first lathe on the way

They're here! They're here!!! :D :thumb: :wave:

UPS really means it when they say, "Delivered, front door." The lathe was scheduled for 01 October delivery - not that I am complaining, but I thought I had all weekend long to clean up the shop to make room for it. :huh: :rofl:

delivered.jpg

The chisels were a free gift from one of our other friends, Sean (our = myself and Ned).

And here it is setup with the chuck.

setup.jpg

My first planned projects are going to be a set of wheels for a wooden toy truck that my machinist friend has had sitting on his bench for too long. Time for me to do something for him instead of the other way around. The other plan is to make a pair of balls with which to decorate the railing to the basement which is currently just a long piece of dowel.

I was thinking of using the still green maple for the wheels - do I just finish it wet and seal the moisture in? Or should I make an effort to find some dry wood for this purpose?

Thanks!
 
They're here! They're here!!! :D :thumb: :wave:

Congratulations! I really like my little Delta, although I think after a few years it needs a new set of bearings. I got mine right when they were switching from the older style to the LA200. In fact, I could have sworn I ordered an older model, but received the newer one (which I didn't even know was out there).

As you go through your first few projects - especially since you have a chuck and not just a drive center and faceplate - pay attention to if/how much the tailstock "gets in the way". I bought the bed extension along with my lathe, and I really like it. I haven't turned anything long enough to need the extra bed length :huh: but it's sure handy to be able to slide the tailstock out of the way without taking it off, putting it back on, etc. That may not be a problem for you, so just see what you think.


My first planned projects are going to be a set of wheels for a wooden toy truck [...] I was thinking of using the still green maple for the wheels - do I just finish it wet and seal the moisture in? Or should I make an effort to find some dry wood for this purpose?

I vote for DRY wood. It's going to be tricky enough to make 4 wheels that are fairly similar, without having to worry about what warpage will do to the "ride". A 3-wheeled vehicle wouldn't be so bad (unless the green wheels went out-of-round) but 4 wheels will be like 4 table or chair legs ... if they're not just so, your "customer" will know it at "first push".

PS - I have 3 more LA200s out in my shed, in their boxes. I live across town from TimberLine, and they gave our local woodturning club a GREAT deal a few months back. I bought 3 @ about $110 and then 3 more for a little extra. The way they explained it, several schools in the area (or was that school districts?) were planning to "retool" with LA200s. Timberline called Delta to place an order of 400 lathes, and asked if they could add on another 100 or so at the same price. Our club got "first dibs". I signed up for 3, and after they came in and I picked them, I asked if I could buy 3 more. They let me do it, but at the school price ($129?) - which was still not bad.

My idea was to have a replacement for myself, and a couple extras to pass on to folks wanting to get into woodturning. Well, I've unloaded 3 so far - 2 to go!
 
...I was thinking of using the still green maple for the wheels - do I just finish it wet and seal the moisture in? Or should I make an effort to find some dry wood for this purpose?

Thanks!
I also think you'll be better off with dry wood. A bit harder to turn, but green wood is real likely to change size on you as it dries. Sealing in the moisture will only slow it down, not stop it.

Oh, and :congrats:!
 
...making 4 wheels the same diameter......... HARD TO DO

a drill press and a rosette cutter is way easier.
How about turning a cylinder, then slicing it? Mount the resulting circles on a small screw chuck to add any details to the wheels. (Mags, spinners, baby moons, whatever.) :p
 
I was thinking of turning all 6 wheels at once (maybe 10, it's a big truck toy) and making one log cylinder, then adding a chamfer at each separation point with the diamond point chisel (argh!! a new tool language to learn!! :eek: ). I'd then separate the wheels on the bandsaw and clean up the blade marks on the oscillating belt sander (the Ridgid OSS / OBS rig).

Wood lathe vs metal lathe question: my machinist friend has taught me that inserting a stationary drill bit into a rotating workpiece (with metal - a discussion of other materials did not happen at the time of this conversation) will cause the bit to self-center into the workpiece as opposed to trying to wobble as when a rotating drill bit enters a stationary work piece. Will this hold true for wood too? Should I put my drill press chuck into my tailstock and drill the axle holes this way? Maybe I'll bring home a bed extension today ..., "Yeah honey, it was in that big box that arrived yesterday, I just didn't put it together yesterday..." :eek: :huh: :rofl:

Maybe I'll use some scraps of dimensional 4 x 4 I have laying around - the ones Ned just told me I should throw away! :rofl: Hi, my name is Mark and I am a packrat.

Would it work to apply some finish (probably Bush Oil) to the piece (pieces?? :huh: ) as a whole unit while it's still on the lathe and then finish the flats after sanding? This sounds like the best idea from a "learn to use the lathe" standpoint, as I'll be able to learn roughing, shaping, sanding and finishing while on the lathe.
 
Mark, yet, drilling a hole with the drill press chuck in the tail stock is the way to go. Put the lathe on the slowest speed and back it out to clear chips often.

