Fwiw, I guess I'm the new member here and many thanks for adding me to the forum as well.
This just might get me branded as a complete heretic by most here I'd guess, but I've so far done almost no wood turning in the conventional sense even though I bought a small set of a so far unused conventional wood turning tools. Or at least none so far on what would be thought of as the typical wood working power tools and lathes. I suppose my biggest reason for joining here is the Ornamental Turning forum, although learning what I can about proper wood turning will be a great bonus. The largest part of my shop is using imo fairly well equipped manual / non cnc metal working lathes and mills, and has been for about the last 40 years to get to where I am now. And yes machine tools can and do work equally well with hardwoods as long as the project size fits within there limits. Much more accurate, but multiple times slower of course.
Hopefully I can offer at least some advice to the members here when it comes to possible tool making and maybe sharpening as well. As far as the Ornamental Turning, the material between the typical OT hard woods and metal makes little difference. Ornamental and Rose Engine lathes were also used and capable of working metal as well. Helping to produce very hard to forge printing plates for bank notes and postage stamps as examples. Even my Bridgeport mill clone and the usual rotary tables, dividing heads with a decent boring head can do a fair amount of the more simple pattern designs the Ornamental lathes were capable of. Even easier in fact for some of it.
I own the more modern reprints of the 5 Hotzapffel , Evan's, T.D. Walshaw books, as well as going through what seems to be available online as scans that I can find about OT. Those unfortunately seem to lack some critical details as far as reproducing what I'd like to have as almost non optional additions. Elliptical and Epicycloidal chucks as just two examples I'll have questions about at some point for anyone that might be lucky enough to have any originals. Because of what's already available and built into it, I'm also giving some thought of using a spare 10" swing metal working lathe I have as the starting point and producing my own version of a Rose Engine lathe with some of the same capabilities of an OT lathe. I happen to think both can be combined into one lathe. Logically cnc control like Bill Ooms seems to have perfected would be the much better, quicker and more capable method. I've nothing at all against that, I'd just rather do it old school and mechanically.
Pete
This just might get me branded as a complete heretic by most here I'd guess, but I've so far done almost no wood turning in the conventional sense even though I bought a small set of a so far unused conventional wood turning tools. Or at least none so far on what would be thought of as the typical wood working power tools and lathes. I suppose my biggest reason for joining here is the Ornamental Turning forum, although learning what I can about proper wood turning will be a great bonus. The largest part of my shop is using imo fairly well equipped manual / non cnc metal working lathes and mills, and has been for about the last 40 years to get to where I am now. And yes machine tools can and do work equally well with hardwoods as long as the project size fits within there limits. Much more accurate, but multiple times slower of course.
Hopefully I can offer at least some advice to the members here when it comes to possible tool making and maybe sharpening as well. As far as the Ornamental Turning, the material between the typical OT hard woods and metal makes little difference. Ornamental and Rose Engine lathes were also used and capable of working metal as well. Helping to produce very hard to forge printing plates for bank notes and postage stamps as examples. Even my Bridgeport mill clone and the usual rotary tables, dividing heads with a decent boring head can do a fair amount of the more simple pattern designs the Ornamental lathes were capable of. Even easier in fact for some of it.I own the more modern reprints of the 5 Hotzapffel , Evan's, T.D. Walshaw books, as well as going through what seems to be available online as scans that I can find about OT. Those unfortunately seem to lack some critical details as far as reproducing what I'd like to have as almost non optional additions. Elliptical and Epicycloidal chucks as just two examples I'll have questions about at some point for anyone that might be lucky enough to have any originals. Because of what's already available and built into it, I'm also giving some thought of using a spare 10" swing metal working lathe I have as the starting point and producing my own version of a Rose Engine lathe with some of the same capabilities of an OT lathe. I happen to think both can be combined into one lathe. Logically cnc control like Bill Ooms seems to have perfected would be the much better, quicker and more capable method. I've nothing at all against that, I'd just rather do it old school and mechanically.
Pete
