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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.
 
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