Lathes

[morpheus83uk]

Hello,

I am looking at getting started with some wood turning and Axminster have what look like some good bundles.

I am thinking one of the craft lathes with the chuck and then the tool set which they seem to offer in the bundles.

What lathes do people thing would be a good buy? And what is the chuck used for?

What are peoples thoughts on the tools they are offering with the lathe?

Also what sort of protection would you recommend for wood turning? Respiration, face protection etc?

Thanks

James

 

[Robbo3]

You know there is a forum section for lathes & woodturning.
Lots of questions but as you haven't actually specified the bundles in question it's hard to answer.
A woodturning chuck has four jaws that move in & out together, rather than independently & is used to hold the wood.
The wood, both spindle & bowl, is normally driven by a pronged centre & supported by a live (revolving) centre on the tailstock end so that a tenon can be made the correct size to fit in the chuck.
Beware of straight sided engineering jaws. They grip enough to turn the wood but won't hold it on their own unless the timber is supported at the tailstock.
Beware also chucks where each jaw can be moved independently.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Ah sorry.

As it was about the tools I thought this would be the best place for the post.

The hand tools which come with a bundle are these

https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-h ... set-400228

This is an example of one of the bundles with the chuck

https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... age-720703

I am unsure what to go for starting out but I am thinking one of the craft lathes as you get 3 hours training which would obviously be beneficial.

I am not sure what all of the specs are or what is good, bad etc. Should be have variable speed etc? Can you turn pens and bowls on the same lathe etc?

As you can see very new and trying to get an idea before I start.

Thanks

James

 

[Chris152]

I started turning last year so relative newbie. I'd definitely advise going with electronic variable speed - it's really helpful when trying to get the right speed for an off-balance piece of wood, and tbh I can't imagine having to work at pre-set speeds (tho I've not tried).
The tool set looks fine (and should be) from Axminster.
If money's an issue, I'd shop around and buy second hand - you can't get what you want immediately but they come up often on gumtree etc and with chucks, tools etc at far cheaper than new.
The chuck's used for holding the wood in place.
3 hours tuition sounds good, but you could always join a local club and get tuition there if there is one near you?

 

[Robbo3]

Nothing wrong with that bundle. The price may be a little high but it's a lot of aggro to source the equivalent second hand especially with a lack of knowledge.
All you'll need to add is a grinder & possibly a jig to hold the gouges for sharpening.
Tip: You only use the spindle roughing gouge & the skew on wood that is mounted so that the grain is parallel to the lathe bed (spindles) & not where the grain runs at an angle to the bed (bowls).

 

[morpheus83uk]

Thank you for responding back.

There are clubs near me however by the time I am home from work I wouldnt be able to attend which is a shame.

Why would a lathe not come with a chuck? How would you hold the wood in otherwise?

I would be happy to buy second hand but it's more a case of what to look for where I am struggling. Looking around the speeds seem to vary from lathe to lathe so I am wondering if there is a sweet spot or if it matters at all?

One of the things which comes with a bundle is a grinder. It seems to have two grinding sides to it though and it seemed to save more getting the chuck than the grinder.

Here is the link for the grinder

https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... der-105117

Also what kind of safety gear should I be looking at to stop the wood flying in my face and such?

Thanks

James

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Why would a lathe not come with a chuck? Because some people don't need one, others would rather buy a different one and some people already have one.
Get yourself a copy of this (hunt around for prices, newer editions are best) -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Woodturning-Fo ... 995&sr=8-1

 

[Chris152]

Why would a lathe not come with a chuck? How would you hold the wood in otherwise?
I would be happy to buy second hand but it's more a case of what to look for where I am struggling. Looking around the speeds seem to vary from lathe to lathe so I am wondering if there is a sweet spot or if it matters at all?
...
Also what kind of safety gear should I be looking at to stop the wood flying in my face and such?

I bought the book Phil recommended above and found it very useful.

One thing to try to be clear about is what you want to make. Spindle things (pens, candle sticks, goblets) or bowls, or both? I tend to make bowls and use a face ring that attaches to the chuck - so I just use a chuck and face ring. I need to practice turning between centres, and my lathe came with a few centre drives (at the headstock end) and live tail centre (the other end). The lathe has a rotating headstock so I can rotate it and turn larger bowls than the bed allows when the headstock's facing the tailstock. I think that's a really useful option if you're interested in turning bowls.

