I got an HF lathe (the cast iron 12 x36) for Christmas and finally got
around to setting it up. So far, the only thing I have done is put a
scrap 18" piece of 2x2 maple between the head and tail and watched it
spin around at different speeds - waiting to get a book on basic
turning. Haven't touched tool to wood yet.

I saw the recommendations for the HF HSS turner set and just bought
those to practice with/on. Planning on getting, or making (Oland -type)
bowl tools later.

From my readings so far, and what I have a "feeling" that I will also
need, is a decent wood holding chuck (and probably a drill bit chuck as
well). I have been tempted by Penn State's CSC2000C Barracuda Scroll
Chuck. It looks like a pretty versatile chuck. Anyone have any
experience with it? Any other recommendations.

-jj

--
Remove BOB to email me

JJ
Now you have gone and done it. The addiction is about to start in. Just a
word of advice, free and worth every penny. While you may want a chuck in
the future, it is not necessary. First thing I would say to do is make or
buy a grinding jig. In fact, if you are not sure you need or want one, copy
mine and try it. It saves a lot of time and anxiety in sharpening. I also
think that is is safer for a turner, especially a new one, to have properly
sharpened tools.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

Very true words.

Darrell Feltmate wrote:

JJ
Now you have gone and done it. The addiction is about to start in. Just a
word of advice, free and worth every penny. While you may want a chuck in
the future, it is not necessary. First thing I would say to do is make or
buy a grinding jig. In fact, if you are not sure you need or want one, copy
mine and try it. It saves a lot of time and anxiety in sharpening. I also
think that is is safer for a turner, especially a new one, to have properly
sharpened tools.

Darrell Feltmate wrote:
JJ
Now you have gone and done it. The addiction is about to start in. Just a
word of advice, free and worth every penny. While you may want a chuck in
the future, it is not necessary. First thing I would say to do is make or
buy a grinding jig. In fact, if you are not sure you need or want one, copy
mine and try it. It saves a lot of time and anxiety in sharpening. I also
think that is is safer for a turner, especially a new one, to have properly
sharpened tools.


Darrel,

Thanks. I saw your great website the other day - great info. I'm sure
I'll be back there many times in the near future as my habit progresses.
New to turning, but have played at wood and metal working for a while,
so I am pretty well set with grinding/sharpening equipment and am used
to sharpening just about anything.

-jj

--
Remove BOB to email me

"JJ" wrote in message
...
New to turning, but have played at wood and metal working for a while, so
I am pretty well set with grinding/sharpening equipment and am used to
sharpening just about anything.

Then you may substitute a confident hand for the holding device at the
grinder. I like to have the centerline of my grinder up at the same height
as the centerline of my lathe, making the sharpening process just a repeat
of the motions I use to make a cut. The objective in both cases is to avoid
digging in, though the potential damage is, of course to the tool versus the
piece in sharpening.

As to chucks, there are a lot of alternatives for holding your work, but
nothing takes so much drudgery off your hands as the purchase of a chuck.
Further, your choice of jaws can also make many things much less
time-consuming. My candidates for most versatile
http://personalpages.tds.net/~upgeor...ugh%20Page.htm

I agree with Darrell too--the key is in the sharpness of the tools and the
sharpness of the mind. You don't have to have a bazillion dollars worth of
accessories to make good wood turnings. Get some instruction, and some good
sharp tools, and start in making your own mistakes.

It's a world of fun.

Walt C


"Darrell Feltmate" wrote in message
news:VnPAf.129827$km.126455@edtnps89...
JJ
Now you have gone and done it. The addiction is about to start in. Just a
word of advice, free and worth every penny. While you may want a chuck in
the future, it is not necessary. First thing I would say to do is make or
buy a grinding jig. In fact, if you are not sure you need or want one,
copy
mine and try it. It saves a lot of time and anxiety in sharpening. I also
think that is is safer for a turner, especially a new one, to have
properly
sharpened tools.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

George wrote:
"JJ" wrote in message
...

