Hand Wheel

Jack Tanner

Member
Messages
53
Location
Nashville, Ar.
Could someone explain what to purpose or advantage to having a haand wheel on the lathe. Seems like a sort of a dumb question. I've read various comments about them but never any real information as to there use. Boy, it's fun to be a newbie. Jack:wave:
 
Lots of reasons Jack, I use mine every time I'm on the lathe, first, I use it to help crank on a chuck to the spindle, instead of spinning the chuck onto the spindle, I spin the handwheel, spinning the spindle into the chuck, I find this much easier, especially if there is a large or even medium turning attached to the chuck. I also use my handwheel to slow down and stop the lathe (once I hit the off switch) to look at something on the turning, say I'm checking for thickness etc. I don't like standing around waiting for the lathe to stop turning. My DVR with even a medium sized turning on it can take a while to spin down.

Cheers!
 
Stu,
Thanks for the reply, I hadn't thought of those ideas. I bought a hand wheel for my Nova 1624-44 when I ordered it, but wasn't sure what the need for it was. Thanks again, Jack
 
My woodturning club had a professional turner as a member. He didn't consider a lathe a lathe unless it had a hand wheel. And, he wouldn't use a lathe without one.
My Grizzly has this spindle thing sticking out the back. Normally, it is hidden by a safety shield. I raise the shield and turn a rough block to make sure it clears the rest before hitting the power. Also I use it to turn work while I am hand sanding, particularly lengthwise. Other than that, I can't think of a reason why it is even there.
 

Attachments

  • non handwheel.jpg
    non handwheel.jpg
    79.1 KB · Views: 37
My previous lathe had no hand wheel, and I learned to work around it. My current lathe does have one, and it does come in handy. In particular, I find it makes screwing a large faceplated blank onto the spindle much easier. I can hold the blank in position cradled in my right arm, and turn the hand wheel with the left hand to thread the blank onto the spindle. It's easier to keep the threads lined up that way, instead of trying to rotate the blank itself.
 
frank, i'm not familar with the grizzly lathe but one reason to have 'something' at that end of the spindle might be to provide a connection for vacuum chucking. my nova only has a female thread at this end so i bought the optional handwheel (a metal turning but too small for using as a normal handwheel) and turned a walnut handwheel that screws to this metal one. i use it to stop rotation quickly because i'm too impatient to wait...to rotate the spindle as vaughn described to load a chuck.
 
I take it, there is no crank handle on these hand wheels. My Delta/Rockwell has an LH thread on the outboard, so I've made some face plates utilizing a 1" LH nut.

I'm thinking of putting a handle on the hand wheel but I can visualize the handle spinning at 100 MPH. What diameters are your hand wheels?
 
It is also useful if you use the indexing. It is easier to visualize the rotation on a hand wheel than a small spindle. You don't want to grab a fragile turning and rotate it for inspection.

Only the engineers at Grizzly would put a disk sander there in place of the handwheel, for manicure or removing the rough callus of left palm? to block the use of the knock out bar? to use through the hole vacuum chucking?

Clark,

I am not familiar with the Nova 1624 handwheel. If it is the same as the DVR, the recess in the handwheel just fits a popular size bearing, and there is already a set screw hole there for you to lock the bearing in place. I just use a piece of gasket between the handwheel and the outer race of the bearing. The vacuum force would hold the home made vacuum adapter together, no lamp rod needed. It is a easy on and off.

8b937f44.jpg
 
Gordon said, in part, "Only the engineers at Grizzly would put a disk sander there in place of the handwheel, for manicure or removing the rough callus of left palm? to block the use of the knock out bar? to use through the hole vacuum chucking?"
Gordon, as you know, I'm pretty much a fan of Grizzly. But, I do have to admit that some features on their tools says to me that some of their (Chinese?) engineers really do not understand the function of what they are designing. Methinks they are given specs and draw up the machine and go from there. Having an old timer curmudgeon, like us, there, before final approval, would make for much better tools.
Of course, this is true for a lot of things. On American cars, I have often wondered if anyone actually tried driving those things before selling them to the public.
 
gordon, my nova 1624 looks to be the same construction as your nova dvr at the end of the spindle. i'm still building my vacuum chuck system but have received a vacuum adapter from tom steyer (vacuumadapters@cox.net) that simply plugs into the end of the spindle. tom uses dimensions you provide to custom machine this adapter with an oring that seals onto the I.D. of the spindle..very slick setup. so to use a vacuum chuck i will lock the spindle, use the knock out bar to unscrew the handwheel and insert the vacuum adapter into the spindle bore. i got the link to tom from steve schlumpf...thanks again steve. i will post pics when i finish the system.
 
Frank,

The last thing I want is just couple big manufacturers dominating the market. I want more competition. The more choices we have, each has to provide us quality, service and value to earn our business.
I have no loyalty to any brand. I like Jet lathes, but not the 1236 and 1442. I like most of the Oneway products in quality, but I think they look after their wallet more than ours. Why the Talon and Stronghold chuck jaws are not interchangeable? Nova can do it, from midi to Titan.
I like some of the Grizzly machinery; I have their band saw. It is a good value. I think the problem is not Chinese engineers; they can make very good Grizzly products. Otherwise you and many others won't be fans of the Company. I believe the problem with lathe design is they also need the inputs of woodturners. If Papa Grizzly needs to use a lathe to make his guitars, the outcome would have been different.
Behind most great lathes, there are great turners. Nick Cook has been field testing and helping the design of new Jet and Powermatic lathes. Rudy Osolnik influenced the design of Powermatic. Ernie Conover helped Nova. Only turners know what we want and field tests confirm what is good, what is good on paper.
I am afraid the problem is the manufacturer doesn't want to lower themselves to just cloning other brands. They just use others old design and putting bells & whistles, bumping up the speed and call them new model.
OK, off my soap box.:soapbox:
 
Without quoting everything Gordon said. Yes, I have found some details on my Grizzly G0632 that make me want to :bang: . Examples: To open the access door for changing the belt for high/low ranges, I must use a hex wrench. Thumbscrews would make a lot more sense and I plan to replace with some. The speed control (for you electro geeks, the potentiometer) is so friction free that a gentle breeze can change the setting. :rolleyes: Well, almost. The provided knock-out bar is too short for most of my MTs, I had to make a new one. Used a Delrin rod in wood handle. The rocker on/off/reverse switch is inconveniently located under the emergency off button and too close to the speed control. I almost always touch the speed control and change the setting when turning on/off. The provided indexing lock bar is only about 1 1/2 inches long and way too short to use with a faceplate or chuck in place. I'll be making a new one, longer and with a small wood handle. Very annoying. None of this is major stuff but, I believe, if the lathe had actually been used by a real wood turner in this configuration before final manufacturing approval these little irritants would not be there and might attract more Grizzly lovers.
 
Top