Hi All,

some time ago, somebody in the group (I think it was Arch) posted that
he used a small circular saw, held in the lathe to cut things.

At the time, people were talking about lost fingers and it appeared as
a not so safe method or technique. I liked the use, but since it did
seem a bit dangoures I also didn't try it.

However, I've been reading what I call turners bible (Hand Or Simple
Turning by Holtzapffel) and decided to purchase most if not all of that
series, which includes much more material besides turning, concerning
machines etc...

He has in volume II a whole section dedicated to saws (types, usage,
sharpening etc...) and at the end of the section he discusses all kinds
of saw machines (the book is from 1845, so obviously these are not the
power tools we know) you can recognize there the father of the modern
band saw (which doesn't appear to have existed then) and an already
working table saw.

One of the applictions he talks about (being a master turner that he
was) is using circular saws on a lathe. He has explanations on how to
mount a small saw (slitting saw) and how to mount larger saws (between
8" and 10" in diameter) on the lathe, including two drawings of two
jigs, actually saw tables to place on the lathe - including blade
height adjustment. it was an eye opener - since this is such a simple
idea, I couldn't believe I didn't think of it before.

Now all I have to find is a MT2 arbor that will hold a large circular
saw well.

I don't know about copyright laws concerning this book, so I haven't
scanned any of the images or text. Sorry.

Moshe Eshel

There were machine manufacturers in England like Coronet, I believe, that
turned out lathes with attachments like table saws. Some of the older
turning books from England have pictures of these machines in them.
Occasionally one of these lathes will come up for sale in the British
magazines or on one of the e-groups. I am sure someone posted a link to a
company that sells used machines and parts for these machines recently but I
have no idea where I saw it.

"Moshe Eshel" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

some time ago, somebody in the group (I think it was Arch) posted that
he used a small circular saw, held in the lathe to cut things.

At the time, people were talking about lost fingers and it appeared as
a not so safe method or technique. I liked the use, but since it did
seem a bit dangoures I also didn't try it.


Some claim that the classic lathe turned into circular saw - Shopsmith - is
dangerous because of tilting the table versus the arbor.

What you describe, while common practice when, just isn't worth the risk.

Mount a cutoff saw upside down in a table and at least get a bit of a guard.

Hi Moshe,

IIRC, I mentioned using a small (1") slitting saw (milling cutter) to
slot a shaft for holding a scraper blade. However, many of us do use
larger blades in Shop- Smiths safely. Of course there are dangers in
spinning any cutting tool against the work or spinning the work against
a tool.

I've turned wood on my little Atlas horizontal milling machine and
others have used their drill press as a Vertilathe
(see archives). I probably could remove the table and use my bench saw
to turn wood, grind chisels, or buff bowls. Most machines end up as
arbors for holding and rotating something. (yes, I've heard of shapers,
presses and recip saws. 'G' ) It's the utility and efficiency plus the
safety features of a machine and its human that count the most, but
sometimes we have to consider other factors such as space and cost, and
multiuse what we have.

Didn't I say something new and sound smart 'til I fell off the soapbox?



Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

In news:Moshe Eshel typed:
Hi All,

some time ago, somebody in the group (I think it was Arch) posted that
he used a small circular saw, held in the lathe to cut things.

At the time, people were talking about lost fingers and it appeared as
a not so safe method or technique. I liked the use, but since it did
seem a bit dangoures I also didn't try it.

I use a 2" jewelers saw on a mandrel in my router connected to the tool post
on the cross slide for parting off parts very accurately. Works better than
anything I have used, including cut-off tools. Not to mention, it is more
accurate and faster. I cut wood, phenolics, ivory, and soft metals such as
silver with it. I suppose it could be dangerous, but no more so than any
other tool in the shop.

Ted Harris
http://www.tedharris.com

Hi Moshe

Moshe I am not aware of any off the shelf MT arbor made to hold a wood
saw blade, there are slitting saw arbors, the slitting saws are mostly
small up to 4" and used in the metal industry, electrical motors,
jewelry, etc.
The slitting saws usually have a notch cut out to help keep them from
slipping, no notch in wood saw blades

If you go to the Busy Bee website you'll find a slitting saw arbor the
cat. # is B044 and you can have a look, Busy Bee also carries a #3 and
#2 MT that is ground and hardened and drilled and tapped for a 3/8"
draw bar, that has a 1"D stub that is soft so it can be machined, the
catalog # B460.

Anyway without some custom machining, I don't know how you would be
able to get a large saw blade on your lathe.

Maybe that is a good thing though, as it is not the safest thing to do
IMO.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

" wrote:

Hi Moshe

Moshe I am not aware of any off the shelf MT arbor made to hold a wood
saw blade, there are slitting saw arbors, the slitting saws are mostly
small up to 4" and used in the metal industry, electrical motors,
jewelry, etc.
The slitting saws usually have a notch cut out to help keep them from
slipping, no notch in wood saw blades

If you go to the Busy Bee website you'll find a slitting saw arbor the
cat. # is B044 and you can have a look, Busy Bee also carries a #3 and
#2 MT that is ground and hardened and drilled and tapped for a 3/8"
draw bar, that has a 1"D stub that is soft so it can be machined, the
catalog # B460.

