can it get any worse!!!

[stevebuk]

i am really begining to hate when my days off from work come around, i just seem to wait for the inevitable to happen around me.
Went into the cabin today for a short while, i bought a few bits of wood from the club last night and fancied practicing a few more mushrooms.
Shoved a piece of maple into the lathe, turned it round and mounted it in the chuck, thought i would try out my new (sorby spindlemaster clone) spindle gouge recently bought from Ashley isles, it started cutting really nicely but after a few minutes the wood seemed to be really difficult to get smooth, in fact a couple of pieces flew out of the block and then the block flew out of the lathe.
Moved on to the second piece of maple and the same again. Looking at the end of the spindle gouge it was quite chewed up, i could understand it if i was cutting towards the chuck, but as i was cutting in the other direction i found this rather odd. I have now reshaped the end again, but i dont think i will buy any more tools from them.
I also tried rounding off a couple pieces of yew branches i also bought to have a go at making a goblet, alas it was not to be.
Firstly the wood woud not stay central in the chuck and at one point looked like it was an eccentic chuck, so decided to cut me another piece off the limb and bang the blade on my bandsaw snapped.
Really P@@sted off now, feel like saying sod it and selling the lot. I wont mind, but i am so fed up of spending money and producing sawdust and nothing else.

 

[Bodrighy]

We all get days, weeks and sometimes months like that Steve. You are more honest and actually mentioning it. Look back at some of the pieces that you have produced and remember how you felt when they worked.

Regarding the chuck, check that the screws are all tight and that it is closing up properly. Close up tight with nothing in it and make sure it is meeting up properly. Don't know abvout the gouge, Ashley Isles are a decent enough make so it is unlikely that there is a problem but if it's a bad one then you should be able to get a replacement off them.

And have a beer and cheer up. My wood burner is always started with the bits that break, fly off, split and generally don't do what they should have done

Pete

 

[Doug B]

Hi Steve.

Haven`t got an answer for you mate, but if you`d like to come over with your new gauge, we can try & sort things out.
Though as i`ve managed to fill one eye with wet plaster, which is still burning after 10 hours & i can`t yet see properly out of it, you might have to wait a while. :roll:
Like my old mum used to say always some one worst off :lol: :lol: :lol:
If you`d like to come over one evening give me a shout, don`t give up hope, as Pete says we all have days like these.

 

[Alie Barnes]

i am really begining to hate when my days off from work come around, i just seem to wait for the inevitable to happen around me.
Went into the cabin today for a short while, i bought a few bits of wood from the club last night and fancied practicing a few more mushrooms.
Shoved a piece of maple into the lathe, turned it round and mounted it in the chuck, thought i would try out my new (sorby spindlemaster clone) spindle gouge recently bought from Ashley isles, it started cutting really nicely but after a few minutes the wood seemed to be really difficult to get smooth, in fact a couple of pieces flew out of the block and then the block flew out of the lathe.
Moved on to the second piece of maple and the same again. Looking at the end of the spindle gouge it was quite chewed up, i could understand it if i was cutting towards the chuck, but as i was cutting in the other direction i found this rather odd. I have now reshaped the end again, but i dont think i will buy any more tools from them.
I also tried rounding off a couple pieces of yew branches i also bought to have a go at making a goblet, alas it was not to be.
Firstly the wood woud not stay central in the chuck and at one point looked like it was an eccentic chuck, so decided to cut me another piece off the limb and bang the blade on my bandsaw snapped.
Really P@@sted off now, feel like saying sod it and selling the lot. I wont mind, but i am so fed up of spending money and producing sawdust and nothing else.

i also know this feeling!

 

[cornucopia]

i am really begining to hate when my days off from work come around, i just seem to wait for the inevitable to happen around me.
Went into the cabin today for a short while, i bought a few bits of wood from the club last night and fancied practicing a few more mushrooms.
Shoved a piece of maple into the lathe, turned it round and mounted it in the chuck, thought i would try out my new (sorby spindlemaster clone) spindle gouge recently bought from Ashley isles, it started cutting really nicely but after a few minutes the wood seemed to be really difficult to get smooth, in fact a couple of pieces flew out of the block and then the block flew out of the lathe.
Moved on to the second piece of maple and the same again. Looking at the end of the spindle gouge it was quite chewed up, i could understand it if i was cutting towards the chuck, but as i was cutting in the other direction i found this rather odd. I have now reshaped the end again, but i dont think i will buy any more tools from them.
I also tried rounding off a couple pieces of yew branches i also bought to have a go at making a goblet, alas it was not to be.
Firstly the wood woud not stay central in the chuck and at one point looked like it was an eccentic chuck, so decided to cut me another piece off the limb and bang the blade on my bandsaw snapped.
Really P@@sted off now, feel like saying sod it and selling the lot. I wont mind, but i am so fed up of spending money and producing sawdust and nothing else.

keep your chin up steve- we'll sort the goblet thing out soon eh

 

[stevebuk]

keep your chin up steve- we'll sort the goblet thing out soon eh

cant wait george, my life depends on it :wink:

 

[johnny.t.]

