Where can I get a Screw Chuck?

[RichColvin]

Tom, one more thing : LittleMachineShop.com sells a kit to convert the tool post to a quick-change tool post (QCTP). Better include that cost ($140) in the acquisition cost. Definitely worth the money.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Plus 1 on the quick change tool post!

 

[odie]

But here's one interesting outcome. It has already made me better at using my wood lathe. Amazing how the skills from metal turning carry over. One example: take less bite in the material & take it off over more time.

Yep, this is very true, Rich...........

I've been aware of the evolution of the wood lathe since the late 1970's, and the trend is to produce bigger and bigger lathes with more and more power. My lathe is 1 1/2 HP, and I seldom bog it down......mainly because I've been accustomed to taking less of a bite, right from the initial stages of my learning process. I suppose it's nice to hog out a bowl quickly with huge cuts, but it's my belief that doing so actually disrupts the wood structure beneath the surface at a larger depth than taking smaller bites. This can effect the eventual final finish surface IF the disrupted wood fibers reach to where that final finished surface is. Take that for what it's worth, because it's only my opinion.......and, it's also my opinion that I can achieve a better final surface quality simply because the initial roughing stages are done more delicately.

ko

 

[hockenbery]

I suppose it's nice to hog out a bowl quickly with huge cuts, but it's my belief that doing so actually disrupts the wood structure beneath the surface at a larger depth than taking smaller bites. This can effect the eventual final finish surface IF the disrupted wood fibers reach to where that final finished surface is.

Quite true! Better safe than sorry.

With experience You can learn when to shift from the roughing cut
The roughing cut is an advanced skill.

When taking a 3/4" shaving you are going to pull some fibers because that much wood is connected to other wood that has yet to be cut. However using the efficient non bevel riding roughing cut inherently tears fibers.

The trick is to get in the neighborhood of the surface and shape with the hogging out roughing cuts.
Then take 1/4" cut, 1/8" cut, 1/16" cut, 1/32 cut, 1/64 cut and you have a clean surface.

The item I'm turning will make me decide when to be less aggressive.
Punky wood and really soft wood require finesse earlier than harder wood.
When turning the outside of a NE bowl I shift to the finishing cuts earlier because an aggressive roughing cut will pull the bark off when I cut toward the rim.

 

[Bill Boehme]

My lathe is 1 1/2 HP, and I seldom bog it down ...... mainly because I've been accustomed to taking less of a bite, right from the initial stages of my learning process. I suppose it's nice to hog out a bowl ...

I agree, but there are a few specialized operations where more power is needed like coring that most turners will never do.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Like Odie I use a 1.5 hp lathe and of course smaller cuts, first of all this is a hobby for me and always was, not being in a hurry, I enjoy turning and seeing the fresh cut wood, the other thing for me is as I look again and again while roughing it will show if there is something special and have to change what I was thinking I was going to turn.

I will get a better feeling for how the wood cuts and so will finesse or adjust how I cut the wood, and as I say “every cut is a practice cut” .

As for needing more power for coring I do not accept that one needs more power than a mechanical powered belt driven lathe with 1.5 HP will deliver, VFD that looses power at lower speeds might like more, but sure more power is very likely nice to have.

 

[Bill Boehme]

.... As for needing more power for coring I do not accept that one needs more power than a mechanical powered belt driven lathe with 1.5 HP will deliver, VFD that looses power at lower speeds might like more, but sure more power is very likely nice to have.

The great advantage of mechanical drives is that you always have full power available. The disadvantage is a few fixed speeds. Good Reeves drives seem to have fallen by the wayside because of cost and maintenance. Electronic variable speed lathes are the "must have" new toys (and I have one). The advantage is variable speed and the disadvantage is sacrificing power for variable speed.

A piece in which the first core is 20+ inches in diameter means that the swing of the lathe needs be something greater than that and the likelihood that a "store bought" lathe has a stepped pulley drive train and a motor under 2 HP is very small. In the real world where large swing and electronic speed control is the only game in town then the amount of power needed depends on the diameter of the work. Lighter cuts are fine up to a point. Nobody wants to turn slower than I do. I might even be in the Guinness Book of Records for taking the lightest cuts. I don't do hogging ... every cut is a finishing cut. The time it takes me to complete a turning is measured in geological time.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Another good digression...

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

The other thing which I should have mentioned, is that with the mechanical drive there are normally more steps than with a VFD where there is often only two or maybe 3 steps.

So with the mechanical drive the lowest speed also multiplies the output to the spindle where the VFD has to slow down and lower the output of the motor to the spindle.

But yes there certainly are compromises with either system, and upping the power is the easy thing to do when building lathes with Variable Frequency Drives, something I easily could do, (more power) but still would have the fixed speeds.

 

[odie]

The other thing which I should have mentioned, is that with the mechanical drive there are normally more steps than with a VFD where there is often only two or maybe 3 steps.

So with the mechanical drive the lowest speed also multiplies the output to the spindle where the VFD has to slow down and lower the output of the motor to the spindle.

But yes there certainly are compromises with either system, and upping the power is the easy thing to do when building lathes with Variable Frequency Drives, something I easily could do, (more power) but still would have the fixed speeds.

That's an interesting observation, Leo.....and one that I occasionally can make use of. Since my lathe was originally a 5-step pulley without variable speed, there is on occasion, a time to need as much power as possible, while going down to a very slow rpm. I think my lowest practical rpm using the original 370 rpm pulley setting is approximately 25 rpm. I can maintain a respectable amount of power at this setting. I also have full power at max rpm at any of the pulley positions......this too, is an advantage sometimes.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I made a couple different sized "screw chucks" that use different sized hanger bolts.
This one has a 5/16" hanger bolt the same size as ones used on beer tap handles.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Yep, he's awesome at that.
Ask him about the chucks!

I attended the all-day demo on Saturday. There was a large crowd and a full schedule for Alan so I didn't have a chance to talk to him. But, Mary was there running the "store" and they did have a Glaser screw chuck with both the standard and optional large shouldered bases. I almost bought it ... if for no other reason than the beautiful workmanship. The machining on the threads was perfect. But, despite how much I appreciate a nice piece of machining, I realized it would just sit on my tool chest to be admired. I told Mary to write your name on it.

The part of the program that I enjoyed the most was watching him make a hook tool and then use it to turn the interior of a box. Based on the speed and ease of making and using the tool, I have the the impression that he has done this a few times before.