New to turning, but have played at wood and metal working for a while, so
I am pretty well set with grinding/sharpening equipment and am used to
sharpening just about anything.


Then you may substitute a confident hand for the holding device at the
grinder. I like to have the centerline of my grinder up at the same height
as the centerline of my lathe, making the sharpening process just a repeat
of the motions I use to make a cut. The objective in both cases is to avoid
digging in, though the potential damage is, of course to the tool versus the
piece in sharpening.

As to chucks, there are a lot of alternatives for holding your work, but
nothing takes so much drudgery off your hands as the purchase of a chuck.
Further, your choice of jaws can also make many things much less
time-consuming. My candidates for most versatile
http://personalpages.tds.net/~upgeor...ugh%20Page.htm



George,

Great website with lots of useful info, thanks for the link. I've seen
the Nova chucks when hunting around on the web. Maybe I'll take a closer
look.

-jj

--
Remove BOB to email me

Walt Cheever wrote:
I agree with Darrell too--the key is in the sharpness of the tools and the
sharpness of the mind. You don't have to have a bazillion dollars worth of
accessories to make good wood turnings. Get some instruction, and some good
sharp tools, and start in making your own mistakes.

It's a world of fun.

Walt C


"Darrell Feltmate" wrote in message
news:VnPAf.129827$km.126455@edtnps89...

JJ
Now you have gone and done it. The addiction is about to start in. Just a
word of advice, free and worth every penny. While you may want a chuck in
the future, it is not necessary. First thing I would say to do is make or
buy a grinding jig. In fact, if you are not sure you need or want one,
copy
mine and try it. It saves a lot of time and anxiety in sharpening. I also
think that is is safer for a turner, especially a new one, to have
properly
sharpened tools.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com






Got a beginners woodturners book last night and started reading. Hope to
put tool to grinder and then tool to wood this week.

I have a lot of scrap hard maple to practice on.

-jj


--
Remove BOB to email me

On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 16:35:29 GMT, JJ wrote:

I got an HF lathe (the cast iron 12 x36) for Christmas and finally got
around to setting it up. So far, the only thing I have done is put a
scrap 18" piece of 2x2 maple between the head and tail and watched it
spin around at different speeds - waiting to get a book on basic
turning. Haven't touched tool to wood yet.

I saw the recommendations for the HF HSS turner set and just bought
those to practice with/on. Planning on getting, or making (Oland -type)
bowl tools later.

From my readings so far, and what I have a "feeling" that I will also
need, is a decent wood holding chuck (and probably a drill bit chuck as
well). I have been tempted by Penn State's CSC2000C Barracuda Scroll
Chuck. It looks like a pretty versatile chuck. Anyone have any
experience with it? Any other recommendations.

-jj

JJ.. welcome to the turning addiction... it makes crack seem inexpensive and not
very time consuming.. *g*

I highly recommend a good chuck, (I love my 2 Oneway Talons), but I did survive
my 1st 20 years or so of casual turning without one... so if money is an object,
wait a while on the chuck..

You're going to find yourself spending that money on a lot of other stuff, as
the habit grows, including a "step up" lathe, so keep the checkbook locked..

4 in this group people that I bothered a LOT while I was learning the basics
were George, Darrell, Leo and Bill Grumbine... the one thing they have in common
is an intuitive ability to teach or describe how they do something, like hold a
chisel to wood... ( sounds pretty basic, but I had no idea how bad I was until I
found out HOW to hold it..lol )

Add tools as you need them... some things that you'll probably collect is an
assortment of sand paper, a few specialty chisels, maybe a power sanding setup,
etc... PLEASE add a face shield and set of safety glasses if your shop is
without them...
IMHO, one of the best investments you can make is DVDs on turning... you watch
them, think you understand them, turn a bit and watch them a few more times and
understand them even more.. *g*

A great jump start if you want to turn bowls is Bill's DVD.. I wish that I'd
watched it before I learned the hard way and it's changed the way I turn
bowls...
His web site is another of the great places to learn, also:
http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/index.html





mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

mac davis wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 16:35:29 GMT, JJ wrote:


I got an HF lathe (the cast iron 12 x36) for Christmas and finally got
around to setting it up. So far, the only thing I have done is put a
scrap 18" piece of 2x2 maple between the head and tail and watched it
spin around at different speeds - waiting to get a book on basic
turning. Haven't touched tool to wood yet.

