Gizmos, gadgets, tools, inventions

Better Hurry

Darryl

you only have about 9 months until being Grandpa siphons off all that surplus.

Re: Gizmos, gadgets, tools, inventions

George Balock

Jimmy,

My favorite might be the Geiger Vertical Pro Sharp 4X. It is an add on to the Wolverine jig. My favorite part about this setup is that I can use it on my 3450 RPM grinder to rough shape tools and the with a couple of adjustments, I can use it on my Jet wet grinder to put a razor sharp edge on my tools.

Georgep

Re: Gizmos, gadgets, tools, inventions

William Duffield

STEB Centers (or the Chinese knock-offs), both drive and live.

Wolverine and attachments (but you probably already know this).

Drill blanks (HSS, hardened).

Hardened drill bit gauge.

Re: Gizmos, gadgets, tools, inventions

John K Jordan

Might depend on what you turn. (I like spindle turning) Can't think of just one.

Several small pleasures: Steb drive and live centers (as William D. mentioned), Robust tool rests, and taper shank drill bits. Oh, and gimlets.

Better in quantity: Enough chucks to never change jaws again. Duplicates for most-used jaws. My chuck collection is up to 14.

Big thing: variable speed lathe. PM3520b beats the fire out of the Craftsman tube lathe I started with. For more than 2x the fun, get two vs lathes.

Bigger thing: shop with heat and air, WiFi.

JKJ

Re: Gizmos, gadgets, tools, inventions

William Duffield

taper shank drill bits

I was going to mention my Chinese knockoff Albrecht keyless chuck, but you have the right idea. When I'm trying to drill holes in the ends of spindles using my mini-lathe, the significantly shorter working length of the drill bits with Morse tapers really come in handy.

taper shank bits

John K Jordan

I took some pictures once to show the difference:

The small bits are #1MT and need a #1-#2 sleeve adaptor.

Best of all I found some surplus for $1 each and bought a bunch.

JKJ

Re: taper shank bits

William Duffield

I saw those the first time you posted them. I had recently taken some similar pictures to illustrate the concept, but when I saw yours, I figured mine were totally superfluous. You had said it all, even without the physical limitations of a mini-lathe.

Re: taper shank bits

John K Jordan

What kind of mini lathe do you have? I take a Jet mini out sometimes and the length is sometimes a problem. When I turn a "magic" wand I make a short morse taper on the end of the blank to hold it on one end instead of using a chuck. This works well but I have to be disciplined enough to go prepared!

But with the length of blanks I like to use I can't even hold one between centers to turn the taper so I have to make the taper on another lathe before leaving the shop.

I thought about making a short bed extension from wood or steel like the one I have on the PM3520b. All I need for the mini is a couple of inches extra length. Does someone make an extension for these lathes?

JKJ

Re: taper shank bits

William Duffield

I have a Jet JML-1014, just like yours*. It's been quite a while since I've turned any wands on it, and I don't remember how I set it up in every case, but I know I never turned a MT on the end of the wand stock. Most of my wands I turned in two pieces, with a loose tenon between the shaft and the handle. I also like to use a mandrel in either a Jacob's chuck or a scroll chuck, driving from the inside of the mortises. I've even used a short length of mild steel rod as the tenon, to add some weight and mystery to the wands.

Jet and Rikon both make extensions for their mini-lathes (and for their lathe stands). Jet has discontinued the 1014, and I don't see the 24" extension for it on Woodcraft's website.

* I also have a JWL-1642, again like yours.

Morse taper.....

Barry Irby

I have not turned a wand (maybe I should) but have turned a lot of icicles.

I take a blank about 3/4" square and go to the belt sander and rotate the end by hand and create a taper about an inch long. Then I drive it into the headstock with either a hammer or press it in with the tailstock. Only takes a little practice to get the taper good enough. Once you are nearly finished you can back the tailstock away and finish the end. For really short things like the little "hanger" on the top of and ornament, you do it all without the tailstock. The really nice thing about this is it gets rid of the chuck and gets it out of the was and no more fear of the chuck parts barking your knuckles.

Re: Morse taper.....

William Duffield

Another way to make a Morse taper starts with tips from Windsor chair makers, old hand plane restorers, and machinists. Start with a #2 Morse taper reamer, available from the usual suspects for machinist tools (MSC, etc.).

http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Holemaking/Reamers/Taper-Reamers/Morse-Taper-Reamers-Sets/Morse-Taper-Reamers?navid=12106297

Use the reamer to make a taper cutter from a block of hardwood and a jointer plane blade:

http://timmanneychairmaker.blogspot.com/2015/06/use-your-reamer-to-make-matching-tenon.html

If you have the frog, frog screws, lever cap and chip breaker in addition to the iron from an old jointer plane, you can make the taper cutter quite a bit more tunable than just clamping the iron to the block as Tim shows.

http://supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0b/fe/61/0bfe61808828fd5ba1806cecb958b752.jpg

If you taper the end of your blank with the taper cutter, it will hold much more securely in your head stock, and eject more cleanly when you've finished turning it.

morse taper and wands

John K Jordan

Nice wands! I like the bauble you put in the middle.

