why I need to practice with my lathe

allen levine

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new york city burbs
I think if I chuck up a hunk of wood I could turn a bowl or tray in an hour or two once I get the hang of it.
Im trying to make a serving tray using my router and template.
Uh vey, what a serious waste of time.
After gluing up alot of boards, and running them through the drum sander, I laminated 2 layers together, cherry and maple(thats what I have in shorts).
I was afraid the lamination might not be perfect, so I used 30 wood screws where I knew once the glue dried and remove them, Id be drilling out the holes anyway. It was a good idea.
so this is where Im at after almost 3 hours into this thing.
I figured I have another 2 hours before I can start sanding.
I have alot of lucite, so I made a 12inch x 12 inch plate for the router, to slide over the template.
Works well. better than buying it for 20 bucks.
Its a slow, tedious process.
I think Id enjoy the lathe work more, just have to eventually get a larger lathe.

After I hit the 2 hour time limit I set for myself, experimenting with making boxes for money, I put the 2 machine made dovetailed boxes aside, probably wont finish them, as it was an experiment in time vs production for profit, and its a complete failure profit wise. Im not unrealistic in believing what anyone can get for a simple box.
I might finish that serving tray, only because I used alot of wood, and Id hate to toss it into the fire pit at this point. I had cut out a circle pattern so I can cut a few at a time and try to see if it can be profitable. Just dont think a tray like that will fetch 200 dollars, so whats the point.
(I know my circle center is off, before I cut tray outside, I will measure again and get center.)
 

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btw, there are tons of used large lathes for sale where I live.
I see ads all the time and my tool guy says he always knows people moving and wanting to sell theirs.
Im thinking in the future,(I just need to finish my home projects and my sons home before I stop doing flatwork all the time) I might purchase a larger one, and keep it in my sons garage. He wont have a problem with that, and I dont need much room other than to store a few logs and the lathe itself.
 
Even with a big lathe, a four-compartment serving tray like that's gonna be a challenge. ;)

But then again, who needs compartments? :D No guarantee a big lathe won't be without its own frustrations, but to me, the frustration is worth it. :thumb:
 
garry-I didnt make the template, I made the plate on the bottom of the router to slide easily along the template.
The same place I bought the template from, wanted something like 20 bucks for a 12x12 piece of lucite.
bob-I used the bowl bit and have the collet extender, but first I hog out as much as I can with the forstner bit, easier to control.
Im thinking bout going out there shortly and finishing it, but just spend the morning at the racino(wife took off from work), and Im already beat.
 
Allen, if you use d a plunge router with guide bushing you wont ned to hog it out first. Just slowy plunge it down and make sure the blank is secured to the bench. Try it this way and you will notice a huge savings in time. Also helps to have a big router.
 
yeah, I was having problems today while routing over the edges holding the thing down, but your idea sounds like Id save a ton of time.
I dont think the dewalt is powerful enough. I can hear the motor struggling when I was using the bowl bit.
pretty sure the festool router could handle it.

so today I finished the routing of the dish.
After I cut out all the center portions, I attached the circle template and used the router table to trim it up after I cut close on the bandsaw.
I was having difficulty holding the piece and moving it, it slipped and I got a drop of tearout, but I think the sanding will smooth it out.Then I went to the handheld router and rounded over all the edges.
The dividing walls between each section all arent exactly the same, guess laying the template was off a bit, and I noticed near the tearout, I didnt have a perfect lamination, but my wife agrees a finger groove around the entire tray will make it much easier to handle especially when its full of whatever.
So Im thinking before I finish it, Ill get a bit to rout a finger groove right on the lamination line.
IM up to about 6 hours total labor, add on the cost of approx 4 bf of cherry and 4 bf of birch/maple and this is really looking like its impossible to make any money on something like this.
 

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Allen, I can knock out a bowl pretty quickly on a lathe, but by the time I consider time to prep the blank, turn it, sand it, and finish it, there's still no real profit involved.
 
the bottom comes out fine.
my problem was that on the sides mainly I had alot of burn, mistake using the cherry and maple combo.
I had to use my dremel today to clean up as much as I could, spindle sander for the outside.
 
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