I saw the recommendations for the HF HSS turner set and just bought
those to practice with/on. Planning on getting, or making (Oland -type)
bowl tools later.

From my readings so far, and what I have a "feeling" that I will also
need, is a decent wood holding chuck (and probably a drill bit chuck as
well). I have been tempted by Penn State's CSC2000C Barracuda Scroll
Chuck. It looks like a pretty versatile chuck. Anyone have any
experience with it? Any other recommendations.

-jj


JJ.. welcome to the turning addiction... it makes crack seem inexpensive and not
very time consuming.. *g*

I highly recommend a good chuck, (I love my 2 Oneway Talons), but I did survive
my 1st 20 years or so of casual turning without one... so if money is an object,
wait a while on the chuck..

Mac, what did you use to hold blanks to the headstock before you got a
chuck? Seems like screwing it to a face plate would leave holes in the
finished bowl (sorry if I'm being too newbyish). I did see this
"turner's tape" at Lee Valley. Is this really a good alternative to
screwing the blank to the faceplate or mounting it in a chuck? Seems
kind of scary unless the blank is pretty low mass.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,110,43466

For practice, I'll just uses screws and the faceplate because I'm sure
I'll be generating a fair amount of throwaway stuff, so no problem.


You're going to find yourself spending that money on a lot of other stuff, as
the habit grows, including a "step up" lathe, so keep the checkbook locked..

4 in this group people that I bothered a LOT while I was learning the basics
were George, Darrell, Leo and Bill Grumbine... the one thing they have in common
is an intuitive ability to teach or describe how they do something, like hold a
chisel to wood... ( sounds pretty basic, but I had no idea how bad I was until I
found out HOW to hold it..lol )

Add tools as you need them... some things that you'll probably collect is an
assortment of sand paper, a few specialty chisels, maybe a power sanding setup,
etc... PLEASE add a face shield and set of safety glasses if your shop is
without them...

Totally agree on the face shield and glasses. I have a face shield hung
near my grinders, and I have an assortment of safety glasses
strategically placed near other equipment so I don't have to hunt (or at
least not as much anyway).

IMHO, one of the best investments you can make is DVDs on turning... you watch
them, think you understand them, turn a bit and watch them a few more times and
understand them even more.. *g*

A great jump start if you want to turn bowls is Bill's DVD.. I wish that I'd
watched it before I learned the hard way and it's changed the way I turn
bowls...
His web site is another of the great places to learn, also:
http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/index.html

I was hoping that the local Woodcraft would be offering some beginer's
turning classes but I don't see anything on their calendar.

Just went to Bill's website. Looks like another great source of info,
thanks. Bowl turning is what I what I want to do mostly, so maybe I will
just buy his DVD.






mac

Please remove splinters before emailing


--
Remove BOB to email me

JJ
Just to chime in again, the easiest way to turn a bowl is to rough between
centers, put Anchorseal or equivalent on the end grain to ease drying
pressures and let it rest for a few months. Very quickly you build up a
stash of dryed blanks to finish. For that finish turning use a glue block
with hot glue and away you go. These days I find that I use my chuck more
for spindle turning than for bowls. There are pages on my web site on
roughing and finish turning bowls.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

I'll second the safety glasses and face shield. I'm just starting with this
myself and teaching myself as I go along. I was turning a mallet wet with
just safety glasses. I was using the parting tool and had cut in to the
point on both the head and tail end where there was still 3/4" left when it
suddenly came flying off. I didn't realize what happened for a while but I
had a pretty good cut on my nose. Fortunately nothing worse but that cut
was very self evident all during Christmas. You can still see it but only
when you look close.