Don't get too disheartened Steve. The bad days are only there to make the good ones feel even better. Stick with it and it will all come together for you in the end. I have my share of disasters and have the scars to proove it :lol:

JT

 

[Turn It In]

Hi Steve,
This is all part of the learning curve. It could be worse you might have just been on the last cut when the job flew out the chuck.
I had just cleaned the foot up on a bowl then dropped the darn thing on the lathe bed and knocked a chunk off the edge.
That life!
Best regards,
Ian

 

[The Shark]

Hi Steve,
I'm struggling at the moment too, can't seem to make a decent cut to save my life.
Then to cap it all my lathe motor died, so I am latheless at the moment.

Perhaps we ought to go out for a pint and call ourselves "The Chuckle Brothers!"

Stick in there, I'm sure it will get better

Malc

 

[boysie39]

Steve, just a thought, go back to basics. Make a few pens,get the feel of the tools again. The more hurry the less speed. Take it slowley and you'll get back in the flow of it again.REgards Boysie.

 

[tekno.mage]

i am really begining to hate when my days off from work come around, i just seem to wait for the inevitable to happen around me.
Went into the cabin today for a short while, i bought a few bits of wood from the club last night and fancied practicing a few more mushrooms.
Shoved a piece of maple into the lathe, turned it round and mounted it in the chuck, thought i would try out my new (sorby spindlemaster clone) spindle gouge recently bought from Ashley isles, it started cutting really nicely but after a few minutes the wood seemed to be really difficult to get smooth, in fact a couple of pieces flew out of the block and then the block flew out of the lathe.
Moved on to the second piece of maple and the same again. Looking at the end of the spindle gouge it was quite chewed up, i could understand it if i was cutting towards the chuck, but as i was cutting in the other direction i found this rather odd. I have now reshaped the end again, but i dont think i will buy any more tools from them.
I also tried rounding off a couple pieces of yew branches i also bought to have a go at making a goblet, alas it was not to be.
Firstly the wood woud not stay central in the chuck and at one point looked like it was an eccentic chuck, so decided to cut me another piece off the limb and bang the blade on my bandsaw snapped.
Really P@@sted off now, feel like saying sod it and selling the lot. I wont mind, but i am so fed up of spending money and producing sawdust and nothing else.

I know exactly how you feel, Steve, For some reason things like that always seem to happen to me when I decide to use either an expensive or a "special" piece of wood

I find that if I'm having a "clumsy & plain stupid" day and things aren't going right it's best to switch off the lathe and go do something else (gardening is good for me) then come back to the lathe another time - when strangely things will usually go much better and I look back and wonder why I had so much bother.

I don't know why you had trouble with your Ashley Iles gouge - I've always found their tools to be excellent and hold their edge well. Was there was a hidden bit of metal in that first piece of maple? I took a big chip out my roughing gouge once on a buried fencing staple inside a bit of hawthorn. I've also managed to slice pieces off chuck jaws with the same gouge - and in that instance the jaws came off much worse than the gouge did!

tekno.mage

 

[mikec]

Don't give up Steve, walk away and get on with something else for a while.
I get days like that, nothings goes right and I mess up everything I do. :evil: :evil:

I think it may be something to do with trying too hard and not letting the work flow :?: :?:

It does get better

Mike C

 

[user 5053]

According to Rick Wakeman on a recent programme about prog rock - success is dug in the garden of failure.

 

[wizer]

I'm with TM on this one. It always happens to me when it's either a special bit of wood or a special project. I had 3 failed bowls before I turned a fruit bowl for a friend who'd been nagging for ages. I'm greatly in her debt (not financially), so I was eager to do something nice for her. Similarly I got a piece when I was at the S&B show. It was 6in x 6in square. When I finally gave up, it'd been out of the lathe 4 times and was roughly 3.5in round and 4in long!!

