Hi Andy,

We're always ready to give a newbie more advice than he can possibly
use. Welcome to the sport of wood turning.

Speed--the faster the wood turns, the smoother the cut. Run the lathe
as fast as feels comfortable. If you feel uncomfortable, slow it
down. For pens, you should be able to run it pretty fast. I do chisel
handles at about 1500 rpm. You will find that each piece of wood
seems to want its own speed.

Shavings. They should squirt off the chisel like Silly String. If
they aren't, your chisel is probably dull. It may FEEL sharp to you,
but how the shavings come off is the real indicator of sharpness.

My indicator of technique is noise. Actually the absences thereof.
If all I hear is the "whish" of wood passing by the chisel, all is
well. If I get squeal, chatter or growling, there's a problem.

Cut lots of trial blocks, and when you are done, you will KNOW what is
good technique or bad.

Old Guy




On Jan 1, 7:33*am, Andy K. mcse666@gmail_com wrote:
Hello All and Happy New Year,

* I have a couple of questions being new to turning. Currently the
only thing I have done is to try and make square stock round and other
things to get a feel for the lathe. My main projects at this time are
going to be turning pens. How do you figure out what speed to turn at,
is it different for the different species of wood, or is hardwood
hardwood? When I am turning what type of shvings should I expect;
actual shavings, dust or what?

* Also can I figure out what I am doing wrong based on what is coming
off of my turned piece? Any and all suggestions and info would be
greatly appreciated. * *

I'm never lost, someone is always telling me where to go...