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Trouble turning long shafts

S

Simoli

Joined
Oct 1, 2006
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Location
Northville, MI
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www.simoli.net
My 9 year lod wantaed me to make her a Harry Potter type wand. I gave it my first shot last night with somewhat success. I ended up leaving the shaft a little thicker than I would have liked to. As I was turning the wand down it was really difficult to turn without it chattering. I tried my skew (which I hate) and a regular spindle gouge both which didn't cut very smooth. I ended up scraping the shaft down. Would a steady solve this problem or do I need to try a different cut?

I was turning cherry so the wold isn't my problem. The wand is about 14 inches long.
 
I'm not sure how thin you were going, but often letting a finger ride the backside of the rod to counter the pressure from the front (which needs to be light) will do the trick.
A planing cut with a sharp skew should work the best.
If you were turning between centers, you are better to chuck it at the headstock end, turn it down to final diameter at the tailstock end, and work your way back to the headstock. The spindle will rock easier on the spur center than it will in the chuck.
Obviously cutting it to 12" instead of 14" would get you an improvement as well.
HTH
 
Thanks KEW. I was actually turning between centers. That may be the trick. I did try the finger behind the piece method and it did help a little but I still got chatter.
 
Chuck one side and then back off the pressure on the tailstock until it doesn't rotate. Then bring it back up to just touch the spindle. Then use your fingers on the backside to steady it. I have found that gouges with a smaller footprint give the least amount of chatter. By footprint I mean the area that actually does the cutting.
I'm pretty good with a skew and cut very small long thin spindles but when I get in trouble I go to my 3/8" spindle gouge that is ground with a somewhat bowl gouge shape. This leaves the point fairly rounded so it cuts with a very small area.
 
john lucas said:
I have found that gouges with a smaller footprint give the least amount of chatter. By footprint I mean the area that actually does the cutting.
I'm pretty good with a skew and cut very small long thin spindles but when I get in trouble I go to my 3/8" spindle gouge that is ground with a somewhat bowl gouge shape. This leaves the point fairly rounded so it cuts with a very small area.
Click to expand...

That's a good tip. Thanks!

Cheers,
Kurt
 
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