On Jan 1, 5:33 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...

Happy New Year to you and all of the rest of the people who visit this
newsgroup.

When I started turning some 20 years ago, I had a pile of maple and
alder firewood that I started turning into cylinders. When the piece
was round, I made beads the length of the piece. I then made coves on
the top of each bead. I then made the wood round again. I repeated
this process until the wood was wasted. Finally, when the beads were
mostly good and the coves were pretty good, I tried turning something,
like a tool handle. I made handles for all of my files and rasps. Then
I tackled lamps for all of the ladies in my family (a total of six
sets of table lamps).

The smaller the diameter of the spindle, the higher the speed can be.
Pens turn best at about 2500 to 3000 rpm. For this I recommend a good
sharp skew chisel. However, the harder the wood becomes, the better it
responds to a scraper. African Blackwood (about the hardest wood in
the world) for example works best with a scraper. But a scraper will
tear the surface of softer hardwoods.

As others have said, the shavings tell the story. If your tool isn't
sharp, you'll likely get dust. If the tool is sharp and applied to the
wood properly, you will get shavings and the shavings will become
longer as the wood become round.

Finally, I recommend turning spinning tops as a good project to gain
tool control. You can turn them from a solid block. It is best if the
piece of wood is mounted on a faceplate or in a chuck. Turn the wood
round, then cut a taper to make the point that touches the floor when
it is spinning. Then turn the top part of the spinner, and finally the
stem of about 1/8" in diameter. I've turned several thousand of these
over the years and is one of the first projects that I recommend for a
beginner.

Welcome to the world of woodturning.

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com