Anyway without some custom machining, I don't know how you would be
able to get a large saw blade on your lathe.

MT to 5/8", then use a Shopsmith saw blade arbor. Not that *I* would want
to do it - bad enough sawing on the Shopsmith and it has the appropriate
blade guards.

it's trivial to make a MT taper with a LH threaded hole to accept a LH
bolt and thus hold the saw - you can buy a MT taper with a "un
machined" soft steel part. No, this sounds really dangerous so I
won't make it, but you can do it on your wood lathe all by yourself -
buy the stuff at www.use-enco.com for example, you can drill
accurately using your tail stock, and tap the hole with a LH tap held
in the tail stock (rotate lathe by hand for this, with tailstock not
clamped down) - remember to use a drawbar to hold the MT taper in
place lest it come loose and you have a saw blade spinning around your
shop with the MT taper attached to it. Note also that you can machine
soft steel with a HSS or carbide gouge no problem (I've done it), but
it is hard to keep everything perfectly concentric - but you can get
pretty good (maybe a few thousandths) if you are careful.



On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 21:05:40 GMT, Lobby Dosser
wrote:

" wrote:

Hi Moshe

Moshe I am not aware of any off the shelf MT arbor made to hold a wood
saw blade, there are slitting saw arbors, the slitting saws are mostly
small up to 4" and used in the metal industry, electrical motors,
jewelry, etc.
The slitting saws usually have a notch cut out to help keep them from
slipping, no notch in wood saw blades

If you go to the Busy Bee website you'll find a slitting saw arbor the
cat. # is B044 and you can have a look, Busy Bee also carries a #3 and
#2 MT that is ground and hardened and drilled and tapped for a 3/8"
draw bar, that has a 1"D stub that is soft so it can be machined, the
catalog # B460.

Anyway without some custom machining, I don't know how you would be
able to get a large saw blade on your lathe.

MT to 5/8", then use a Shopsmith saw blade arbor. Not that *I* would want
to do it - bad enough sawing on the Shopsmith and it has the appropriate
blade guards.
Bill

www.wbnoble.com

to contact me, do not reply to this message,
instead correct this address and use it

will iam_ b_ No ble at msn daught com
*** Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com ***

Hi Bill

If the lathe turns toward you and you have a left hand thread, the bold
will unscrew itself.

Normal right hand thread thread will tighten, (with the MT we're
talking inboard) and yes like you say, the MT should be held with a
drawbar or else there might be real bad problems, as I said in my post,
I consider it not a safe thing to do.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:52:39 -0400, (Arch) wrote:

Arch... I may not be understanding this thread, but it seems to me that putting
a blade on a lathe and putting one on a Shopsmith are 2 completely different
thing, "assuming" that the SS has a saw table, fence, blade guard, etc...

I've had 2 Shopsmiths over the last 30 years and have never even THOUGHT of
spinning a blade on them when they're set up as lathes...
Hi Moshe,

IIRC, I mentioned using a small (1") slitting saw (milling cutter) to
slot a shaft for holding a scraper blade. However, many of us do use
larger blades in Shop- Smiths safely. Of course there are dangers in
spinning any cutting tool against the work or spinning the work against
a tool.

I've turned wood on my little Atlas horizontal milling machine and
others have used their drill press as a Vertilathe
(see archives). I probably could remove the table and use my bench saw
to turn wood, grind chisels, or buff bowls. Most machines end up as
arbors for holding and rotating something. (yes, I've heard of shapers,
presses and recip saws. 'G' ) It's the utility and efficiency plus the
safety features of a machine and its human that count the most, but
sometimes we have to consider other factors such as space and cost, and
multiuse what we have.

Didn't I say something new and sound smart 'til I fell off the soapbox?



Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

Mac

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

Hi Mac, I think we are tuned to the same frequency. Sorry for my
ambiguity and false assumption for not writing "Shop- Smith's in _saw
mode_". I had hoped to imply that a Shop Smith set up for sawing is
pretty much in lathe mode with table and protective accessories in
place. I suppose I could make a table and add Shop-Smith's array of
circle saw safety accessories to my wood lathe and spin larger blades,
but of course I won't.

I only spin small cutting tools like thread cutters, slitting saws and
drill bits and those at a slow speed with care. When prudent I use some
sort of 'milling vise' to hold and move the work.

This might be a good place to warn beginners about the danger of sharp
edges on revolving wood. They can slice a finger off or open an artery
like a blade.

This being the internet, let me make it crystal clear to anyone reading
this thread that neither Moshe nor I suggest putting an unprotected saw
blade on a naked lathe spindle. DON'T DO IT! WE DON'T!


