3 Questions (all different)

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Mac

>Hi Ruth, I use a small diameter guitar or banjo string to burn lines.....cut a small groove first.Then put the wire in it, it will track better. Be sure to put a piece of dowel on the ends of the string, never grip it in fingers.You have a flat spot in your belt, no necessarily a problem.Whatever that wood is....STOP using it!!!!!!!!!

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

TomW in SouthJersey

>I have some Danta wood that looks like the wood in your picture. The Danta doesn't turn very smooth. Its very dusty. I quit working with it.

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Don Evans

>Hey Ruth:

Ever seen pictures of fire starters in the old days, rubbing two sticks together? Just sharpen one to the size you want and run lathe fast. Probably the geetar string is best though.

Second: could be the belt, bent motor shaft, bent spindle assume there is nothing mounted on the lathe when this happens is so could be it out of balance.

Third: looks like Bolivian Rosewood to me and it is notorious for allergic reactions as you speak of. You'll have to get better dust control or stop using it you will only get worse the more you are exposed. There are probably a dozen woods that look very similiar in a picture.

Don

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Arch

>Hi Ruth, 3 different answers (maybe all 3 wrong)

If your Jet is VS, you may be inducing a back EMF when you move the spindle with the motor off. This could produce a slight counter motion that you feel as a mild but distinct hesitant or ratcheting effect. No problem.

A very thin sliver of ebony pressed against a fast rotating turning before it has oil or wax on it will produce a nice black line.

With all that Penn. walnut, why bother with a lesser timber?

All best, Arch

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Nick

>Greeting Ruth,

I believe your wood is K. anthotheca, a species of Mahogany that grows as far east as Uganda, an area with far less rainfall than required for K. ivorensis which is the most common. K. anthotheca's drawback however is it's highly irritating dust. I have a batch of it sitting around doing nothing for that very reason myself.

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Ruth Niles

>Mac, thanks, I forgot all about guitar strings. I had read that somewhere a long time ago.

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Ruth Niles

>Don,

How can I tell or decide which malay my lathe is suffering from? Bad belt shouldn't be hard but how would I know if the motor shaft was bent or the spindle was out of balance? I have abused that poor little lathe with out of balance pieces of wood, some 8" diameter. I know it's my fault, just want to fix it if it's something that could cause more problems.

I threw the wood away, I was just curious as to what it might have been.

Ruth

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Ruth Niles

>Hi Arch,

How have you been? My lathe isn't VS and I'm going to try a sharpened piece of ebony. What I'm trying to do is burn 3 lines on the rim of a bowl of graduating sizes, the two larger ones not being a problem.

I do have a lot of nice local wood, this just appeared in my box of cut offs, I know I never turned it before and will never turn it again. : )

Ruth

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Ruth Niles

>Nick,

Thanks. I think you might be right because I get all my mahogany from a friend who makes commercial outside signs (hospitals, churches, etc.), he only uses mahogany and gives me all his scraps.

I'll bet he had this, cut it up, coughed a lot and threw it in my pile.

Ruth

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Terry Quiram

>Ruth

A piece of formica with a small rounded corner will also burn a line.

Terry

Cough (long)

tek-Brunswick, Ohio

>I see you got some great answers to burning lines, and maybe to what the wood is, but the real problem is you need to control the dust you are breathing. Just because the other dust isn't making you cough doesn't mean it isn't harming you. Dust from grinding can also be harmful. One of the members of our club was very ill. Tests showed it was the dust from his grinder that made him sick. I hate wearing a respirator. They are hot and uncomfortable. Now the only time I wear one is for solvents and fumes. I purchased a Trend Air Shield to use for dust. It is a little heavier and a little more bulky than a regular face shield, but still very tolerable. I just ordered an extra battery too. Now I have clean air for up to 8 hrs. After I purchased it I saw the WoodCraft Air Cap that is even more economical than the Air Shield. I have never tried one however. Does anyone have experience with that product? I was wondering how effective and comfortable it is?

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Ruth, I have allergy problems with many species of wood. Even domestics - walnut dust makes me sneezy and sniffly to a slight degree.

If it is making you sneeze and cough, it can also be a skin irritant. I've worked with African woods that have made me break out in skin rashes that took months to go away.