Safety glasses and face shield.

And to add insult to injury, the mallet split.

--

Steven, age 5, discussing the relative merits of supper and chocolate
milkshakes
"You would understand me better if you were 5 years old."


"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 16:35:29 GMT, JJ wrote:

I got an HF lathe (the cast iron 12 x36) for Christmas and finally got
around to setting it up. So far, the only thing I have done is put a
scrap 18" piece of 2x2 maple between the head and tail and watched it
spin around at different speeds - waiting to get a book on basic
turning. Haven't touched tool to wood yet.

I saw the recommendations for the HF HSS turner set and just bought
those to practice with/on. Planning on getting, or making (Oland -type)
bowl tools later.

From my readings so far, and what I have a "feeling" that I will also
need, is a decent wood holding chuck (and probably a drill bit chuck as
well). I have been tempted by Penn State's CSC2000C Barracuda Scroll
Chuck. It looks like a pretty versatile chuck. Anyone have any
experience with it? Any other recommendations.

-jj

JJ.. welcome to the turning addiction... it makes crack seem inexpensive
and not
very time consuming.. *g*

I highly recommend a good chuck, (I love my 2 Oneway Talons), but I did
survive
my 1st 20 years or so of casual turning without one... so if money is an
object,
wait a while on the chuck..

You're going to find yourself spending that money on a lot of other stuff,
as
the habit grows, including a "step up" lathe, so keep the checkbook
locked..

4 in this group people that I bothered a LOT while I was learning the
basics
were George, Darrell, Leo and Bill Grumbine... the one thing they have in
common
is an intuitive ability to teach or describe how they do something, like
hold a
chisel to wood... ( sounds pretty basic, but I had no idea how bad I was
until I
found out HOW to hold it..lol )

Add tools as you need them... some things that you'll probably collect is
an
assortment of sand paper, a few specialty chisels, maybe a power sanding
setup,
etc... PLEASE add a face shield and set of safety glasses if your shop is
without them...
IMHO, one of the best investments you can make is DVDs on turning... you
watch
them, think you understand them, turn a bit and watch them a few more
times and
understand them even more.. *g*

A great jump start if you want to turn bowls is Bill's DVD.. I wish that
I'd
watched it before I learned the hard way and it's changed the way I turn
bowls...
His web site is another of the great places to learn, also:
http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/index.html





mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 18:30:24 GMT, JJ wrote:


Mac, what did you use to hold blanks to the headstock before you got a
chuck? Seems like screwing it to a face plate would leave holes in the
finished bowl (sorry if I'm being too newbyish). I did see this
"turner's tape" at Lee Valley. Is this really a good alternative to
screwing the blank to the faceplate or mounting it in a chuck? Seems
kind of scary unless the blank is pretty low mass.

I started with the face plates that came with my Shopsmith... short, fat screws
into the bottom of the wood..." graduated" to using turned scrap as sacrificial
blocks to bolt onto face plate and glue stock on to it.. (on fashioned glue &
paper, I'd try hot glue now)
I also played with screw chucks and stuff until I got my 1st Talon ..

I've used turner's tape, but IMO it's mostly for reversing and finishing a bowl
that you can't hold any other way... not safe or secure, in my experience, just
delays the launch until you're relaxed and not suspecting it.. *lol*

As Darrell suggests, a lot of bowls are started between centers, too...


I was hoping that the local Woodcraft would be offering some beginer's
turning classes but I don't see anything on their calendar.

Just went to Bill's website. Looks like another great source of info,
thanks. Bowl turning is what I what I want to do mostly, so maybe I will
just buy his DVD.

yep.. I "thought about" getting Bill's DVD for about a year.. I really wish that
I'd gotten it right away because I had NO idea how badly I needed it.. lol


Mac
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm