This is an overview of how to do basic turning on the lathe. This is by no means a complete or even a comprehensive guide. Covered here are the basic tasks of turning square stock to round, and creating coves and beads.
Turning square stock to round is the process of knocking the corners off of a square piece to make a round piece. This process can be made faster and easier by cutting the stock to an octagon first.
A cove is created by carving a hollow space into the workpiece.
A bead is created by shaping an intentional "bump" into the workpiece.
A membership or day pass is required to access the Wood Shop. The following Shop Safety Class is required to access the Jet Wood Lathe:
You can make machine reservations in the following ways:
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
Sturdy, close-toed shoes must be worn at all times.
Long hair, jewelry, and loose clothing must be tied back.
Safety glasses and earmuffs must be worn while machines are running.
A dust mask or a NIOSH certified respirator is recommended.
For more information on shop safety visit Wood Shop under "Safety."
Members and day pass users taking Wood 3: Lathe will be trained with a round carbide cutter.
Utilizing a spindle gouge will require more precision and technique.
For those interested in becoming proficient on the lathe it is recommended to familiarize oneself with high-speed steel chisels.
The tools should contact the work piece just above center line of the material. Hold the tool with one hand against the tool rest and the other by your side. Instead of moving the tool with your hands, move your entire body side to side while maintaining the same height.
Slowly approach the blank perpendicularly while keeping the tool rest hand steady until the cutting edge contacts the workpiece. Then work side to side.
Approach the blank perpendicularly. Start so that the heel of the blade hits the blank, then slowly raise the handle of the tool while keeping the tool rest hand steady to get the cutting edge to contact the workpiece. Then work side to side.
High Speed Steel (HSS) tools require more careful placement and angles than carbide cutters.
A catch is when the tool "catches" the workpiece, getting violently stuck and potentially damaging you, the tool, or the work.
A catch is often caused by a point on the tool getting stuck in the wood. Avoid this by using the appropriate tools and techniques.
This process takes square or octagonal (or irregular) shaped stock and reduces it to round stock by chipping or shaving away all of the parts that aren't round. At the beginning, this process can feel violent and uncomfortable as each corner of the stock hits the cutting end of the tool. It will get easier as the corners disappear. If it does not get easier and you are using an HSS tool, this is a sign that the tool is dull and needs sharpening.
This process uses a spur center on the drive spindle and a live center in the tailstock to fully support the piece.
Install the workpiece into the lathe using a spur center and live center.
Bring the tool rest into position. It should be parallel to workpiece, approximately at the centerline and approximately 1/8" from the closest part of the workpiece. Lock tool rest body and tool rest in place.
2.1 The tool rest and tool rest carrier both have handles that lock and unlock them.
2.2 Rotate workpiece by hand to check for proper clearance from tool rest.
Start lathe at the lowest speed and bring it up to the appropriate RPM for the size of stock. Allow the spindle to come to speed before advancing your tool.
600-900 RPM will be sufficient for most processes.
If you require additional help choosing the RPM click here.
Always work toward the end of a workpiece, never start cutting at the end.
Continue to work the rest of the workpiece. Always cut downhill, from large diameter to small diameter. Always work towards the end of a workpiece.
Once the workpiece has been roughed down to a cylinder, it can be smoothed. If you want to use sandpaper, jump to sanding and finishing. Otherwise, smooth it with a large skew. Place the cutting point near the center and high on the workpiece and lower it until the cutting edge contacts. Experienced wood turners can achieve a smoother finish with a sharp skew than what can be achieved with sandpaper.
Touching one of the points of the skew to the spinning workpiece at the wrong angle (%%what is the wrong angle?) may cause a catch and ruin the workpiece.
A cove is an indentation into the material created by removing material.
A bead is a raised area relative to the rest of the material. To get a bead, one must first create a cove or shoulder to either side of it.
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