Cheers!

PS, of course the "Extension Bed" as in the box, you just could not find the bolts, they must have forgotten them, that is why you went back to the store today, to get them bolts............. ;)

Get the extension bed, well worth it to have the extra room, IMHO.

Cheers!
 
:rofl:oh, you mean the box of wood you hadn't unpacked in two years, those scraps? hmmm.
I'm one to talk, as I've got several boxes of wood lurking in my storage unit, but that's my mess. Just as 'spending the other guy's money' is easy, so is cleaning the other guy's shop. :rofl::rofl:

I'm tempted to make the rule 'if it won't fit through the planer safely, it doesn't stay more than a month' in my shop. Of course if I get my spinny thing, then all bets are off.
 
Sweet, Mark. I paid $200 for my used Delta midi last year, but I've not been disappointed.

As for the wheels, turn them from dry stock... you wouldn't like the end result of wet.;)
 
I was thinking of turning all 6 wheels at once (maybe 10, it's a big truck toy) and making one log cylinder, then adding a chamfer at each separation point with the diamond point chisel (argh!! a new tool language to learn!! :eek: ). I'd then separate the wheels on the bandsaw and clean up the blade marks on the oscillating belt sander (the Ridgid OSS / OBS rig).
...
Would it work to apply some finish (probably Bush Oil) to the piece (pieces?? :huh: ) as a whole unit while it's still on the lathe and then finish the flats after sanding? This sounds like the best idea from a "learn to use the lathe" standpoint, as I'll be able to learn roughing, shaping, sanding and finishing while on the lathe.

Your plan sounds workable, Mark. (BTW, if your "diamond point chisel" is what I'm thinking it is, called a parting tool.) I don't know that you'll gain much by partially finishing the wheels on the lathe, since you'll be hand finishing the sides of them later anyway, but I don't see that it would hurt, either.

As I mentioned earlier, once you slice up your log, it'd be pretty easy to attach each wheel to the lathe with a screw chuck to do the final sanding and finishing. It might be a faster way to do the sanding and finishing of the sides. Here's a write-up by Darrel Feltmate about making your own screw chuck. It's dead easy and if you've got a scrap chunk of wood (which I know you do) and a spare 1 1/2" long sheet metal screw (which I suspect you can find), you can make one in a few minutes. (And get some lathe practice making it...bonus.) :D
 
The wheels have seen some progress. The toy truck is a ten wheeler, and only the middle set of wheels exists currently. I had thought of making all ten so that they matched, but my bit of wood that I had available only was long enough for 8 wheels, so I'm going to leave the middle ones alone. The middle ones currently exist as two separate wheels on each side - I decided to make a single wide wheel with a v groove where the tire separation would be. I finished the outside (the tread section) with Bush Oil while the piece was on the lathe - I then separated the wheels on the bandsaw and belts sanded the faces. The faces need more sanding before being finished.

toy.wheels.jpg

This is essentially my first lathe work (15 + years ago in high school for one project shouldn't be counted against me, right? :) ) I learned a few things with this project so far. First, the bandsaw, while having much less kerf than the RAS, does indeed have a non-zero kerf. Second, if I am eventually going to switch from a spindle center to a chuck on the headstock, I should make the switch as soon as my piece is round enough to be held by the chuck - I am having much difficulty in getting things held concentrically in the chuck after taking the piece out of the chuck. Third, I like the lathe, it's fun! :D

Also, on Friday I left the lathe lying around by itself all day and it grew!

first.use.jpg

I was on my way to PA and then on to Rochester, NY Woodcraft (we'll get together some other time Scott!) and on the way I called my preferred tool purveyor in Syracuse (NY) about price and availability of a bed extension. Lo and behold it turns out that he is no longer carrying the Delta brand as of the end of the year and I was able to score the extension bed for $50 after tax! :thumb:

Prior to starting the wheels, I threw a couple bits of 2 by 2 on just to play with, figuring that it was small and wouldn't hurt when I got a catch and threw a piece at myself. (Yes, I was wearing my faceshield). One thing I tried doing was to make a miniature goblet. Unfortunately, my budget at Woodcraft and the prices of their bowl gouges did not match up - the turning tools at WC are expensive! Yowsers! :eek: Very cleverly, I timed a catch while attempting to hollow out the goblet using a parting tool and threw it about an inch to my left right when my walked out to the garage on her way outside. I told her I was using the wrong tool and she responded, "Well, go buy the right tool - I'd rather us be poor than you having a piece of wood stuck in your heart." So, off to Harbor Freight for the 8 piece HSS turning tool set did I go. I haven't used the tools from the set yet as I needed to make a storage shelf in an attempt to reclaim horizontal surfaces. The downside of this is that she made me turn the lathe off while she went down to the basement for laundry - I figure I'll wait until I have a couple sets of Sorby chisels before letting her know that her path is well out of the line of fire. :rofl:
 
Top