drill press slicking

[Bree]

Hi Bree,

I had a difficult time locating authentic lignum vitae. I got the Argentinian variety which is similar but apparently not in the same family. Which did you get and were they 1" sq. or 1.5" sq? I got the 1" sq. figuring I'd start trying to turn by hand to get a 1" dowel. 1.5" would have required much more sanding. When I do find someone with a lathe, I'd imagine they could turn the 1" sq. blank to a dowel with an approx. dia. of 1". Now, Bree, would you by chance happen to have a lathe?

Ed

I have seen both Lignum and Argentinian Lignum Vitae (ALV). There isn't all that much difference between the two. "Genuine" Lignum Vitae is not available because it is endangered and banned for import. ALV is equally good and when you see Lignum Vitae advertised that is what it will be. It is very, very dense like the "real" stuff... maybe just a tad less in density. It is just fine as a substitute. It is lighter in color and serves all the same purposes as the original.

ALV is a good deal harder and denser than Cocobolo probably about 20%. Mind you Cocobolo is very dense stuff as well.... I mean it is much denser than white oak which is pretty darn hard stuff. I got some 1.5" turning squares of ALV.

The wood that is almost the same in hardness and density as genuine Lignum is African Blackwood. It is expensive but still available. I wouldn't want to get bopped on the head with a stick of this stuff!!

I am thinking about getting myself a lathe... probably a midi like a 16-20. I used to have a real nice lathe many years ago but I moved from my Florida home and had to give it to a friend as it was too big for my apratment in Atlanta. I still have my tools. If I can find a good deal on a small lathe I will get one. I have been looking.

I have some very nice Wenge bowl blanks and a dozen 3' long 2"x2" Burma teak turning squares that have been mellowing for over 30 years along with some padauk, maple, and purpleheart. I also picked up some nice rosewood and several unknown but extremely dense tropical hardwood squares. They seem like members of the rosewood family. Hard to say. There are many tropicals on the market now that I only recently became aware of.

So I think I need a lathe for my wood shop. I keep wanting a big one but they cost big bucks and take up a lot of space. So I may just limit my desires and get a small one.

[Luke Hatley]

ED , thak a look at Harbor Frieght they sell a very small Lathe that you could use for your turnings

and it wont break the bank.........

[esantoro]

I'll check out harbor freight. Just got my 1" turning blanks from Rockler today. They have a 5-speed mini lathe by Excelsior for $250. It will take up to 17" long turning blanks and up to almost 10" bowl blanks.

I am tempted to get it.

However, it is probably better to pay a bit more and get the Jet mini lathe for around $390 to $470. It would be so cool to start making pens, bowls, burnishers, candlestick holders, and whatever else. I loved working with wood a long time ago, but have never used a lathe, save 20 minutes in a high school woodshop class.

I was wondering, what are the individual hand tools I would need to make grooves of various widths and to do the initial knocking off of turning blank corners?

Ed

Edited October 20, 2008 by esantoro

[esantoro]

Just what I don't need right now, another obsession.

Ten minutes' playing with my sticks, and I'm having a fabulous time.... oh the sweet, spicy aroma. I have never smelled anything like it.

quickly I have realized, with your help, some indispensable tools for turning these by hand: rasp, chisel. sand paper, and shaper (which I had been using to rough up leather for gluing). It takes some elbow grease, but what the hell, I don't have a gym membership.

I think I'll save the shavings and sell them on Ebay for Potpourri. I'm also beginning to wonder if these shavings might serve well as an insect repellent.

The next thing I need is a good mitre box to insure straight sawing of the wood wheels. Any suggestions.

Ed

Edited October 20, 2008 by esantoro

[gtwister09]

Ed,

I would have normally said that you get the best tools that you could afford. However over the past year I have seen about 9-10 people that bought the Jet Midi (some even with extensions), Nova or Oneway chucks, Crown, Sorby, Ellsworth tools (gouges, skews, etc) with Tormek or Wolverine sharpening systems and they are now getting out of the hobby. Some of these guys spent over $2-3K on a small lathe, chuck, centers, tools and sharpening system only to find out that they didn't really enjoy it. OUCH! Only you can gauge your desire and such to determine if you could get by with low end gear from Harbor Freight or step up and buy the better gear.

