Gordon,

The main difference is that [properly used] wood-turning tools slice the wood, and the bevel rubs the work. Shavings should come off as a continuous ribbon, not as chips or dust.

MichaelG.

P.S.   I just found this site, which might help you.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 03/08/2012 10:17:06

also the wood varies like metal does… some "billets " of the same stuff machine entirely differently.

..but the bit about tool advance at same angle as cutting "angle" intrigues me.

hmm tangential toolholders for wood?

Put a lot of top rake onto the tool say 20deg and you will get more of a shear cut.

Although the scraper type tool Kwil mentions is also good it the wire edge that is left on the tool that creates the top rake and gives a good cut.

The other thing with hand turning is that the tool should always cut down the grain, with using an engineering lathe there is a tendancy to cut up the grain which tears the unsupported fibres off. Again as Kwil says with teh eng lathe you can't feel what the tool is doing but with hand tools you just move the handle about until the tool is cutting.

Here are a few of my woodturnings

J

Gordon,

You can get a hand-turning rest for a Myford 7 series lathe, and no doubt one could easily be contrived for most other models. This kit:

**LINK**

is an example, but I'm sure you will find some ready made ones if you search.

David

Edited By David Littlewood on 03/08/2012 14:15:15

A simple alternative to a hand rest for me is a piece of bar held in the toolpost but it must be close to the work for safety. Yes, use high speed and make sure your tool is really, really sharp.

Russell

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 03/08/2012 15:54:25

For cylinder laps you are best using the lathe as you would with metal that way your lap will be parallel.

I suspect your file based tool has little if any top rake, either regrind it top face down and leave the burr on the top edge or get a hss tool and put plenty of top rake on it, side angle will not make a lot of difference.

You should be able to get a finish like this with a lathe tool, though the ebony is a bit tighter grained.

Assuming your laps are quite small then spin it up fast.

J

Edited By JasonB on 03/08/2012 16:23:43

The whole top is veneer, so individual squares of maple and ebony.

Yes the ebony would be overkill for laps, I just used it as an example of turning on the engineering lathe. Beech, maple and sycamore would all do the job.

J

Gordon,

If the bowls (woods) are made of Lignum Vitae as many old one's were, it would be (in my eyes) sacrilegious to chop off little bits.

The classic conversion for these woods is for woodcarving mallets, these old woods are like gold dust at the moment.

Spindle speeds for normal wood turning lathes are nowhere near the speeds of conventional routers of which as you are now aware. My routers go up to about 30,000 rpm.

My large wood turning lathe is variable speed up to a maximum of about 2800 rpm and my small wood turning lathe for miniature work is variable up to 3200 rpm.

Your maximum lathe spindle speed is fine but your really should use a hand rest and proper HSS woodturning tools for best results. Ideally you try and get an hour or so tuition from a local friendly woodturner or come to that there must be many Youtube videos that show you the basics.

Finally people will try and put the frighteners on you about using what is known as a skew chisel, this will give you the best finish on cylinders but be prepared for some digins and always wear your safety glasses.

One of the best books on woodturning for beginners I read when I first started many years ago was called "Turning Wood" by Richard Raffan, he has written many books and you may well get some from your local library.

Best of luck.

Len. P.

Gordon,

Lignum vitae is an excellent wood for bearings, so if you have any old bowling balls which are not fit for purpose, don't be too quick to give them away, save them against the day when you want to use them in this way. But if you do insist on getting rid of them, where do you live?

David

Richard is a good bloke – lives near here – and his books are invaluable.

Most wood turning is pretty freeform just because the wood itself is unreliable. If you want a cylinder to be concentric, then use of a skew or gouge may cause issues as the bevel runs on the previously cut surface – effectively the depth of cut is relative to the surface rather than relative to the lathe!!

While a scraper will not give the same finish, it is much better at referencing depth of cut from the tool rest.

There are many safety consious turners who will not go near an old file. The critical point is that if the distance between rest and work is too large (>10mm) as it often needs to be for curves, there is real risk of a catch and breaking the file. followed by ramdomly fired bits of iron.

You can easily make a very good scraper from a piece of HSS 25*5(or6)*200. grind a30deg bevel across the one end (you may wish to angle this at about 15deg to create small undercut areas but I havent needed that).

Grind a tang of about 75mm at the other end an fix a handle. handle needs to be the length of your forearm – some like them longer.

In use, the best finish from a scraper is obtained if you push up a burr after sharpening. In HSS this will require a very firm push with a piece of round HSS. the wire edge from sharpening is not really strongenoug to last.

I have two made this way, the other has a gentle curve and is OK for hogging, bu not for getting a parallel finish. Some people prefer high-carbon tool steels rather then HSS as the burr is easier to achieve and there is a view that these have better wear resistance.

Slightly off-topic, but has anyone here used a pole lathe – not precision engineering, but great fun

Neil