Because of this, I now limit my species list to those things I already know I am not allergic to. Only a few exotics fit into this list - bubinga, ebony, and inexplicably - lacewood, are safe for me, but most others are not. For me, it isn't worth the experimenting. That last rash from makore was a nightmare!

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Bill Howatt

>Easiest way to see if you have a bent motor shaft or spindle is to position a reference point (which can be anything) near the shaft and then rotate the shaft by hand and see if it varies from the reference. You probably have done something similar with blanks from time to time.

If you want a more precise measurement then an inexpensive dial indicator gage and stand is great. You can probably get a setup for $35 or so. This setup is also handy for checking other things in the shop like tablesaw alignment, jointer blades etc.

I can see where abuse might bend a spindle but not throw it out of balance or affect the motor shaft.

Bill

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

jwoodwright

>Ruth,

The handwheel also is the outboard stop for the shaft. Loosen the TWO Set Screws and adjust the handwheel untill it moves smoothly and no side play. Tighten Both Set Screws...

Mine gets out of position if I use the handwheel to help remove my Talon chuck... I need to remember to use the knock out bar in the holes on the shaft...

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Doug Trembath

>Mike, I know a guy who suffers mightily when exposed to many species, but is such an avid turner, he takes some pretty unusual precautions, and does pretty well. He looks like a "Bubble Boy" outside the bubble, though, or an astronaut. He does some really nice work, though, in many of the problem woods. Not worth it to me, however. I have a large trunk section of Indian Rosewood that began to close my throat as soon as I began sawing a small portion up. It's all just sitting in the studio, waiting for me to suit up properly. I'll get to it someday, when I want to look like an astronaut, too.

Doug Trembath

Studio in the Woods

Potter's cutting Wire

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>Hi Ruth,

The other day I was browsing a new Art Supply store and bought something that has really come in handy. I'm not sure exactly what it's called but it's a very thin wire that has a dowel on each end that potters use to cut slabs of clay to size before throwing. It cost a whopping $1.19 and the dowels are held in place with a steel bead so you won't worry about them slipping off. I was using guitar strings for this but it was kind of a pain to keep the dowels on them and it was more expensive too. The one advantage of the guitar strings however, is that you can buy different sizes. The potters wire is pretty thin though.

Not sure about the belt issue?

As far as the coughing....don�t turn that wood....I am now a huge advocate of some sort of face shield air filtering device since I bought my Trend AirShield. I was getting frequent headaches and just felt crummy a lot. Please take care of your health!

Jennifer

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Don Evans

>Ruth:

Take the belt off the machine.

take two dowels, hold them side by side, take a rubber band and keep putting it around both till it is tight. Band needs to be inch or two from one end.

Hold that end in hand and separate the other end of the two dowels and place one of them against the motor shaft couple inches from the end. While holding the other dowel, you can turn on motor and if the shaft is bent you will know it by the way the dowel leaning against it vibrates.

The belt should be visually inspected slowly mark it so you know you covered the whole thing then turn it inside out and do again. If you see any cracks disgard it. This works best with flat belt if that machine has round belt then this is much harder to do.

Spindle, you can set up a dowel that just barely (lightly) touches it and the dowel held by holder that sets on ways, turn the spindle by hand and see if you can tell if it is bent.

One thing I'll say about out of balance on the spindle and motor shafts. Yes, it is possible to bend one that way on a light machine of this nature. It has to do with overload, torque and the belt "S"ing during turning. When the belt snaps back it can produce enough force to bent things.

All this just depends on lots of variables and the moon being in the right phase but it can happen.

Ruth, one last thing. While the belt is still off, mark the spindle with chalk on top, turn it 1/4 turn and let it go gently and see if it moves or just stays there, then do another 1/4 etc. What you are looking for is one part of the spindle and or pulley out of balance due to weight or being bent. If it does move, the only thing I know to do is to pull it out to determine is bent or weight problem.

Don

Re: 3 Questions (all different)

Ruth Niles

>jwoodright, you must watch me turn! Yes, I do use the handwheel when removing the chuck, so that just might be one problem. I'll have to give the lathe a good going over tomorrow, set an indicator up to check the spindle, remove the belt to check for flat spots and ...... don't know what to do if it's the motor shaft?! I think it's either the belt or the headstock spindle.

Thanks all for the replies and suggestions.