Which brings me to a point about the patriot chuck. Things seem all too easy to jump out of that chuck and I'm wondering if the both us are doing something wrong. Do you put a dovetail on your spiggots? After I've got a 50mm spiggot, that's about 5mm long, I use a small skew to dovetail it. I wonder if my skew is the wrong angle or indeed if my spiggot should be bigger in diameter before using the skew?

What are your and others thoughts on this?

Something else that i've started doing, with every project, is marking the position of the wood in the chuck. This helps with alignment. But still doesn't make sense to me as surely it's supposed to be round?

 

[tekno.mage]

Which brings me to a point about the patriot chuck. Things seem all too easy to jump out of that chuck and I'm wondering if the both us are doing something wrong. Do you put a dovetail on your spiggots? After I've got a 50mm spiggot, that's about 5mm long, I use a small skew to dovetail it. I wonder if my skew is the wrong angle or indeed if my spiggot should be bigger in diameter before using the skew?

What are your and others thoughts on this?

Something else that i've started doing, with every project, is marking the position of the wood in the chuck. This helps with alignment. But still doesn't make sense to me as surely it's supposed to be round?

Things jumping out of chucks... Hmm. I don't use a Patriot chuck, I've got a cheap copy of a Vicmarc one, but I've seen quite a few other types and the dovetail on the jaws all look pretty simillar to me.

I don't think I've ever had something complete come out of my chuck - although I have had things move - usually when I'm turning a bowl and get a big catch (which will pull the thing off centre if I'm lucky or snap the foot off the bowl if I'm not...)

I'm actually quite lazy about chucking spigots as I mostly hold work by a spigot that gets removed at the end, so I don't care whether the jaws mark the spigot. I cut a spigot that is roughly the right size (about 40-35mm ish for my usual jaws) then cut the dovetail with whatever skew is to hand - so it may or may not match the dovetail on the jaws exactly. Sometimes my spigots are only 3mm long. I do the chuck up pretty hard & the jaws dig into the spigot and certainly leave marks (which are useful if rechucking).

One thing that is very important is to make sure there is a good flat shoulder for the jaws to butt against - this is probably more important than the actual length of the spigot.

tekno.mage

 

[stevebuk]

Thanks for the words of wisdom and encouragement guys, its good to know that i am not alone in making mistakes, i just cant understand it though.
Tom, i think there's something in what you say, when i turned the maple i did notice that the fit was not as tight as it could be, the front of the jaws gripped well, but the back of the jaws didn't match the spigot which left room for movment.
I didn't use the patriot chuck though, i was using the Nova II.

I really need to get the cabin cleaned up though, its getting on my nerves at the moment having to step over stuff all the time, but anyway i am off work in a weeks time, so look forward to clearing it then..

 

[Paul.J]

Steve.
Just a thought but have you got the correct numbered jaw corresponding with the number on the chuck,and are you centralizing the jaws before you tighten them up :?:
What i do also when tightening the jaws up is to tighten using both key slots,near enough the same amount of times.Hope thats clear :?

 

[stevebuk]

Steve.
Just a thought but have you got the correct numbered jaw corresponding with the number on the chuck,and are you centralizing the jaws before you tighten them up :?:
What i do also when tightening the jaws up is to tighten using both key slots,near enough the same amount of times.Hope thats clear :?

not sure paul, its factory fitted i've not touched either chuck.
I really need someone to post a picture to show how a piece of branch should be held in the chuck, i tried again tonight with the patriot chuck, and the same thing happened again, the yew flew out of the jaws.
I just cant forsee what is wrong , only the shape and length of the spigot must be wrong.
really need to know how to mount it.

 

[Paul.J]

It might be worth loosening the jaws off Steve,then just do em up finger tight and close the jaws tight,to centralize the jaws and tighten them all up.
Also try turning the branch between centers to round them off then hold it in the jaws.

 

[Bodrighy]

If I am turning something long like a branch I turn it rough between centres and make my tenon. This as long as the inside of the jaws are deep. make sure the shoulder is square on the tenon. I then put it inot the chuck and bring the tailstock up and turn as much as possible this way. If it s a goblet I turn it down to a safe thickness and then remove the headstock, carefully do the inside (inclucing polishing) and then stuff with tissue and bring the tailstock back.

With bowls the holding power on a tenon is not as strong (correct me someone if I am wrong) as with the mortice, the jaws used in expansion mode. I have also noticed that the density of the wood, the lie of the grain etc can all effect the holding power.

Do what Paul suggests, check that you have the right jaws in the right place. If they are not you will find that on closing them up fully they won't quite meet properly. If they do meet OK then try as I suggested or, with a bowl, use expansion mode but don't do it too tight if you do as you can split the wood.

pete