I just received my jet mini (extension bed is on order too). As some of you know, I am new to turning. My son, who is 12, has always had zero interest in ww. Which is fine - we all have our own interests. Last night, I had the lathe on (for the second time ever) turning a scrap piece of maple into a very strange looking cylinder ( lol). Just practicing using the different tools and so on.
My son came down and started to watch and ask questions. He became interested and wanted to try. So I let him have a go at it. He seemed to enjoy it and have interest. Started asking lots of questions I had no answer for. I told him we'd learn it together. Sooooo.. he said he wanted to make a bowl - how do we do that dad? Uh, okay, lets do it.
So we are going to make a small bowl and see what we learn. My question is what would you recommend for the stock? Should I just glue up some scrap Cherry into a nice block and screw it to the face plate and have a go at it? Scrap Cherry I have all over the place.
Would that be a good idea, or would you suggest something else? Any tips?
>I think some scrap cherry would be just fine! It will make it more pleasant if you cut the corners off the blank before you turn it, so it's like eight sided instead of four sided.
>Well, first I would not suggest learning together. When you have learned to handle a certain tool correctly then you can teach your son or you can take him with you to turning club meetings and get someone experienced to coach the two of you together but learning the hard way together would not be wise. Keep things very small while he (and you) are learning. Soft and/or green wood is also more forgiving. Nothing will kill his interest quicker than an accident that gets him hurt or scares him.
Excellent ! You're on an exciting adventure together. Here's my 3 cents:
I'd grab some green limb wood, and practice away first, and get the feel of the tools for a while. I strongly recommend turning between centers for a while, as it is safer. Green wood is a lot of fun, especially for kids & teens. Waste a few limbs, then make something to show Mom out of dry wood.
Get a dead cup center, and use it as a drive center, instead of the usual spur center. This adds a TREMENDOUS safety factor, and is a real good way to learn how to use the tools correctly. If you get a catch, the wood simply stops spinning -- no explosions or broken fingers or windows ! If you can make the shape you want without stopping the spinning wood, you're doing it right. If you don't have one, you can get one at Sears for $ 9.95. If you suspect you will want to make lamps someday, you can get a higher quality hollow center for drilling through the tailstock for about 25 dollars, and use this as a drive center as well.
You could glue up a bowl blank, but I'd be inclined to practice on some small green half-log sections (billets) about 6-8" in diameter first. Green wood is easier to turn (good practice), usually free, (no dust !) and a lot more fun with long shavings telling you're doing it right, and sap flying around the shop -- kids love this part. There is a lot to learn, like cutting in the right direction, dealing with glue joints, orienting the figure, handling a bowl gouge, chucking and re-chucking, etc... If you rush into it, you'll have a lot of fun, but safety is found in mastering the basics. I saw a turner break a tool rest (fortunately not his fingers !) with a mighty catch that many people in the room could see coming -- he was hurrying, and breaking a few of the fundamental rules of turning.
You might also progress to bowls by making a plate or two out of single pieces of dry wood. You'd probably want to attach a glue block for a faceplate, but remember, you'll want to attach to the front and the back to make a plate or bowl. Short screws that go into the depression in the plate, and a glue block on the bottom -- turn the bottom of the plate or bowl first, sand & finish, then reverse to do the top (inside), and part off.
Find a local club, and consider joining it. There are people who have a wealth of knowledge to share about gouges, chucks, techniques, etc... If they have a video collection available to borrow, or if you want to invest a little, get the bowl videos by Del Stubbs and Richard Raffan, and the Bonnie Klien series is good for small lathes, too.
>That is fantastic. I first got interested when my Dad showed me his lathe. The big key is that you have fun safely. Make sure you both have face shields and some sort of dust mask/respirator. I'm gonna reitterate two points already made in other responses for emphasis:
1) To start, I think using green (hard)wood is best...just more fun to turn when you see curls of wood stream off the tool instead of hot dust banging your hand (though dry wood also has its benefits)
2) Learning some basics about how to present the tools to the wood will go a long way toward greater enjoyment. Find some way to get a little instruction...a video or a basic class - and the two of you could take a class together or you could take it and then come home and pass on the knowledge.
>Ahh, isn't it a great feeling! There seems to be a strong pull with woodturning for young children. It has two appealing aspects, creation of something in a relatively quick manner and probably more than a small amount of destructive appeal in tearing into a piece of wood and watching it shredded into ablivion during the creation process.
In saying that, I would recommend that you start the first couple projects with dry scrap being very careful and if the interest stays, switch to green wood. Make sure you keep the first couple projects for future reference! It will be more forgiving in the demolition processes and will be the cheapest by far. When the demolition phase starts to fade and the creativity starts to take over, you can either stay with freshly cut wood or use dry and wet wood intermittently. Let his desire guide you.
>I was asked to show a friend of my brother-in-law how to get started turning. He had just bought an old Delta lathe and had a decent set of HSS tools. He was a flat WWer and had a lot of scraps around.
We put a piece of dry ash on the machine to make a small bowl. It must of been the world's hardest, toughest piece of ash. I am sure the experience put him off turning.
I would go with green wood or at least pre-tested dry wood. Nothing like those green shavings streaming off!
Sears sells a "dead cup tail center" for about $10.
These are traditionally used in the tailstock, where they are pushed into, and rub against the turning wood, often lubricated with a drop of oil. Most turners have more than one, and never use them since the dead (non-revolving) tail center was replaced with a live (revolving) center. They are machined with a morse taper to go in either the headstock, or the tailstock.
They are a very effective center for driving the workpiece from the headstock end of things (no oil, though), instead of using a spur center with teeth. When a tool is used too heavily, or when there is a serious catch, the wood simply stops rotating, because the cup center slips, as it has no teeth. You can decide how much tailstock pressure you need to drive the wood, and you may have to tighten it up after the wood slips. A very safe way to drive spindle work, and a great training method for proper too use.
