Some turning heresies.

[chaoticbob]

This is just fun really I suppose.

I'm mainly a metalworker, but occasionally I need to turn wooden parts. I haven't got a wood lathe, so use an engineering lathe. That's the first heresy. Apparently. Others are in this pic:

A three jaw engineering chuck holding a four jaw engineering chuck holding a piece of wood being being cut by a horribly overhanging engineering carbide tool (cheap Chinese CCMT0904 metal cutting bit). It really shouldn't have worked, but it did. I was was aiming to rough out and sand, but it came out glassy smooth. It's a piece of yew which I rescued from the firewood pile - maybe yew is especially forgiving to turn?
Bob.

 

[Orraloon]

May have a few people tut tutting but I cant see anything dangerous there. Sometimes you just have to use whats there to get a job done. Its no worse than using a wood lathe to do the odd bit of brass and thats with hand held tools.
Regards
John

 

[Lefley]

I could only wish I had a metal lathe to do something like that,

 

[Dalboy]

It is not that it is dangerous as such but the problem is that metal lathes tend to have ways that are oiled therefore wood dust sticks to it and can damage them especially as a metal lathe is used to turn to thousands of an inch unlike wood chisels.
I am very fortunate that I own two wood lathes and a metal lathe which are at totally opposite ends of the workshop and when turning wood the metal lathe is covered as well as the milling machine

 

[Sandyn]

That looks like a serious lathe!!
I have often turned wood on my metal lathe rather than the wood lathe. I like the precision I can get. I also turned a long bit of 20mm round steel bar on my wood lathe. I wasn't impressed with the finish, or the severe chatter in the middle of the but but it got the diameter reduced enough for what I wanted. This was before I had the metal lathe. I only had one cutting tool. I hand held it using mole grips. The best thing that came out of the adventure was to go and get myself a metal lathe.

 

[Lazurus]

Yew is indeed a great wood to turn, don't forget every part of a Yew tree is poisonous

 

[Lefley]

That looks like a serious lathe!!
I have often turned wood on my metal lathe rather than the wood lathe. I like the precision I can get. I also turned a long bit of 20mm round steel bar on my wood lathe. I wasn't impressed with the finish, or the severe chatter in the middle of the but but it got the diameter reduced enough for what I wanted. This was before I had the metal lathe. I only had one cutting tool. I hand held it using mole grips. The best thing that came out of the adventure was to go and get myself a metal lathe.

What make and model of metal lathedid you get and do you le it?

 

[Kittyhawk]

Great job, great result.
I find one of the benefits of being a bit ignorant about things is that you can often produce good results by some off-the-wall method that if you'd read up on it prior you would never have tried it in the first place.

 

[JimB]

Does using a 40 grit gouge class as heresy?

 

[Kittyhawk]

Does using a 40 grit gouge class as heresy?

Heresy is when you get caught trying something that you shouldn't have and it didn't work.
Genius is when you get caught trying something you shouldn't have and it's a huge success. And before you know it, everybody's doing it that way and the process will be named after you.

 

[clogs]

when my Myford S7 lathe is busy and and need a small part turning I often put a small chuck in the big chuck on my Colchester student....perfectly acceptable I'd say.....
the wife wouldn't let me have another metal lathe tho......hahaha
Had enough trouble getting another milling machine to go in the workshop......
but she's a brick really....
I asked to look out for a big bench saw and she bought me this for my 71 birthday....
she says if u need a tool bad enough, go buy it....she also agreed to buy the forklift.....lol....

 

[Sandyn]

What make and model of metal lathedid you get and do you le it?

I got a Myford ML7, it's a pretty good one. I absolutely love it. great wee machine as long as you realise it's limitations. There's a huge market for Myford bits and pieces, so I can buy myself presents every so often.

 

[Lefley]

Heresy is when you get caught trying something that you shouldn't have and it didn't work.
Genius is when you get caught trying something you shouldn't have and it's a huge success. And before you know it, everybody's doing it that way and the process will be named after you.

So I should just keep plugging along , you say! Sooner or later I’ll be famous!

 

[chaoticbob]

I could only wish I had a metal lathe to do something like that,

And I wish I had a wood turning lathe so I didn't have to! One day perhaps.
My main reason for putting the small 4-jaw in the big 3-jaw was that the 'native' 4 jaw for the lathe weighs nigh 17kg and it's a PITA to change over. I wasn't seriously worried about safety for this job, it was just that it looks a bit Heath-Robinson.
Whilst I can understand the concerns some metalworkers have about using engineering lathes for wood turning, I haven't had a problem myself. Provided you clean everything up properly before the dreaded tannins bite into the shiny ways it's OK.

The main 'heresy' from my point of view was using a metal cutting carbide insert to cut wood. It was metal cutting bit - designed to make deepish cuts in steel. These bits don't work well for light cuts in metal - they like to work hard. But it produced a near polished finish in yew! I thought that a sharp metal turning bit (the type used for soft metals) might be even better, but it was worse.

I know about the toxicity of yew, and had me FFP3 on.

Thanks for replies,
Bob.

 

[Fergie 307]

I am a member of the Harrison lathe group. I know there is one guy on there who uses a 5A like mine with I believe an hydraulic copying attachment to turn the main parts of the musical instruments he makes, oboes and similar. He has rigged up an auto stop so he can just set it running on automatic and go and have a cup of tea. No idea what the wood is, but the results are beatiful.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yew is indeed a great wood to turn, don't forget every part of a Yew tree is poisonous

The arils aren't - they have been used to make jam.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I am a member of the Harrison lathe group. I know there is one guy on there who uses a 5A like mine with I believe an hydraulic copying attachment to turn the main parts of the musical instruments he makes, oboes and similar. He has rigged up an auto stop so he can just set it running on automatic and go and have a cup of tea. No idea what the wood is, but the results are beatiful.

I had a VHS tape of blackwood being felled, converted and clarinet bells being turned by Dolmetsch. Facinating. They were turned at something like 10,000rpm on what was basically a metal lathe, and if there was the tiniest flaw in the timber they exploded with an almighty bang.

 

[Foggybummer]

Yew is indeed a great wood to turn, don't forget every part of a Yew tree is poisonous

Except the flesh on the seeds, having eaten some myself with no I’ll effect.

 

[TheTiddles]

Except the flesh on the seeds, having eaten some myself with no I’ll effect.

You can make jam with them, apparently, but the seeds will kill you, I’ll pass

 

[jonn]

This is just fun really I suppose.

I'm mainly a metalworker, but occasionally I need to turn wooden parts. I haven't got a wood lathe, so use an engineering lathe. That's the first heresy. Apparently.
A three jaw engineering chuck holding a four jaw engineering chuck holding a piece of wood being being cut by a horribly overhanging engineering carbide tool (cheap Chinese CCMT0904 metal cutting bit). It really shouldn't have worked, but it did. I was was aiming to rough out and sand, but it came out glassy smooth. It's a piece of yew which I rescued from the firewood pile - maybe yew is especially forgiving to turn?
Bob.

My Pommy mate in Australia was most adamant about not using a metal lathe for woodturning. Never saw the problem, but same mate, who worked for Vickers during WW2 also flatly refused to use carbide inserts. But there are lots of occasions when the metal lathe is preferable, like when making round rods that need to be of even diameter. Also, if you need a specific taper, they are preferable. Had a job making 350 tapered plugs for an architectural feature on an old house. Plugs were 45 mm long, 9 mm in one end 27 in the other. Quite a job, and the plugs came out at nearly £2 each. But the metal lathe, a Chester Crusader, was just the one for the job. One tip: Use RCGT inserts for woodturning on metal lathe.