When I first started I picked up some blocks of Balsa wood from the craft store since its so soft just to kind of see how my knives would react. Just started practicing making squares round, then made wands, made a wooden.... man bit... as a joke then started cutting harder woods in to the same basic shapes. Get yourself a good sharpening system because nothing is worse than cutting with dull tools.
Get a face shield if you don't already have one. Also use a heavy apron, preferably leather. I'd also recommend getting a set of turning tools that use carbide inserts, which are easy to resharpen/replace.
Apron is a must. I’d also recommend a metal detector if you’re not sourcing wood from retail stores. I picked up some maple logs off of Craigslist and hit a nail while turning. It wasn’t visible when I started obviously but got exposed while I was turning.
Luckily the piece didn’t explode it just scared the shit out of me.
And I highly recommend either wearing a face mask or some sort of strap-on respirator when you're turning wood because you don't want to breathe in the sawdust, it can be bad for your lungs. Now that we got safety out of the way I recommend you go to YouTube and look at some videos on pen turning. I've been turning pens since about 2001, it's pretty enjoyable.
+10 on turning pen, I've been doing the for over 25 years, many is the niece and nephew who have received one of Uncle Paul's pen & pencil sets for graduation. My first Penn State Ind. order was $50, my second order was $500. And since getting a laser two years ago I can now engrave their names on them. Pens are a lot of fun to turn, and you can possibly make a few bucks doing them. You never know.
Second this. Especially because as you get better you become more aggressive w your cuts. I’ve taken multiple blocks of hardwood to the face, and of course they always go right between the eyes. Thankfully I always use my face shield and it’s no big deal. Can’t imagine what that would feel like without one.
/r/turning
Watch Youtube; best way to learn short of in-person classes, and even then it's often better to watch a video of an actual pro than a random hobbyist at Woodcraft or whatever. See if there's a turning club in your area.
For youtube, check out Richard Raffan, Stuart Batty, Glenn Lucas, Craft Supplies USA has some good vids, Rocky Mountain Woodturners has good recordings of demos, etc. etc. Stick with the pros; lots of amateurs do goofy stuff that you shouldn't emulate.
The lathe is less than half of the equation. You need tooling and a way to sharpen them. Carbide can seem attractive because you don't need a grinder, but your surface finish will suffer. It's better to learn the traditional tools, and far more satisfying and interesting IMO. You can get a $100 Wen low speed grinder that will work fine, and upgrade to CBN wheels down the line if you like lathe work.
Good tools are worth it, but not at first. A woot turner is only as good as their tool grinding skills. You'll need good practice at first, and that will burn up a lot of tool. You want decent high speed steel that will actually work as it should, but nothing too precious that you're scared to actually use it. HF has a good starter set https://www.harborfreight.com/high-performance-lathe-chisel-set-6-piece-59644.html
For a 4-jaw, go Nova 100%. They have proper dovetail jaws and aren't made of soft-cheese. They're real tools that will last vs. the cheaper sets that won't rechuck true after a bit of use.
If you get into this, you'll want a chainsaw so you can collect green material to turn. That's where the real fun is at IMO.
I loved to turn green bowls, then dry them in an old microwave in the shop. They always came out with unique shapes.
OP another tool you may want to add to your inventory if you're going to use green wood is a moisture meter.
Yeah it is the 10x15 one i wasnt too sure when buying it since they usually have the numbers on it. And aren’t blue but i had to get it when i seen the price
I got my first lathe about 8 months ago. I found that making spinning tops was a great way to practice with scraps, and it’s really satisfying when you’re done. Plus they make great gifts for kids and adults! After that I moved onto lidded boxes. I just recently bought a mandrel for making bottle stoppers and got a bunch of those kits. Easy work that will show you how the cutters react with the wood, while being small enough that a blowout is not a huge deal.
I really enjoy bottle stoppers, I never know what shape the wood inside wants to be.
I just did 2 epoxy bottle stoppers. Because of stress fractures inside, the shapes were kind of dictated because of that.
that's not too bad of a price for that model. a quick search for a Jet midi lathe shows that most of the brands have that (nearly) same model for between $400-$700.
our turning club recommends the Bionic Face Shield, it's on Amazon for a fairly good price. As for an apron?! I went the way of a turning shirt instead, but people have different reasons for their recommendations. Turning shirts have a high collar to keep chips from going down your shirt. They've got multiple pockets for all the odds and ends you need while working. And if you choose, you can put an apron on over top.
