Remember that all power tools are potentially dangerous. Always wear eye
and ear protection when using woodworking tools. Read and understand the
manuals and instructions provided with your tools, and never use a tool
in a way that endangers you or those around you.
Whether you want to make chair legs, bed posts, table pedestals, or newel
posts and balusters for stairways you will be turning on the lathe. The
lathe is also finding increased popularity with the hobbyist woodworker
for turning bowls and other decorative items. Woodturning is fast and does
not require a shop full of other tools to achieve stunning results.
Woodturning is the fastest growing discipline in woodworking. New lathe
designs, novel cutting tools and accessories, and particularly new project
kits have fueled the renaissance in turning. No longer is the lathe a tool
stored at the back of the shop under a tarp and only brought out to turn
the occasional chair leg. It has taken center stage in many woodworker's
shops as a source of artistic expression and financial reward.
Turning wood on a lathe is different from every other type of woodworking
because the wood is moving and the cutting edge is stationary. This means
that the turner is in complete control of the design and execution of the
work. Turning is a dynamic process in which the woodworker becomes sculptor:
removing waste from the starting piece and deciding when the finished project
has been achieved. This process is both the challenge and the nemesis of
the woodturner.
The lathe is a simple and ancient tool. Bodgers in medieval Europe powered
their lathes with Birch and Beech tree limbs. A rope was tied around an
overhanging limb in the forest and thence down around the work to a foot
treadle. Stepping on the treadle caused the piece to revolve back and forth
with the limb acting as a spring. This simple process allowed the manufacture
of chair parts and bowls. Turning on foot-powered treadle lathes became
an apartment pastime in the French court of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Today most turning for furniture manufacture is done on computerized machine
lathes that turn 10 to 30 pieces at a time, but the satisfaction of personal
control and artistic expression is still available to the woodturner.
A lathe is a machine that makes wood spin around in circles. If the grain
of the wood is parallel to the axis of rotation it is called spindle turning
(such as for chair legs and candle sticks), while if the grain runs perpendicular
to the rotation it is called faceplate turning (used for bowls and platters).
This latter name derives from the flat faceplate we use to attach the wood
to the lathe. The part of the lathe to the left of the machine where the
motor is located is called the headstock. The wood is connected to the motor
by way of a spindle that is driven by a belt and step pulleys. The headstock
spindle is threaded to accept face plates and bored down the center to hold
the spur drive during spindle turning. This bored hole is not straight,
but has tapered walls to hold the spur by friction. The size of this bore
is either a number one Morse taper(#1 MT) or a #2 MT, with a #2 MT being
the larger.
At the end of the lathe opposite the headstock is the tailstock. It is designed
to hold up the other end of the wood spindle during work, and is fitted
with a 'center' that is driven into the wood. The center is held in the
tailstock because it, too has a Morse taper. Today most turners use a center
with a ball bearing to reduce friction, called a 'live-center'. Between
the head and tail-stock is the tool rest. This is a horizontal piece of
steel that the turner rests the tool on during turning, employing it somewhat
as a tailstock and tool rest are all supported on the bed, or ways. In better
tools the bed is a machined cast iron structure that securely supports the
other parts of the lathe, but on smaller lathes and some English lathes
the ways consist of one or two rods or tubes. Mass is critical for lathe
performance, and the best lathes are huge, heavy affairs. Mass reduces vibration,
and when you are holding the cutting surfaces in your hand you want to eliminate
all sources of vibration. However, if you already own a lathe that you suspect
is too light, mass can be added with sand, bricks, steel or concrete.
