. My concerns are MT1 and quality, especially as returning it wouldn't be an option. There are two Shop Fox dealers here (I used to work for one of them) who could supply, albeit for more than I could import one, but would offer warranty support.

I keep coming back to the Turn Crafter 10VS especially as part of a starter kit from Penn State. I usually go by "buy what you want (need) and buy it once" but I'm trying to dip a toe or maybe a leg in the water. Any thoughts, advice, wisdom, metaphors or experiences you'd like to share would be very welcome.

 

[Sataro]

Welcome from Corsicana, Texas!