Lathe
From IAP-Wiki
Contents |
Types of Lathes
Wood Lathe
Pen Lathe
The general consensus among experienced pen crafters is that so-called pen lathes are a bad investment. After a short time many pen crafters want to expand their capabilities. As an example, a pen lathe will not allow the pen crafter to mount a scroll chuck for drilling on the lathe if the crafter wishes to use that feature to make a more precise drilling in a segmented pen blank.
From what I can tell the term Pen Lathe is not a true variety of lathe. Rather a designation that is common among penturners.
exactly what qualifies as a Pen Lathe is a little bit up to each persons interpretation of the term.
here are some examples of lathes offered by various suppliers that are closely associated with their marketing of pen kits
Turncrafter listed as a Mini Lathe
Turncrafter Pro listed as a Midi Lathe
Carba-Tec 4SE Listed as a Mini Lathe
Delta Midi Lathe
Jet Mini Lathe 1014
Jet Mini Lathe 1220
Rikon 70-100 Mini Lathe
(Please add to this list)
Mini-Lathe
In general the category containing the smallest and least powered lathes on the market. Comments made under Pen Lathes about them being a poor investment apply.
Mini lathes can be found in both wood lathe and metal lathes.
Examples of wood Mini lathes:
Turncrafter listed as a Mini Lathe
Carba-Tec 4SE Listed as a Mini Lathe
Jet Mini Lathe 1014
Jet Mini Lathe 1220
Rikon 70-100 Mini Lathe
(Please add to this list)
Examples of Metal Mini Lathes
Grizzly G8688 7x12
Central Machinery 93212 7x10
Central Machinery 93799 7x12
MicroLux 82710 7x14
Speedway 03911 7x12
ToolsNow (Cummins) 5278 7x12
(Please add to this list)
(Midi?) Metal Lathe
Grizzly G4000 9x20 (Also sold by HF, Enco, and Jet with different names and numbers)
(Please add to this list)
Midi-Lathe
Examples of Midi Lathes:
Turncrafter Pro listed as a Midi Lathe
Delta Midi Lathe
(Please add to this list)
'Full Size' Lathe
Metal Lathe
Pen turning
Some pen crafters use a metal lathe to turn pens. Some use the auto-feed to turn the pen close to size and free-hand turn or sand the barrels to final size. Others purchase or fabricate tool rests to complete the entire turning "free hand."
One item of note is that typically a metal lathe has a lower high speed than does a metal lathe. Many pen crafters turn the barrels of the pens at the highest speed (3000 to 4000 RPM) on their wood lathe. Small metal lathes typically have top speeds of about 2000 RPM.
Another item to note is that a complete metal turning lathe with a auto-feed carriage has quite a bit of 'bulk' in the form of the autofeed carriage that may be difficult to move out of the way for turning the pen barrels.
Custom pen parts
Other pen crafters use a metal lathe to fabricate special parts that cannot be purchased in a hardware kit. Some of the custom turnings that can be completed are:
- Center Bands
- Nibs
- Finials
Full-featured metal lathes have the ability to cut threads. This allows the custom pen crafter to make the items listed above, plus custom front-ends for fountain pens, and allows them to turn threads on barrels for fountain and roller-ball pens at the center joint.
Custom Tooling
Metal lathes can be used to make custom tooling such as custom bushings for the lathe. Examples are:
- bushings for center-to-center turning
- pin chucks for making closed end pens
Lathe Components
A lathe is made up of the following components:
Head stock
The headstock contains the drive spindle. The spindle will usually have a standard Morse Taper hole and threads for attaching a chuck and other attachments for turning and holding work. Micro lathes may not have a hole in the headstock. The headstock will have a hole through the center of the headstock. Stock can be fed through the headstock for working on the end and the hole can be used to loosen Morse Taper attachments. Morse Tapers are an industry standard and have several sizes. From MT0 up to MT7 or
Tail stock
The tail stock (TS) component slides along the bed of the lathe to hold turning pieces and items of various lengths. The TS has a clamping lever to fix the TS in position for a particular task. A hand wheel will extend a cylinder (called a RAM) with a Morse Taper for holding a jacobs (drill) chuck or a live center. Retracting the RAM will loosen a Morse Taper attachment.
Tool rest
Bed (Ways)
Motor
Drive System
- Belt Driven - A belt and pulleys connect the motor and headstock. The pulleys on the motor and head stock have several different diameters. These are available in many sizes. If you depend on your lathe to be there when you need it, GET AN EXTRA BELT!!!
- Variable Speed - A control on the lathe will control the speed of the lathe. This is helpful when turning, then sanding, then finishing.
- Motor control changes the RPM of the electric motor (often DC). These lathes will have belts and pulleys. To get the full range of speed may require belt changes just like the Belt Driven lathes.
- Some lathes use a variable diameter pulley called a "Reeves Drive" (Shopsmith is the best example of such a drive). The motor runs at constant speed, and the ratio of the pulley diameters control the headstock RPM
- Direct Drive - The best example of Direct Drive is the Nova DVR series of lathes. These lathes have no pulleys or belts and can go from zero to max RPM
Purchasing a Lathe
- Look for a lathe with MT2 shanks. (MT2=Morse Taper #2) These have the most common accessories for pen turning and common bowl turnings.
- Electronic Variable Speed or non-VS.
- To some this doesn't matter. To others who love to vary the speed for turning, fast for turning down, slow for sanding or applying finish, - VS is a real time saver. You can change the belt on the pulleys but this is an inconvenience to some. To others, the cost difference is not worth it. Beware that if you invest $200 - $350 for a lathe, it is doubtful that you will spend $400+ a year later for a new lathe just to get VS. Get the right one the first time.