Turning tools come in many shapes and sizes, but the fundamental difference
between most turning tools is whether they are manufactured from high carbon
steel or from high-speed steel. Carbon steel tools are made from the same
material used to make carving tools. While this material is preferred for
tools that require a surgically sharp edge, carbon steel is too soft and
heat-sensitive for the rigors of woodturning. This is why high-speed steel
is used for all the best turning tools today. Good high-speed steel has
a high tungsten and vanadium content that makes it very resistant to abrasion,
as well as being impervious to the intense heat generated at the wood-tool
interface during the turning of hard woods. Thus, tools made from high-speed
steel retain their edge and will not lose their temper (hardness, not emotion)
during use, both of which are problems with carbon steel tools. Do you have
high-speed or carbon steel turning tools? It is easy to check during sharpening
on the bench grinder. The sparks from high-speed steel are orange and stay
together, while carbon steel sparks are yellow and fly apart. Try it for
yourself!
Wood can be removed during turning by either cutting or scraping. While
there is a place for scraping in some turning operations, I always encourage
my students to cut the wood whenever possible. The use of a cutting technique
slices through the wood fibers rather than tearing them, resulting is a
superior finish that requires much less sanding (my regular readers will
remember that I hate to sand). Wood turning tools are all cutting tools
when used and sharpened properly, even those called 'scrapers'. If you have
questions on sharpening turning tools I encourage you to attend one of our
free Saturday seminars on the topic or consult one of the books mentioned
at the end of this article.
Whether you are turning a candle stick or a bowl, cutting technique will
speed up the process and give a more satisfactory outcome. The battle cry
in my turning classes is "keep the bevel on the wood". All turning
tools have a bevel ground into them that forms the cutting edge. A gouge
is a single bevel tool with a gullet formed into a bar or slab of steel.
Different sizes and shapes of gouge are used for both rapid stock removal
and for delicate detail turning. A skew chisel is a double bevel cutting
tool shaped somewhat like a carving or bench chisel. The skew is used for
long straight cuts and detail turning. With either of these tools it is
important to keep the bevel on the wood and cut. When you come off the bevel
bad things can happen -- you can tear your work or get a catch that can
damage or ruin your efforts.
The other basic tools in the turner's toolkit are the parting tool and various
scrapers. Like the furniture scraper, the turning scrapers cut by virtue
of a burr raised on the edge during sharpening. It is the burr that cuts,
and without it the tool is useless. There is a wide variety of scraper shapes
ranging from round to square to diamond-shaped. Dozens of turning tool shapes
and sizes have been developed to handle particular turning jobs, and new
tools enter the market each year.
In addition to the traditional spindle and bowl projects familiar to most
turners, new project kits have become available in recent years. By far
the most popular are kits to turn pens and pencils. These are all mandrel-based
projects, meaning that a steel rod is mounted between the head and tail
stock onto which the pen parts are placed and turned. There are Cross, Mont
Blanch, and Parker-style pens, pencils, rollerball and fountain pen kits.
It seems that everyone from middle-school students to retirees with access
to a lathe has begun turning pens. Pens are a quick and relatively easy
way to get into turning, and the pens can be quite stunning and profitable.
Students in my classes with absolutely no shop experience have turned lovely
writing instruments in less than two hours. Other mandrel-based projects
are continually being introduced, but the turner does not need to rely on
these projects. Creativity and imagination are the name of the game in turning,
and no piece of wood is too small to be turned into something (this is both
a blessing and a curse since it means no piece of wood is too small to throw
away!).
If you want more information on lathes
and turning I suggest you consult one of the growing number of books and
videos on the subject. The book and companion video entitled "Turning
Wood" by Australian turner Richard Raffan are outstanding resources
for the novice and experienced turner, alike. Del Stubbs video on bowl turning
is a classic, and a new book "The Lathe Book" by Ernie Conover
is very informative. New videos by Chris Stott and John Jordan give lots
of great tips and insight into both open and hollow forms. I also encourage
aspiring turners to contact their local chapter of the American Association
of Woodturners, (www.woodturner.org).
The techniques discussed in this article
are intended to serve as a guide to the aspiring woodworker. The individual
must recognize that there are dangers in any form of woodworking and use
all safety precautions. Neither the author nor The Cutting Edge, Inc. can
be held responsible for accidents resulting from the application of techniques
discussed in this editorial.
Copyright 1995, 1997, 2006 Stephen LeGrue
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