Some Dungeon Tips and Tricks........

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
.........or total bonehead ideas........ :D

I just wanted to document a few things that I've been doing to try to make my work more efficient around the Dungeon, getting a bunch of turnings done just before Christmas highlighted several things that were not set up well, that I was wasting precious turning time on :rolleyes:

new_lathe_tool_rack.JPG
First, I gave up on my Lazy-Susan tool storage, biggest reason was it was a waste of space, and I spent more time spinning it around looking for tools that it was worth, so I used some wall space (precious little of it I have open) and built a new rack for the lathe tools, I tired my best to put the ones I use the most at hand, and the ones seldom used at the back of the rack, I also made a smaller rack for the smaller tools, and left room to expand there too. This has really helped out with keeping the tools in some kind of order.

Next up is the safety drives.

safety_drives.JPG
I have the Oneway safety drive, a great unit, but I got this longer one from Jean-Francois Escoulen when he was here, one less pointy metal thing he had to take back through airport security. It is from a metal working lathe, and he cut the cut drive with a parting tool himself, it works REALLY well, but it has a couple of other advantages; one, it puts the work further out from the headstock, which being right handed gives me more room to work, secondly, it is long enough I can us it with the chuck in place.........

short_safety_drive.JPG
You can see the Oneway unit is kind of short......

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.... here you can see the longer drive, this really saves time when doing a bunch of things like ornaments, I'm not removing and replacing the chuck all the time. Works great! :thumb:

Next up is sandpaper.......oh how exciting...... :doh:

I really like this 3M stuff, it comes with a Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) on it, rolled up in this dispenser thing.........
sand1.JPG

I mark each one, so I can figure it out in a hurry.......

sand2.JPG
.......dispense a piece.......

sand3.JPG
......tear it off.......

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.......and fold it in two, it sticks to itself.

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I then mark it, as they look similar enough to cause troubles.

sand6.JPG
The larger size I can get from #100 to #240........... cont......
 
.........
sand6.JPG
I really like this paper, seems to NOT load up and it lasts fairly long too. Folded over on itself makes it thicker and more resilient, plus, the two sides sticking together is good, as they do not move. If you have sanded with a folded up piece of regular paper, the two smooth sides never seem to want to stay together, they slip out, in my experience.

The other little trick or tip is that I made up this small board for finishing, it gives me a VERY solid work surface while finishing on the lathe, for my sandpaper and my finishes etc.

sand7.JPG sand8.JPG

Nothing special, just a chuck of plywood, with a guide block of sorts screwed to it, that fits between the ways of the lathe bed.

I can also position it under the piece being turned, keeping what is on the piece being finished, off the lathe ways

Well, that is it, just a few neat things that I've found improve my time at the lathe.

Cheers!
 
Neat tips, Stu!

I really really need to make that "Plate" to protect my ways - and the motor of my Jet Mini. There's already far more CA on it than I dare admit :D
 
Stu, I thought about the lazy susan rack too...glad I didn't have time to make it.:D You are always a treasure chest of info, thanks for all you do:thumb:
 
Just passing on stuff that works, for "me" might not work for you, but I figure that we can get a discussion going on stuff like this, so if you have a tip or tick or such that works for you or helps out while you are at the lathe, please post it in this thread.

Jason, the plate is DEAD easy to make, although it "IS" flat work, so be careful......... :rofl: :rofl:

Jeff, my biggest problem was space. I had too many tools to fit into the Lazy-Susan, so I had stuff sitting here and there on it, if I turned it to get a tool and something was sticking out, and hit something else, I could knock a few tools off the unit, NOT good :doh:

I saw one on the Ubeaut site, where the guy had it on an articulated arm, looks like it worked great, but I have no space for that, nor the articulate arm, so....... :dunno:

Cheers!
 
Wanna help me rearrange the Lab?? :) Your the master to small spaces. I am trying to free up some space...... no all the space over on the left side so I can build the boats at one time.
 
Great minds think alike! :rolleyes:

A520_0001_TurningToolRack.jpg


Since things aren't very "finalized" in my shop, I went with a somewhat "reversible" setup for now ... my tool rack is just screwed to a piece of plywood that's leaned up against the cement wall.
 
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