lathe questions

Eldermike · Mar 15, 2017

I have the same lathe and do exclusively pen turning. It works well. You can sometime get replacement parts from harbor fright. Try sooner rather than later if you think you'll need them cause they often get "discontinued". The long knock out rod can be replaced a thin rod or even a hardwood dowel. Good luck!

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artmakersworlds · Mar 20, 2017

HI again, may need to start a new thread, but… here. My very first wood pen.
I like the shape, not at all happy with the finish. Yes I'll find the right place but thought since you all helped me get the lathe working I'd show you I got it going nicely. I'm sure the rest is all learning curve.

Not happy with finish… aside from that whatcha think???

OH seriously? I can't upload a picture from my puter? grrrRRRRR!!!!!
Fine…

Skie_M · Mar 20, 2017

I keep an old toothbrush handy near my lathe workstation ....

Turn lathe off after final pre-finish sanding step and turn blank by hand (handwheel, in my case), and run the toothbrush over it, following the grain. This cleans a LOT of the dust out of the wood pores for you without scratching up the blank again. Follow this up with your choice of denatured alcohol, acetone, or 90% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. This cleans out the really light dust and evaporates quickly, without soaking too much water into the wood (steer clear of the rubbing alcohol if you can afford better).

I like to apply Minwax Stain'n'Seal (which contains some BLO - Boiled Linseed Oil) or some straight BLO before I begin applying my CA finish ... 6 - 12 layers of CA usually makes for a nice thickness before I begin my final wet-sanding, starting at 1000 grit and moving up through micromesh to 12,000 ... then polish with Plast-X and wax it with Turtlewax.

That's what all I do ... you don't have to do the same steps or even the same way, it's your shop, do what feels right for you and works for you.

artmakersworlds · Mar 20, 2017

Well your using different stuff for sure.
I bought this Mylands System - 1oz Sampler size - WoodTurningz

And possibly the particular blank I have is grainier than most? I never heard of bocote. It seemed pretty fibrous. (I do a bit of carving too, some woods are just hell.)
So on one hand, clearly I didn't have it sanded smooth enough to begin with.
Then this finishing kit, I'm not thrilled at all. The pen just feels icky.

I had to assemble it anyway though. Really wanted to see how smooth the transition was from barrel to fittings. Looks like I could come closer to the mandrel things just a bit. But not bad for a first try.

Ok, more reading to do. I have another blank drilled, tubes glued in, ready to go. Might hold off though. We'll see.

Cheers

artmakersworlds · Mar 22, 2017

HEY!!!!! Lookie lookie….

I watched a TON of youtube videos yesterday. This after being assured from a guy at woodturningz that the stuff I have is the best.

Seems I missed the part about getting it hot. SO… tried again, This time after applying, I turned the lathe on high and held my buffing pad tight and let it get good and hot. (yea, ouch hot.) Now this is the finish I was after. Nice, glossy, but not sticky feeling at all.
The ends of the barrels… well, still learning. I need to pay more attention and make sure they get the same buffing/finish as the rest. But it's barely noticable. I'm nit picking here. Still not bad for a total beginner huh???

Got a few more blanks drilled and glued…. next challenge is to come up with a different shape.
This is fun.

artmakersworlds · Apr 3, 2017

Ok, I got a problem now.
My pen mandrel isnt spinning straight. Latest pen has been a royal pain because of this.
Now I can't figure out for the life of me what is wrong.
The mandrel seems FINE. Not bent, warped, nothing. I've been careful not to over tighten. (read about that already.) But there is most certainly a wobble.

It's not the lathe. Not the shaft. Only think that seems to be the issue is when I put the taper end into the lathe, maybe it isn't seating right? I have taken it out, put it back, over and over. I just can't see what the issue is here. Hard to fix something if I have no clue what needs fixin.

Is this something that comes up? What else can I check?

Lucky2 · Apr 3, 2017

I own a little lathe like this one, it has a different brand name on it but it is identical. It's a great working little lathe, I've owned it for about eight years. I've turned well over a hundred pens on it, and I didn't keep track of how many little bowls and boxes I've turned on it. The only repair that I've ever made on it, was a new drive belt.

Len

randyrls · Apr 4, 2017

artmakersworlds said:
OH seriously? I can't upload a picture from my puter? grrrRRRRR!!!!!

Jenny; You can upload photos. Check out this Library Article.

There is a vast amount of information in the IAP Library and Wiki. Just click on the link at the top of all pages. There is also a "Member Map" that shows where members are located. You may be able to find a member in your area. Not all members are listed on the map. To be listed, a member needs to enter their zip code in their profile.

You also may want to look for a Woodturning club near you. Nothing beats watching as someone else works on the lathe. This is a map of American Association of Woodturners clubs

Hope this helps....

Skie_M · Apr 4, 2017

artmakersworlds said:
Ok, I got a problem now.
My pen mandrel isnt spinning straight. Latest pen has been a royal pain because of this.
Now I can't figure out for the life of me what is wrong.
The mandrel seems FINE. Not bent, warped, nothing. I've been careful not to over tighten. (read about that already.) But there is most certainly a wobble.

It's not the lathe. Not the shaft. Only think that seems to be the issue is when I put the taper end into the lathe, maybe it isn't seating right? I have taken it out, put it back, over and over. I just can't see what the issue is here. Hard to fix something if I have no clue what needs fixin.

Is this something that comes up? What else can I check?

Clean the taper...

I use a brass bristle cleaning brush from a shotgun cleaning kit ... I chuck it in a battery powered drill and clean my tapers every now and then. I also make sure I try to keep my morse tapers on my accessories clean as well. I keep a small dish towel at my lathe for this purpose.

artmakersworlds · Apr 4, 2017

Got it. Yup, cleaned it out. Though it wasn't all that dirty. I don't have a brush so curled up a tube of paper towel real tight, ran that through with a stick, it came out a little gray but not what I would think would alter the angle of the taper. Did that a few times.
Then took the mandrel all apart, all looked fine but wiped it down anyway.
Put it all back and dang if it wasn't still wobbly.

Well… ha. Teaching myself tricks as I go here.
Put it all in very loose, pulled the tailstock into position, gave it a quick test turn, looked true. THEN tightened everything down. That did the trick. I wasn't doing that before.

SO… I had a pen in the works, some bloodwood, had a nice shape going, cut a few bands in and glued in some malachite chips, (real fine.) IT was on the sanding and trimming of that when something must have gone askew. I should have stopped and figured it out then but NOOOOO. Gotta finish. Dumb dumb dee dumb. So my nice straight even bands looked like cross cut wood grain. Now that I have the thing running straight again and it was most obvious the pen barrels are way off balance. thought I'd fix my pen. Fortunately it was still pretty thick so should have been fixable.
Well… a whole chunk of wood came flying out. NUTS!!!!!
Well… the other half is ok. Maybe at some point I'll turn that into a keyring or something.
Meanwhile started a new pen. Going to try the same thing only this time if my mandrel starts getting off, I stop and fix. Even a little bit matters.