I'm a newbie and I may have just broke my lathe!

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overrocking

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Jun 7, 2013
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Trevor, WI
Okay long story short ... I've been looking a starting a new hobby building stuff with my hands out of wood for gifts but I don't have the room or the funds for a full shop.

So I thought about turning ... pens, bowls, toys... whatever as long as it was wood cheep and it gave me a escape I'm open to anything ...

I found a used Ryobi Mini 18 for a song at a garage sale so I picked it up and grabbed some pine from the scrap bin at the school I teach.

Picked up a set of chisels from Harbor Freight (I know I need better ones but hey they'd work for learning)

Yep they sucked until I found the old bench grinder I had in the basement and they sharpened up quite nicely ...

Practiced rounding a few 2x2's into a tapered spindle and one into a wand for my son with 3 beads and 3 coves ... like I said I'm just practicing I need a few more tools before I can do pens (a good Saw and drill press) ...

So I went for bigger and grabbed a hunk of 4x4 I had for carving ... rounded it nicely and had carved out the basic shape of a rattle (I'll look up the safty of pine it it turns out to decide if I'll give it away at a baby shower at the end of summer.

Everything is going great a few catches but no problem and then the lathe just stops!

I notice the blown fuse on the font of the lathe ... with the words "reset" printed on it ... It's been 10 min and it still won't reset ...

I have been lurking around here for a week or so researching before I ask a few other questions I have but I guess this popped up first!

The first few things I have turned have been a blast I hope this lathe isn't busted as I don't have the funds to by a good one.

Thanks for any help.
 
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mbroberg

IAP Activities Manager, Emeritus
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Sometimes a tool must be unplugged then plugged back in before a reset will take. I don't know if that's the case here but if you haven't tried that yet it's worth a shot.
 

Smulax

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Feb 26, 2013
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Burrillville RI
There might be an internal fuse as well as the reset. Often times tools overheat and the fuse trips. Wait till it cools down and try the reset again.
 

Sataro

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Mexia, TX
Welcome from Corsicana, TX!

Hopefully you will get your lathe going shortly. If your interested in pens, you've came to the right site. A world of information is availalbe here...
 

SteveG

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Dec 21, 2009
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Check the circuit breaker for the outlet in use. Sometimes the overload or ground fault trips the house wiring breaker (also) when the tool reset pops.
 

overrocking

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Jun 7, 2013
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Location
Trevor, WI
Thanks for all the quick replies ... The tone and respect members have for each other on this forum makes it feel like you guys & gals are approachable.

Smulax ... you were right on ... after I put the kiddo to bed I went back down to check on the lathe and "click" went the reset and I was turning wood!

paintspill ~ or anyone else ... any recommendations on what easily sourced wood to start with instead of pine?
 

paintspill

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Apr 17, 2011
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toronto, ontario, canada.
any scraps will do, keep an eye for any furniture type manufactures in you area, there small scraps are garbage to them but gold to us. i find maple and walnut. all the time. plus the firewood pile, fallen trees. start turning and you will never look at wood the same way again.

on a side note. where are you? you might have a turner in your own neighborhood.
 

OKLAHOMAN

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Send me your address via PM and a small flat rate box of blanks will be on the way
Thanks for all the quick replies ... The tone and respect members have for each other on this forum makes it feel like you guys & gals are approachable.

Smulax ... you were right on ... after I put the kiddo to bed I went back down to check on the lathe and "click" went the reset and I was turning wood!

paintspill ~ or anyone else ... any recommendations on what easily sourced wood to start with instead of pine?
 

stonepecker

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Oct 29, 2012
Messages
4,382
Location
central Minnesota
May I suggest you google "ROYBI MINI 18" and see if you can find a download manual and printout yourself a copy. You might want to put a fan blowing on the lathe when running. Also, remember protection for your face.
If possible, try one of the local lumber yards.....sometimes they will have 'special' woods fot the turner or carvers. See if you can find some other turners in the area. They would be able to point you in the right direction.

Good luck and welcome to the IAP
 

overrocking

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Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
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Location
Trevor, WI
Wow! ... Wow... and thank you for the welcome and encouragement.

stonepecker ... Good advice ... to anyone buying a used tool... I searched online and only found a exploded parts diagram. So I contacted Ryobi directly and they went into the corporate archives and found the manual, copied and mailed it. I was excited the day it arrived but laughed when I opened it to only see one page of an exploded parts diagram I already had.

The safety equipment is a non-negotiable! I even have a spare set in-case anyone else wants to try or watch. ...
 
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Greetings from across the lake... Michigan that is and about 150 miles inland...

Don't forget to check out your states Chapter forum here on IAP

You do have a face Shield? if not you can get one for $20 at Home Depot or Lowes... Don't get one at Harbor Freight.
 
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bruce119

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Jul 30, 2007
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Franklin, NC, USA.
Welcome Timothy,

Well I'm glad you got your lathe working again.
Sounds like it overheated now the thing you need to pay attention to is WHY.
May be as simple as too much pressure on the tool for too long (unlikely) too much pressure on tailstock (shouldn't be a problem) A few bad catches in a row stalling the lathe.
Something is overheating your motor, loosen your belt and slip it off the headstock if you can. Now give your spindle a spin with your hand. It should spin free and smooth and absolutely no play. Now if you can get to your motor pulley turn your motor buy hand (oh bye the way your lathe is unplugged SAFTY) again it should feel smooth no up & down play a little in & out play maybe. There may be a bad bearing some where causing drag and overheating. Also when your at the motor it's good to check brushes.
It can take a couple hours for a heat trip to cool enough to reset depending how hot it got and the ambient temp.
Once it trips it's hot if you get it reset fairly quick chances are it will trip again because the heat is already there.

You have to pay close attention and try to figure out what is causing it to over heat.

Let us know how you make out.

Good Luck
.
 

bruce119

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Franklin, NC, USA.
Let me add this,

See if you have a woodturning club near you this is a good place to look
AAW-local chapters

You will find a club very helpful. Chances are go to a meeting as a guest introduce your self and let them know you could use some help. I bet someone near you would be willing to come to you and help you trouble shoot your problem.

A club is also a good source for free/cheap wood.

Good luck

Goo
 
Last edited:

overrocking

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Jun 7, 2013
Messages
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Location
Trevor, WI
Sounds like it overheated now the thing you need to pay attention to is WHY.

Bruce119 ... Thank you for your diagnosis ... I feel you are probably right on.

Normally the center (I think that is what it is called) on the head stock spins on the wood during a catch however after inspecting the ends on this piece it looks like the head stock center had driven its self into the wood thus stalling the motor during a catch instead of allow for a spin.

I know that during a stall the motor draws a huge amount of current and thus generates significant more heat leading to the thermal trip.

I was also most likely being a little too aggressive with roughing gouge.

It just seemed that they were going a lot faster on the videos but they also had better wood, chisels, lathes, and a healthy dose of experience.

Well you know what they say ...
Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement.
 

stonepecker

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Oct 29, 2012
Messages
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Location
central Minnesota
Quick tip to make it easier/faster.

Sharp tools and light cuts. It just looks like they are going faster. In time, you will be looking the same to another new person.
 
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