Got Us a New Guy

Vaughn McMillan

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In case you other turners hadn't noticed, Sean Wright has fallen in a big way into the Abyss. Seems Santa hooked him up with a Jet Mini VS and some turning tools.

So Sean...you mentioned that you'd probably have questions. Well, fire away. You know we're not too shy. :) We may not know the answers, but we'll make up some good ones if we don't. :p Congrats on the new tools and welcome to the land of roundness. :wave:
 
Vaughn,

It is my 1st lathe! I'm pretty excited about it. I have never turned anything before. Some time in the near future my Dad and I are going to take a turning for beginners class at our local Rockler. In the mean time I'm going to give it a go, just some spindles to get a feel for it.

Any advise from the turners in the Family is appreciated!

Get a full face shield and good safety glasses, and USE them :D

Really you are new to turning, so make sure you have yourself covered!

To start with you can use pine etc, without knots is better, " to 8" long is good enough. Grab a spindle gouge and bash the corners off the chunk off wood, so it is roundish, now turn off the lathe, and with your head near the headstock, put the gouge back on the tool rest, (tool rest should be a bit above center of the piece, and as close a possible to the piece) then turn the hand wheel a bit and look, watch, observer how the wood goes into the cutting edge of the gouge, watch, learn how it works. Try just rubbing the bevel, then with the bevel rubbing, lift the back of the handle of the tool a bit and see how it starts to dig in.

Don't matter what you turn, just turn, learn to sharpen your tools, I'd HIGHLY recommend the AAW sharpening video, VERY good.

Oh yeah, have fun, have LOTS of fun! :wave:
 
Now you've gone and done it Vaughn. Sean was quietly trying to ignore the fact that he had danced too close to the edge of the Abyss and slipped in. Way to pull the guys covers . . .

Just kidding, of course. I can talk since I haven't slipped . .. yet ;-) I do enjoy the turner's posts and really like being able to see the pieces coming out of "the land of roundness". I'll be looking forward to Sean's journey.
 
There is a cure!! I found it! So there is hope. :D

Really not sure why I don't turn much anymore. I guess the desire for building furniture was stronger. But I did love turning stuff, just don't do much anymore.
 
Thank you all for the warm welcome to "the other side".

Here's the 1st question. Well, I have a decent starter set of turning tools, I was thinking about getting the $36 set from HF. My main reason was to have a set to practice sharpening on. In addition to never having turned before, I've never sharpened turning tools either. I don't have any illusions about the quality found in a $36 set of tools, but I would rather learn to sharpen on them than the better set that I have.

What are you thoughts?

The set that I have now is the Crown 5 Piece Full Size Turning Set from Rockler. Does anyone have this set? How do you like it if you do?

Thanks!
 

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Sean, I've heard good things about the HF $36 set, they are not bad tools at all, and you are correct they are the right price to learn sharpening with for sure. I think that Vaughn, and some other guys have that set, learned on it and some of the tools still get use.

What do you have for a sharpening set up?

I'll again recommend the AAW sharpening video, I learned a TON from it. A good sharpening system is really important, the sharp edge of the tool is where you interact with the wood, if the tool is not sharp, you will have trouble, trust me :doh:

If you are going to get into bowls, get Bill Grumbine's videos, cannot recommend them enough.

Cheers!
 
Sean, I think the $36 Harbor Freight set is well worth the money. As you said, it can be great for learning to sharpen, and after you move up to better tools, you can use the HF set for experimenting with different profiles and such. They are not the best steel in the world, but they are plenty serviceable.

I've not seen the sharpening video mentioned, but I will toss in a "yes" vote for some type of sharpening jig. A lot of folks use the Wolverine setup, but there are good home made versions being used, as well as similar jigs from other companies. (I use the PSI knock-off of the Wolverine with no regrets.)
 
Another one bites the dust.:rofl: This is a copy of the sign outside the Abyss.


darkside.jpg
 
Another one bites the dust.:rofl: This is a copy of the sign outside the Abyss....
I have this t-shirt. I mostly got it because I sign my e-mail messages at work with just my first initial. (My nickname at work for years has been "V". Apparently, "Vaughn" has too many syllables or something.) Looks like Darth prefers to use his last initial instead.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/939f/

- V
 
Quote: turning tools, I was thinking about getting the $36 set from HF UnQuote



Too Late, we need to get our shots an blood work updated: there is a bug among us.

:soapbox: :soapbox:
 
Sean Wright asked elsewhere: Any advise from the turners in the Family is appreciated!

If nothing else, may I add to Stuarts advise about face protection, also gen up on wood exposure hazards.
A lathe has a lot more potential to distribute wood chips and dust in your direction than most woodworking tasks, take care that you don't become sensitised to some of the more obnoxious ones.

Although the suppliers listing on my site is of little use to you guys there are some Hazard Potential links at the top of the page that might be enough to convince you to always wear an air filtered full face mask.
 
1st Turning

Well I finally had a chance to turn something with the new lathe and tools. I made this spindle out of a ripped down piece of pine 2x4. I have to say it was alot of fun, even though I didn't really know what I was doing. I have another blank in the lathe and I'm going to practice again tonight.

This week i will be picking up a full face shield. I also have the Wolverine Grinding Jig and a white grinding wheel on order from WoodCraft.
 

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Turn a handle on that bad boy and cut the square ends off, and you've got yourself a genuine bonker. :thumb: You're off to a good start. The full face shield is a definite must, and you've chosen well with the Wolverine and the white wheel.
 
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