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

mac davis wrote:

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:52:39 -0400, (Arch) wrote:

Arch... I may not be understanding this thread, but it seems to me
that putting a blade on a lathe and putting one on a Shopsmith are 2
completely different thing, "assuming" that the SS has a saw table,
fence, blade guard, etc...

I've had 2 Shopsmiths over the last 30 years and have never even
THOUGHT of spinning a blade on them when they're set up as lathes...

Even though you put a blade, table, and guards on the SS, it is Still a
lathe. You could add blade table, and guards to any other lathe in a manner
similar to SS. In fact, the Unimat used to have accessories for this
purpose - may still do.

On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 06:48:27 GMT, Lobby Dosser
wrote:

mac davis wrote:

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:52:39 -0400, (Arch) wrote:

Arch... I may not be understanding this thread, but it seems to me
that putting a blade on a lathe and putting one on a Shopsmith are 2
completely different thing, "assuming" that the SS has a saw table,
fence, blade guard, etc...

I've had 2 Shopsmiths over the last 30 years and have never even
THOUGHT of spinning a blade on them when they're set up as lathes...

Even though you put a blade, table, and guards on the SS, it is Still a
lathe. You could add blade table, and guards to any other lathe in a manner
similar to SS. In fact, the Unimat used to have accessories for this
purpose - may still do.

Right... and I know that you've had SS experience....

I'm just saying that even I'm not crazy enough to have a blade spinning on ANY
kind of arbor if it's not safe...
I've seen people use a drill and 5" saw blade instead of a grinder and cutting
wheel, but I value my body parts WAY too much to try it.. *g*

Mac

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

Well to calm everybody down, all that I'm saying is that I saw a
description (that included a full Saw table and a special arbor) of a
setup USED by people in ancient times (1840's I'd guess) that is given
a number of pages on what is considered to be the bible of woodturners.

No recommendation to do anything unsafe - I am so against unsafe that I
prefer hand tools to power tools whenever it makes sense....

The book mentions that this works very good, obviously this is not a
slap on rickety jig, but a well planned, and very safe way of doing
this - it IS actualy a table saw, just mounted and using the power of
the lathe. again do not try this at home without the proper equipment -
which I believe is not manufactured by anyone today.

Conclusion:
IT IS CHEAPER TO BUY A TABLESAW THAN TO LOSE A HAND OR WORSE!

My post was merely a informational one, I will try to post pictures and
text somewhere where everyone can read and see what I was talking
about...

mac davis wrote:

I'm just saying that even I'm not crazy enough to have a blade
spinning on ANY kind of arbor if it's not safe...
I've seen people use a drill and 5" saw blade instead of a grinder and
cutting wheel, but I value my body parts WAY too much to try it.. *g*



Oh Geez, I get chills Thinking about that one.

On 24 Apr 2006 12:48:52 -0700, "Moshe Eshel" wrote:

Well to calm everybody down, all that I'm saying is that I saw a
description (that included a full Saw table and a special arbor) of a
setup USED by people in ancient times (1840's I'd guess) that is given
a number of pages on what is considered to be the bible of woodturners.

No recommendation to do anything unsafe - I am so against unsafe that I
prefer hand tools to power tools whenever it makes sense....

The book mentions that this works very good, obviously this is not a
slap on rickety jig, but a well planned, and very safe way of doing
this - it IS actualy a table saw, just mounted and using the power of
the lathe. again do not try this at home without the proper equipment -
which I believe is not manufactured by anyone today.

Conclusion:
IT IS CHEAPER TO BUY A TABLESAW THAN TO LOSE A HAND OR WORSE!

My post was merely a informational one, I will try to post pictures and
text somewhere where everyone can read and see what I was talking
about...

Moshe... I think we'd both agree that if you had the table, guards and all, it
would be better to use an old motor and make a saw instead of tying up your
lathe...
IMHO, saws are for cutting, lathes for turning...

Have you turned any of that nice olive yet?
Mac

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

On 25 Apr 2006 11:04:57 -0700, "Moshe Eshel" wrote:

We do agree :-)

About the olive, there is some progress...

I turned a nice (I think) goblet from a branch (the one that has its
own picture in my website). The problem was that I should have known
better - even in branch form there was a line that promised to become a
nasty crack (structural crack, not drying) - very disturbing.........
The smell it gave while turning WAS amazing.

This weekend hopefuly, I will meet with my teacher (woodturning
teacher) and he will help me to turn the logs into all kinds of blanks
- whatever we can harvest. Also some Pomelo will get the same treatment
and some peach and apricot that I recently got. I'll try to get some
pictures of the process to share.

Moshe

Peach & apricot are fun, aromatic woods that turn well and look great.... and
crack for the fun of it...

Expect to use a lot of CA and use the cracks as accents to the wood, not
defects, and you'll have more fun..

Mac

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