Once you've decided what you want to make, it gets easier to choose/ recommend a lathe.(Tho I'm no good at that as I've only ever used two lathes, Record Power and Robert Sorby). As for speed, the wider the diameter of the thing you're turning, the more you need to slow down on account of the speed at the perimeter and on account of safety. For narrow spindle turning, higher speeds.

Safety - I have one of the full face masks from Axminster, I think it was about £12, for turning. When I got my lathe, I also bought a second hand high volume, low pressure extractor (with a very fine filter), essential for much sanding - I paid £100 for mine from a member here, really pleased with it. I also have a Trend respirator which catches anything the extractor misses when sanding - that was more expensive and I guess the need for it depends how much ventilation you have in your workshop.

New/ second hand - as I said before, I'd go used if you can, but that all depends on timing/ what's available. At least new you have a warranty, and that does look a decent lathe in the bundle. Maybe I was just lucky with my second hand lathe (which came with 3 chucks and lots of other bits, and does everything I could ask of it with a 1.5 hp motor - and it cost less than the bundle at Axminster). Oh, and I had advice from a mod here on the lathe before I went to see it - still grateful to him!

As I said, I'm a relative newbie so others may correct the above! But hopefully that's of some use.

 

[Lazurus]

Looking at the original posting the OP certainly would benefit from visiting a local club or turner - 2nd hand offers far more value than purchasing new - often due to people giving up or sadly passing there are some great deakls to be had. Have a look here at the AWGB forum, full of advice and knowledgeable folk - if a little starchy at times
http://www.awgb.co.uk/awgbforum/index.php

Ther is a lot to learn and it is a steep learning curve, but welcome to the dark art of wood turning!

 

[morpheus83uk]

Thank you for the responses.

Would it be this visor you are referring to?

https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-f ... sor-500080

I have a dust mask at home which I can use which has good filters. I will just need to ensure that it can fit under the visor.

As for extraction could you give me some examples of the type of extractor you have so i can have a look around?

As for what i am looking to make at the moment is is pens and bowls.

I will check out the list however last time I looked no where had one I could attend but the list may now be updated.

Thanks

James

 

[Chris152]

Yep, that's the visor. Never had to test it(!) but I trust it. And a P3 mask underneath should be fine (it's worth checking the visor doesn't steam up to much with the mask on - that can be annoying, especially if you wear glasses. And if you have a beard, don't trust the mask to work properly!).
This is something like the extractor I have (mine's older, has a filter upgrade and used to be described as a dust extractor, iirc - it's listed as a chip extractor in this ad (which is a different thing to a dust extractor) but with the finer paper filter, filters down to 0.5 micron - there could be some discussion as to how well it works as a dust extractor):
https://www.recordpower.co.uk/product/c ... ZzBCOdKhTY
It seems to work well, but I always work with the large doors to the workshop open. There are definitely better ones out there, but I guess it's a question of how much sanding you're going to be doing.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Brilliant thanks.

I have the following respirator which I have been using for a good while now.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/gvs-elipse-h ... r-p3/6922g

Thank you I have an idea of what I am looking for. I will need something smallish as I dont have much room in my garage! I presume it's good for all the wood chips that come off it?

Probably a really silly question but I will ask it anyway. Where do you position the extractor hose when working? Is it like above or the front / back of the work piece? As I would imagine it would need to be placed on something to hold it in place?

Thanks

James

 

[Chris152]

Remember, my advice comes from a fellow learner - I feel a bit like the blind leading the blind! Maybe it's because the thread's not in the woodturning forum that you're not getting more replies from people who definitely know better.

That mask looks fine.
The extractor is really just for dust, the shavings just pile up on the floor til you gather them up by hand. I think the trick with positioning is to make sure it's in a place where the dust is directed as it comes off the workpiece. I have mine to the bottom right of the bowls I turn and I tend to sand on the lower left of the bowl, so the dust heads toward the mouth of the extractor as it comes off the bowl. I guess behind the workpiece is best for spindle turning?
And yes, you have to find a way to fix the mouth in place - mine's attached to the lathe with a piece of string, and I move it according to the diameter of bowl.