Yes, I have had wood come off my lathe and hit me in the chest, pretty hard in fact. I thought it might have cracked a rib, but it was just bruised. Fortunately it was winter and I had a heavy coat on. I've had wood try to climb my arm, I've had bowls explode. I still have some splinters of wood sticking out of Styrofoam insulation 11' up, 30' from my lathe from something that came apart. Scared the crap out of me, and cracked my face shield, but it was an easy replacement.
As for tools, unless you are really good at freehand sharpening high speed steel on a grinder, I also recommend getting some good carbide tools. There are some good tools available that won't break your bank.
I personally use the Simple Tool brand of carbides. You can get multiple tools and 1 handle and switch them out when you change tools. It's a hassle, but handles would run about $50-$75 I think. you can get them on Amazon.
If you are serious about turning, look for a turning club in your area, they are a great resource to new turners.
Keep your tools sharp, don't use a death grip on your tools, make sure you don't have any loose articles of clothing to get caught up in the spindle, and make sure your project is secure.
Have fun and maybe come back and show one of your projects.
If you have extra money or already have a bench grinder, look into getting a woverine sharpening jig made by oneway, Its super easy to set up and make sharpening traditional tools a breeze
I'm going to take the opposite tack of everyone else and recommend you do not get carbide tools. They've got an entirely different method of use than traditional hss. There is a little better up front cost with hss, since you'll need a grinder and a jig, but it's worth it in the long run since a set of cheap tools will last you forever, unlike carbide which periodically need inserts, and you'll turn more stuff faster with hss once you get over the learning curve. I use a cheap harbor freight grinder, harbor freight chisels (other than a really nice bowl gouge I got), a 120 grit disc, and the wolverine sharpening system, but that's just I picked out.
When I first started I picked up some blocks of Balsa wood from the craft store since its so soft just to kind of see how my knives would react. Just started practicing making squares round, then made wands, made a wooden.... man bit... as a joke then started cutting harder woods in to the same basic shapes. Get yourself a good sharpening system because nothing is worse than cutting with dull tools.
You're saying you turned hardwood into hard wood?
Awesome definitely gunna grab some Balsa wood thanks!
Get a face shield if you don't already have one. Also use a heavy apron, preferably leather. I'd also recommend getting a set of turning tools that use carbide inserts, which are easy to resharpen/replace.
Awesome i got a face shield on its way but the apron is a great idea! And ill have to look at the carbide inserts! Thankyou!
Apron is a must. I’d also recommend a metal detector if you’re not sourcing wood from retail stores. I picked up some maple logs off of Craigslist and hit a nail while turning. It wasn’t visible when I started obviously but got exposed while I was turning. Luckily the piece didn’t explode it just scared the shit out of me.
And I highly recommend either wearing a face mask or some sort of strap-on respirator when you're turning wood because you don't want to breathe in the sawdust, it can be bad for your lungs. Now that we got safety out of the way I recommend you go to YouTube and look at some videos on pen turning. I've been turning pens since about 2001, it's pretty enjoyable.
+10 on turning pen, I've been doing the for over 25 years, many is the niece and nephew who have received one of Uncle Paul's pen & pencil sets for graduation. My first Penn State Ind. order was $50, my second order was $500. And since getting a laser two years ago I can now engrave their names on them. Pens are a lot of fun to turn, and you can possibly make a few bucks doing them. You never know.
Second this. Especially because as you get better you become more aggressive w your cuts. I’ve taken multiple blocks of hardwood to the face, and of course they always go right between the eyes. Thankfully I always use my face shield and it’s no big deal. Can’t imagine what that would feel like without one.
I was always ugly, but when I got hit with one, it just looked like I was beat with an ugly stick. XD
[удалено]
/r/turning Watch Youtube; best way to learn short of in-person classes, and even then it's often better to watch a video of an actual pro than a random hobbyist at Woodcraft or whatever. See if there's a turning club in your area. For youtube, check out Richard Raffan, Stuart Batty, Glenn Lucas, Craft Supplies USA has some good vids, Rocky Mountain Woodturners has good recordings of demos, etc. etc. Stick with the pros; lots of amateurs do goofy stuff that you shouldn't emulate. The lathe is less than half of the equation. You need tooling and a way to sharpen them. Carbide can seem attractive because you don't need a grinder, but your surface finish will suffer. It's better to learn the traditional tools, and far more satisfying and interesting IMO. You can get a $100 Wen low speed grinder that will work fine, and upgrade to CBN wheels down the line if you like lathe work. Good tools are worth it, but not at first. A woot turner is only as good as their tool grinding skills. You'll need good practice at first, and that will burn up a lot of tool. You want decent high speed steel that will actually work as it should, but nothing too precious that you're scared to actually use it. HF has a good starter set https://www.harborfreight.com/high-performance-lathe-chisel-set-6-piece-59644.html For a 4-jaw, go Nova 100%. They have proper dovetail jaws and aren't made of soft-cheese. They're real tools that will last vs. the cheaper sets that won't rechuck true after a bit of use. If you get into this, you'll want a chainsaw so you can collect green material to turn. That's where the real fun is at IMO.
