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Headstock hand wheel

Waay back to my days of ol'... I can't recall if my monotube bed Sears lathe had one. Anyway, after that, the Jet mini had a mini handwheel and I always thought a bigger one would be nice. Easier to hand turn a big diameter wheel to inspect my work. Then the big Vicmarcs came along with their nearly 5" wheel, which they still call it what it is, a hand brake wheel. That size is nice, and I use it as a hand brake all the time to slow down the freewheeling DC motor. My newest, the Oneway 1224, has a 4" hand wheel, but it has electronic braking. But I still like the 5" Vic wheel better, easier to turn to inspect my work.

If you have an idea to cap your smaller wheel with a larger diameter wood overlay, I say do it. Not necessary, but I bet you'll like it.

You may be able to find replacement handwheels from machinery parts distributors, or even have a local machine shop make you a one-off wheel to your liking, if you want metal.
 
I'll admit, the size and feel of the handwheel on my old Problematic felt a little better than the American Beauty that replaced it.
 
Don't use your hand to brush the chips and dust off the motor of a Powermatic with the motor running. Getting your hand pulled under the handwheel and motor between the first and second knuckle really hurts. I just realized that's probably where the knot in the bone on the backside of my hand came from.
 
I've had and used lathes with different handwheels on the headstock. I don't much like the one on my PM3520b, but I rarely use it.
I really like the cylindrical hand "wheel" on the Jet 1642, felt good, easy to grip and turn.

I suspect a larger diameter hand wheel could provide a better grip if you rotated large pieces a with the wheel, which I don't.

Possibly related to a hand wheel: when turning small things like spindles by hand, especially those held in a 2MT collet or by a turned 2MT end, I made the thing on the left: threaded to fit the 1-1/4"x8 lathe spindle, clearance cut on the left end to clear the shoulder on the spindle, and textured for grip with the wagner knurling tool shown.

wagner_knurling_IMG_7846.jpg

Made from Dogwood. This collar is great to rotate the spindle when sanding by hand, carving, or stippling. Much easier than holding and turning the spindle threads with the fingers!

JKJ
 
Webb Willmott said:
Is bigger better? I think the one on my Nova lathe would benefit with a turned addition on top. Good idea or waste of time to turn one?
Click to expand...
This is physics. Larger diameter requires less force to create more stopping forces. Have you seen the disc brake rotors on race cars? They are as big as small car tires. Well almost. Same goes for bicycles, larger rotors mean less caliper pressure is needed.
 
I don’t use one. My Oneway stops turning in 4 seconds no matter what the speed. If I want to rotate the piece I’m turning, I just rotate the piece.
 
Webb, I must ask why you feel the need to add a larger diameter hand wheel.

Over my years of turning (30+), I have read many articles and postings from far more experienced turners who pushed the idea of turning slower rather than faster.

As Richard Coers noted, increased speed = increased torque needed to slow the spindle holding the object. And, this is all the more true when turning larger, more massive pieces.

When turning pieces on a lathe, the turner is required to pay attention to inches per second at the cutting edge. This was outlined well by William Henry Northcott in his book, A Treatise on Lathes and Turning, 2nd Edition, (1876). As Northcutt noted, the turner should use these values.
  • Soft wood = 2,000 feet / minute = 24,000 inches / minute
  • Hard wood (or ivory) = 300-800 feet / minute = 3,600 - 9,600 inches / minute\
These are the speeds at the circumference. So, converting these values to RPM gives:

1 revolution = circumference of the piece, which increases at diameter * pi

Using the values from above, we come to:
  • Soft wood = 24,000 in/min x 1 revolution / (diameter*pi) = 7,639 RPM / diameter
  • Hard wood = 3,600 - 9,600 in/min x 1 revolution / (diameter*pi) = 1,146 - 3,056 RPM / diameter
So, for a 10” diameter piece, you should be running the lathe at:
  • Soft wood - 764 RPM
  • Hard wood - 115 - 306 RPM
Northcutt also noted, “Many are of the opinion that it cannot be rotated too rapidly; but this is a mistake.”
Do note: a later guide (the source of which I don’t remember) notes that the speed should be
  • 6,000 - 9,000 RPM / diameter
These seem to align with the soft wood numbers given by Northcutt.
  • Using this formula, a 10” diameter wood piece should be turned at 600 - 900 RPM.
Summary: All of this is to say, that you should rotate the piece slower than many assume. And at such slow speeds, a smaller hand wheel on the headstock should be sufficient.
 
