In my last video I turned a couple of wood balls to overcome a long running phobia – a concern that I could ever turn a perfect wood sphere. But I did it. One requirement was to have a process that I described in that video. However, part of the process required a set of […]
Read More...One project during a week long woodturning class a few years ago was a wood ball using a jamb chuck. I failed miserably to get the ball smooth. It ended up very rough and out of round. With this failure, I feared being able to make a good ball. Since then, I’ve looked for a […]
Read More...On my lathe, I don’t think about cleaning the inside of the spindle or tail stock, but I should. Gunk can build up in the morse taper of these areas and throw off how well your drive and tail centers seat, center, and hold your work. The gunk can also cause damage to these tools. […]
Read More...I cut tenons regularly to join different pieces of a project together. They’re a common element but I really hate it when I cut one too small. The flip side is stopping the lathe so often to creap up on the perfect size. Many times I’ve used a open end wrench to help size. But […]
Read More...The tailstock on my full-sized Powermatic 3520A is heavy. I have to remove it from the lathe to hollow a bowl or a hollow form. It’s so heavy that I worry about dropping in on my toes or straining my back. If I leave it on the lathe, I risk banging an elbow. Ouch!. It […]
Read More...I’ve been using wood faceplates instead of metal faceplates with wood scrap blocks. A wood faceplate eliminates the risk of hitting a screw while turning. I can have as many wood faceplates as I want and keep it on the project until the project is complete. I can make any size faceplate that may be […]
Read More...In my last video I turned a segmented bracelet using my new home made bracelet chuck. It is an expansion chuck using basic engineering principles with lathe components. It uses 2 tapered end plugs, 8 tapered side slats, 2 automotive band clamps, 4 latex tubing rings, and a little duct tape. One end plug is […]
Read More...A DIY project to provide LED light to my wood lathe. The LED’s were purchased from Ikea; The magnet was purchased from Harbor Freight. I woodturned small bases to hold the light and the magnet. Both were turned from scrap offcuts: one is russian olive, the other is aspen. Before turning, I drilled holes to […]
Read More...