Search 
Home > Craftsman Clubs > BBS > Woodworking Tips > More Lathe stuff
Woodworking Tips
Moderated by root		 Post Reply | Post New Message
Login | Join Craftsman Club | Return to Thread List
Not Logged in.
View: Flat [Tree] | Font: [Small] Large
Author Subject/Content
Adam More Lathe stuff
May 3rd, 2005 02:31 PM
Good news! If you've had that many service calls, the Protection Agreement (You DO have a Protection Agreement?) states a replacement will be made after either 4 or 5 repairs within one year (12 months). Get your Protection Agreement contract and remind service that you KNOW about the clause.

Now I've previously posted about many of the wood lathe's features (and quirks).

Like any complicated (variable speed drive) mechanism a certain amount of routine maintenance needs to be performed regularly to avoid the big B (Breaking).

Before anybody starts chanting about Sears competitor's products. ANYTHING made by ANYBODY with a mechanical variable speed drive needs way more attention than a couple of stepped pulleys.

I've got about 4 years as a woodworking tool (screen printing, bicycle, jewelry, and stained glass) maintenance technician and have been collecting, restoring, and using old tools for almost 40 years.

Increasing the voltage on the dual-voltage lathe motor to 240 will help immensely.

But, are the bowl turners dialing down their lathe's speed down to the lowest setting BEFORE mounting a big'ol bowl blank?

And, has that blank been pre-processed to knock off the corners? There's a lot less needless load to your machine. And, if your turning tool is going to flip out of your hands (one of my greatest fears in doing bowl turnings), advancing the tool to far while "knocking down" the corner is going to be THE WAY it'll happen.

Some turners simply trim off their blank's corners and in the extra-well equipped shop turners actually cut out a circular blank. (We know NORM does. Norm has everything.) That's gotta be a really big blank to need that much pre-processing.

Then there's that variable speed capability two-way gotcha.

First, you've got 1 HP right? Well, at the lower speeds that translates into some really good torque while turning. At the high speeds, like a 3/8 inch 1600 rpm electric drill vs. a ½ inch 800 rpm electric drill, you have a whole bunch less available torque.

Now at this point I think you could very reasonably be saying, "How much "torque" does it take to take those fine shavings (gouge tools) or scrapings (scraper tools)off?". Not a lot. But, consider the bulky mass of wood bowl blank the machine is attempting to keep in motion without slowing down on cuts (especially the corner knocking off ones).

Ok. Granted. The machine should perform under a wide range of conditions.

Second, here's a new, more subtle, angle.

The speed control allows us to effortlessly change the R.P.M. output to our blanks.

Oh yah... No fighting with a drive belt and the stepped pulleys, after having shut-off the machine.

Productivity!

Yes. But, the surface cutting speed (measured in distance per time, fpm) has gone up right along with the revolutions per minute.

Who cares?

Your lathe tools care. A whole lot.

Just as you can burn a tool while grinding it on a 3450 r.p.m. bench grinder, that bowl blank wood can create a whole lot of friction at the tip of your lathe tool (its most vulnerable point). [Get it tip - point?]

The lathe tool sets that come with most wood lathes are made of High-carbon steel (which holds and edge well, but is easiest to burn).

The next quality material up is High-speed steel tools (old, pre-carbide, HSS metal lathe bits were used to turn soft STEEL material).

The premium quality lathe tools use carbide cutting edges (masonry drills, the new metal lathe industrial bits). You don't have to jump this high unless you're doing a WHOLE lot of turning or are turning some really tough abrasive wood.

Like when my wife was doing an eleven inch White Oak bowl project on the Cal Poly Craft Center's variable speed ShopSmith in lathe mode for her "Native Plants" class project.

I had to hone those lathe tools every 15 minutes to allow the project to move forward.

Now THAT was some tough wood. And, we probably had the RPMS going too high.

She got a big check-mark for the project, with a person having baked "muffins" using native plant seeds getting the same check-mark. [Hshhh....]

I got a similar check-mark for my 3 to 4 pages each, hand written, Fourier problem solutions, turned in on light green Engineering paper.

I understand some Scientific calculators can do those same problems, themselves, now.

But, can they graph the solutions?

[Yes]
[Oh]
[They do that routinely.]

I love... tools!

And, I hate computers.

[Like the one you've been typing on for the last...]
[Shut-uuuupp.]

So, yes the Sears machine has some limitations.

But, knowing our tool's limitations, like knowing our own limitations, allows us to come up with more workable solutions (a ladder, a pole pruner, a hydraulic jack, etc.).

P.S. Before you think about throwing your Craftsman power tool out to buy a replacement as a repair solution, when first acquiring your power tool, think Replacement or Protection Agreement first.

Sears's competitor's products can break down too and I don'ttt think you're going to find service available at such a reasonable price elsewhere.

My new job title is Preventative MAINTENANCE Technician. I don’t like throwing out ANYTHING.

[Ya... Come look at his PMT workshop.]
[Hey.. I’ve already used up all the wheels I picked up laying around the warehouse to repair the “Baker’s Rack” carts. And, the other wheels are in a cardboard box.]
[Would that be the one cleverly labeled “Wheels”?]
[That’s the one! How did you know? Uhh... never mind.]
Up one level
View: Flat [Tree] | Font: [Small] Large
  Post Reply | Post New Message