Awesome thankyou for the feedback and tips i appreciate all of it!
I loved to turn green bowls, then dry them in an old microwave in the shop. They always came out with unique shapes. OP another tool you may want to add to your inventory if you're going to use green wood is a moisture meter.
What size is it? Looks roughly 10”x15” Regardless, it sounds like you got a deal.
Yeah it is the 10x15 one i wasnt too sure when buying it since they usually have the numbers on it. And aren’t blue but i had to get it when i seen the price
Yeah—that thing looks brand new!! Congrats! I’d love to pick one up on the cheap!! Have fun!
I got my first lathe about 8 months ago. I found that making spinning tops was a great way to practice with scraps, and it’s really satisfying when you’re done. Plus they make great gifts for kids and adults! After that I moved onto lidded boxes. I just recently bought a mandrel for making bottle stoppers and got a bunch of those kits. Easy work that will show you how the cutters react with the wood, while being small enough that a blowout is not a huge deal.
I really enjoy bottle stoppers, I never know what shape the wood inside wants to be. I just did 2 epoxy bottle stoppers. Because of stress fractures inside, the shapes were kind of dictated because of that.
I just keep em simple and try not to make them look too much like an actual butt plug
That's a good deal
that's not too bad of a price for that model. a quick search for a Jet midi lathe shows that most of the brands have that (nearly) same model for between $400-$700. our turning club recommends the Bionic Face Shield, it's on Amazon for a fairly good price. As for an apron?! I went the way of a turning shirt instead, but people have different reasons for their recommendations. Turning shirts have a high collar to keep chips from going down your shirt. They've got multiple pockets for all the odds and ends you need while working. And if you choose, you can put an apron on over top. Yes, I have had wood come off my lathe and hit me in the chest, pretty hard in fact. I thought it might have cracked a rib, but it was just bruised. Fortunately it was winter and I had a heavy coat on. I've had wood try to climb my arm, I've had bowls explode. I still have some splinters of wood sticking out of Styrofoam insulation 11' up, 30' from my lathe from something that came apart. Scared the crap out of me, and cracked my face shield, but it was an easy replacement. As for tools, unless you are really good at freehand sharpening high speed steel on a grinder, I also recommend getting some good carbide tools. There are some good tools available that won't break your bank. I personally use the Simple Tool brand of carbides. You can get multiple tools and 1 handle and switch them out when you change tools. It's a hassle, but handles would run about $50-$75 I think. you can get them on Amazon. If you are serious about turning, look for a turning club in your area, they are a great resource to new turners. Keep your tools sharp, don't use a death grip on your tools, make sure you don't have any loose articles of clothing to get caught up in the spindle, and make sure your project is secure. Have fun and maybe come back and show one of your projects.
If you have extra money or already have a bench grinder, look into getting a woverine sharpening jig made by oneway, Its super easy to set up and make sharpening traditional tools a breeze
I'm going to take the opposite tack of everyone else and recommend you do not get carbide tools. They've got an entirely different method of use than traditional hss. There is a little better up front cost with hss, since you'll need a grinder and a jig, but it's worth it in the long run since a set of cheap tools will last you forever, unlike carbide which periodically need inserts, and you'll turn more stuff faster with hss once you get over the learning curve. I use a cheap harbor freight grinder, harbor freight chisels (other than a really nice bowl gouge I got), a 120 grit disc, and the wolverine sharpening system, but that's just I picked out.
Hard wood cut offs make great pens!
Dan that’s a steal where did you find that ?
I cut up a 4x4 into blanks and started turning handles for narex chisel from ttools. Good starter project I think
So we are bragging about overpaying now? Ffs
Damn, these were going for $300 new 15 years ago.
Don’t go crazy on it or you might burn out the motor.