@RichColvin, am I missing something? What does suggested turning speeds have to do with the size of the handwheel on the headstock, from the original inquiry? Thanks.
 
Thank you Rich for the info. Always good to learn.
My reason for asking is the metal wheel could be more comfortable to my grip. Also a larger size would seem to make braking, turning, and changing a chuck easier.
 
Steve Tiedman said:
@RichColvin, am I missing something? What does suggested turning speeds have to do with the size of the handwheel on the headstock, from the original inquiry? Thanks.
Click to expand...

at such slow speeds, a smaller hand wheel on the headstock should be sufficient
 
Okay, but I'm still not fully connecting the relevance of operational cutting rpm to handwheel size, aside from rpm to the wheel's operation as a hand brake. With today's motor drive technology, a hand brake wheel is becoming nearly unnecessary as a brake, but Webb's points, which I'd share, would show the larger wheel as being a benefit. It is to me.

As I stated, I've owned small, medium, and relatively large hand wheel outfitted lathes, and by far my favorite for all reasoning is a large hand wheel. In almost 29 years of turning, I've never drawn a connection of hand wheel diameter to rpm (and by extension diameter) of the piece if wood being turned.
 
Last edited:
RichColvin said:
Webb, I must ask why you feel the need to add a larger diameter hand wheel.

Over my years of turning (30+), I have read many articles and postings from far more experienced turners who pushed the idea of turning slower rather than faster.

As Richard Coers noted, increased speed = increased torque needed to slow the spindle holding the object. And, this is all the more true when turning larger, more massive pieces.

When turning pieces on a lathe, the turner is required to pay attention to inches per second at the cutting edge. This was outlined well by William Henry Northcott in his book, A Treatise on Lathes and Turning, 2nd Edition, (1876). As Northcutt noted, the turner should use these values.
  • Soft wood = 2,000 feet / minute = 24,000 inches / minute
  • Hard wood (or ivory) = 300-800 feet / minute = 3,600 - 9,600 inches / minute\
These are the speeds at the circumference. So, converting these values to RPM gives:

1 revolution = circumference of the piece, which increases at diameter * pi

Using the values from above, we come to:
  • Soft wood = 24,000 in/min x 1 revolution / (diameter*pi) = 7,639 RPM / diameter
  • Hard wood = 3,600 - 9,600 in/min x 1 revolution / (diameter*pi) = 1,146 - 3,056 RPM / diameter
So, for a 10” diameter piece, you should be running the lathe at:
  • Soft wood - 764 RPM
  • Hard wood - 115 - 306 RPM
Northcutt also noted, “Many are of the opinion that it cannot be rotated too rapidly; but this is a mistake.”
Do note: a later guide (the source of which I don’t remember) notes that the speed should be
  • 6,000 - 9,000 RPM / diameter
These seem to align with the soft wood numbers given by Northcutt.
  • Using this formula, a 10” diameter wood piece should be turned at 600 - 900 RPM.
Summary: All of this is to say, that you should rotate the piece slower than many assume. And at such slow speeds, a smaller hand wheel on the headstock should be sufficient.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty cautious about higher speeds and cringe when I hear people say faster cuts better. The kinetic energy of a rotating piece is not linear, but squares with an increase of RPM. I also translate that to the forces trying to rip a piece apart. Green wood at higher RPM means more of a mist/shower coming off and a rapid decrease in moisture can cause a sudden split or spontanious unplanned disassembly of your workpiece.

If it's not cutting clean at low RPM, I don't see how higher RPMs will make it cut better.
 
Spinning fast only makes things happen fast. Like disasters. No thanks. Pretty rare when I'm anywhere above the low 1000rpm area, unless it's a small spindle diameter.
 
I can’t explain the physics but if you’ve ever used a hand plane or slashed a ball of sourdough with a lamé you will have experienced the phenomenon of slow cuts being rough and stuttering while a quick cut is smooth.
Perhaps it’s just all down to my poor technique at the lathe, but I’ve frequently had the same experience there, where speeding things up, especially on a rough surface or something where you’re turning a lot of air makes for a much smoother and more relaxed cut. I don’t have the strength or stamina to hold a knife rock steady for a protracted period.
Plus, for tasks like roughing bowl blanks, spinning the lathe faster gets the job done that much sooner. I try not to turn wood that is going to fly apart, and it’s only happened a couple times in the last 50 years, but getting out of the line of fire is always prudent.
 
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