George Newton

[George Newton]

Hello, my name is George. I have been a hand tool woodworker for many years, but 6 months ago dipped a toe into the power world by getting a Rikon 1218VS midi lathe. I made a beer tap handle (in cherry) for a friend as well as a few gunsmith-style screwdrivers and a London pattern handle for a brad pusher (all in dogwood).

I also have a question for you more experienced hands. How tightly should I tighten the quill on the tailstock? I had been advancing it just to the point where the blank seemed not to move with respect to the drive center and that has functioned fine. But I got a Sorby Steb center, thinking it might be more forgiving of catches. It seems to me that in order for the central spring-loaded point to retract far enough for the outer ring of teeth to engage the wood, it required a lot of tightening of the quill, and I have worried it might damage the bearings.

Any thoughts?

 

[Dave Landers]

Welcome,

Tighten the tailstock to the point where it holds the work appropriately and securely. That tension will depend on what drive center you are using and the hardness (etc) of the wood. If the drive center is not holding the work, it's not tight enough. It also depends on what you're turning - going super tight on a really thin spindle will break it; going super light on an out-of-round bowl blank risks throwing it off the lathe.

Lathes are made to (among other things) hold wild between centers. I don't worry about the bearings.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome aboard, George. Dave gave an excellent answer. I have seen some woodturners tighten the tailstock quill to the point that they are using both hands to turn the crank and their faces turn beet red. We can both agree that is way too much force.

Getting catches just means that you are doing something wrong. Joining a local woodturning club and hooking up with a mentor is the best thing that you can do to get up to speed on proper tool control.

 

[Mike Johnson]

If you remove the spur drive from your headstock and use a mallet to seat the spur drive into your wood blank and then re-install into the headstock you need very little pressure from the quill to hold the wood blank on the lathe. The quill is not designed to drive the spurs into the wood blank. Some turners will use a saw to cut an X pattern on the end of the blank for the spur drive to sink into which eliminates the blank from spinning across the spur drive during a tool catch..

 

[John Torchick]

Welcome aboard! Good info given. Join a local club. Worth every penny and the time.

 

[Roger Wiegand]

I've become a big fan of holding between-centers work less tightly. I used to be of the four spur chuck, drive it in and then crank it down school. Since spending a week with Alan Lacer I've really come to like using a small cup center as my drive. It has caused me to use more finesse and less brute strength in my cuts resulting in a lot less chatter and much nicer surfaces. A year in, the only time I spin the drive in the work is when I'm not paying attention and get a catch and sometimes that's a very good thing because it saves the work. I don't think I'm removing wood any more slowly, just with better technique and sharper tools.

Long ago I was told to tighten the tailstock until I could hear the bearings load to reduce vibration; I'm not sure whether that still applies to modern lathes. Either my hearing has gone or it doesn't happen on my AB. With the old Delta lathe I learned on there was a definite change in the sound.

 

[hockenbery]

I'm new to turning, I've just set up a workshop in the garage of my first house. I have an old Rockwell 4 speed wood lathe that I got off of Craigslist for free that I'm working with. I'm still figuring out how all of this works and I'm interested to see what I can learn here on the forums.

welcome,

for spindles too tight will make the work bow.
I do most of my spindles with cup centers.

bowl & Hollow forms I start between center with the tailstock cranked down solid.