Another thing that I noticed is that some of them chewed up some awful good tools trying to learn how to keep them sharp. In fact a couple of them burned up some great tools trying to make and keep an Irish grind on tools. These people would have been better off learning how to GRIND on some cheaper tools but I digress.

Just a word of caution.....Those sweet smelling woods are known to create problems for people. The dust is considered to be toxic (to breathe it and to touch it). Several of the older woodworkers that I know that weren't allergic in the past have developed allergies so be wary. At least use a mask and wash your hands afterwards. If you do much then dust collectors are a GREAT investment. I know that when I bought a gondola of mixed exotics and separated all of the species that my hands itched slightly from all the dust. Nothing dramatic but there was between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch of fine dust in the bottom.

On another note, here are some pictures of some older slickers that I have and the new one that I made. I had the older ones made before I bought a Mercury Mini lathe. When I made mine I downsized the slicker, inserted a lag bolt (3" - it is in the material about 2-1/4") for the shaft and reduced the number of slots...just my personal preference from using these others over time. The chuck does chew up the wooden shaft over time and has to be lightly turned down or as you can see one one of them has a copper sleeve. As I said the new one uses a 3/8" lag bolt that is Gorilla glued in. It has had lots of use with no ill effects.

Regards,

Ben

[esantoro]

I'll be careful about the toxicity, though I will never be working with this wood in an ongoing production capacity. I've run a few pesticide experiments with the shavings. They do seem to repel insects.

Ed

[Bree]

I was looking at that Excelsior over the weekend and the guy from Rockler who I respect told me that the casting is very poor on that device. He said that the Jet and even the Delta was far superior. So I bought nothing. I did see a cheapo $22 attachment that converts a drill press into a lathe. For an occassional and non-critical turning this might be just the ticket!

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DPLATHE.html

I might get one myself!!

[esantoro]

I was looking at that Excelsior over the weekend and the guy from Rockler who I respect told me that the casting is very poor on that device. He said that the Jet and even the Delta was far superior. So I bought nothing. I did see a cheapo $22 attachment that converts a drill press into a lathe. For an occassional and non-critical turning this might be just the ticket!

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DPLATHE.html

I might get one myself!!

This looks very interesting and perfect for my needs, though I'd have to move my drill press to a different location because of the wood shavings. I'd like to know how the turning blank is secured on the mandrel. I'll see if I can call them.

Thanks, Bree.

[esantoro]

I'm liking the idea of this drill press lathe more and more. I could cut down the raw turning sticks to sizes needed and turn just those sections, which fall within the range of 3/4" to 4".

One chisel I know I need to get is a 1" rough out to knock off the angles of the blanks. I'll need another chisel for creating the channels. For these channels, would it be best to get spindle chisels of varying widths of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", and 1", or would a 1/4" spindle chisel allow for a channel width of 1/4" to whatever is desired, depending on how you run the tip along the dowel?

Another question: My drill press currently has the belt set on the middle pulleys for @ 1725 rpm. If I want to change the speed, do I need a different belt, or do I just position the same belt on a different set of pulleys?

Thanks,

Ed

Edited October 22, 2008 by esantoro

[gtwister09]

Ed,

The same belt works. You will notice that there are a number of stepped pulleys on the motor and on the quill side. Most of the time when you raise the top the manufacturer will have a diagram of pulleys/speeds.

My son used this setup for a while. He used it with some success and you have to make sure that you have the chisel adjusted correctly. Generally a chisel cuts above the center line and a scraper goes below the center line.

If you are set on particular sizes then I would make some scrapers of the size you want but if you are only going to be doing a limited number of cuts then the smallest size chisel will cut all the smaller ones by moving the tool back and forth. I would suggest cutting yourself a template to check against so that you know how much to take off or use calipers if you have them.

You can find many woodworking sites on google that can help you in chisel selection and use in cutting.

Regards,

Ben