Cary Power

[Cary Power]

Hello!

My name is Cary Power, 62, from Mckinney, Texas.

I am a Retired Software Engineer, Northern Telecom/Nortel after 36+ years. Before that 6 years in the Navy. Just started Woodturning as a Retirement hobby in 2018, I have one of the highly sought after Harbor Freight Lathes (34706) purchase made possible with with a well timed 25% off coupon! So far my only tools are a Hunter Osprey #2 and a PSI 1/16" parting tool. My wife is going to have so many bowls...

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome to the AAW forum, Cary. With your great sense of humor you'll fit right in with this crowd. I revised your title since most of us answer to the name "Useless".

 

[hockenbery]

Hello Cary.
Welcome to the forum and to your woodturning adventure.
Lots of good information here.

You are a short drive from 3 AAW chapters. If you haven’t visited one. I suggest you do.
Meeting other woodturners, seeing how they use the tools is invaluable.
The clubs often have hands on events too.
https://www.woodturner.org/page/AAWConnectsMap?

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Welcome to the crew. Lots of answers here and some good people.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Cary,
On the HF 34706 lathe you will want to make a regular habit of blowing saw dust out of the headstock housing and lubricating the reeves pulleys. The reeves drive and drive belt are the items on that particular lathe that need the most attention. If the belt gets worn and frayed you need to replace it before it causes damage to the cast alloy reeves pulleys. If the reeves pulleys get gummed up and stuck onto the motor shaft or spindle shaft you need to be very careful trying to put any pressure on them or they can break easily. When the variable speed adjustment does not slow or speed up the lathe that is usually an indication of one of the reeves pulleys being gummed up and not moving on the shaft as designed. A shot of WD-40 on the shaft is usually enough to break it free and you can rotate the speed of the lathe up and down a couple of times while spraying the shaft with WD-40 to clean the dirt from the shaft and pulley.