I make mine one piece. The little morse taper makes a thin spindle much easier to turn then when between centers. I couldn't make these on the mini holding with a chuck since it would take up too much space.

I thought about making a MT tenon reamer but it only takes me 30 seconds to cut one sized with a little template and a parting tool. When making these by hand it helps a lot to cut a bit of relief in the taper so just two rings have to fit.

I'm sure I posted this before. Good fun!

These days when someone wants a wand made I give them a voucher printed on parchment paper and close with a wax seal. This invites the kid to come and watch it being made and includes safety and other "instructions"!

The 1642 is a fantastic lathe. A guy I know decided to sell his so I bought it as a spare - very handy when two people want to turn at once! Then this year I got a used PM3520b from a WCer - at the moment there are three lathes in the shop and the minis in storage. I may have a lathe addiction. Someone needs to come and take some of these away...

JKJ

Re: morse taper and wands

David Walser

Using a morse taper is a great idea. I use a collet (the kind that fits inside the morse taper) to turn mine. The advantage is turning a 1.2" tenon is (slightly) easier than turning an accurate morse taper. The disadvantage is there is less meat anchoring the blank -- which might lead to more vibration. But, to be fair, I've not noticed any vibration with my method.

I cringe when I read that a turner.....

JamieDonaldson

........is hammering any work piece into a spindle taper on their lathe. This forceful process is potentially very damaging for the bearings that support the spindle shaft, so take that into consideration when picking up that hammer!

Re: morse taper and wands

Barry Irby

John, Somebody sold me a little piece of brass shaped like capital E. It served the same purpose as your gauge. The same, yet different. The spine of the E was the length of the taper, and one slot was the small end and the larger slot was the other end.

I have used it a few times, but to be honest, just making them by sanding the end is so quick and easy I don't bother with it anymore.

Re: I cringe when I read that a turner.....

Barry Irby

You are right. We should not drive things into the head stock with a hammer.

OTOH I don't pound them home. Most often I just seat them with the tailstock. Have to use a live center that can not be driven into the stock and split it. When I do drive them in I usually use a scrap of wood, not a hammer. I'm too lazy to fetch a hammer so I use whatever is at hand including which ever turning tool I might be holding. I know there is a vast difference between pressure and impact, but lathe bearing must be capable of withstanding a lot of pressure.

In spite of all that rationalization, you are still correct.

Re: morse taper and wands

John K Jordan

>>>a little piece of brass shaped like capital E. ...

>>>The spine of the E was the length of the taper...

>>> just making them by sanding the end is so quick...

That must be a fairly long taper. I have about 1/2" between the larger and smaller diameters, plenty enough to seat securely with a twist of the fingers. But the taper has to be perfect or it will wobble in the headstock. (I hold lightly with the tailstock; too much pressure and a long, thin spindle will flex and be unmanageable.)

You must be pretty good to sand a taper to seat perfectly without some trial and error. I know I couldn't do it!

JKJ

Re: morse taper and wands

Barry Irby

You are right about the length of the taper. Its about the same as the taper on a twist drill for a No 2. taper. I don't use it because its too long. As you said 1/2 is enough. I usually grind about an inch with about 3/4 of it going into the shaft. I press it home with the tailstock and by the time I am though turning an icicle I can back off the tailstock and finish the tip by supporting it with my left hand. I start with a piece about 6" long and turn about a 3 1/2 or 4" icicle and then use the remaining inch or so to turn the "hanger" that goes on top.

I use my disk sander to grind them and it seems easy enough.

Re: morse taper and wands

John K Jordan

>>>I usually grind about an inch with about 3/4 of it going into the shaft. I press

>>>it home with the tailstock and by the time I am though turning an icicle I can

>>>back off the tailstock and finish the tip by supporting it with my left hand.

Oh, it sound like you are relying on the pressure to jam the taper enough to hold it snugly. Seems like that might be harder to pull off for woods like lignum vitae and Af.blackwood!

It appears we are using the taper for different purposes, you to hold the finial tightly to finish the end, me to prevent flex in the shaft even while holding the other end with the tailstock.

I turn the taper with enough precision so it seats snugly with a finger twist. (This is very quick with a parting tool and my little gauge.) Most of my thin spindles are 14-16" but some are over 24" long and would distort with pressure while thinning. These won't stay in the headstock taper without the tailstock so I part off with a sharp skew and finish the ends by hand. For those rare cases where I NEED it to stay in the headstock unsupported, I drill a 1/4" hole in the end and screw in a drawbar.

For things like finials I usually hold the blank with pin jaws in a chuck. This usually doesn't need the tailstock at all.

JKJ

Re: morse taper and wands

Barry Irby

Aha! You are correct sir!

I am usually turning softer woods than exotics. and pieces much shorter than wands. And I don't have pin jaws. On occasion I have removed the jaws form a chuck and used the slide as jaws. Works well and if the piece is small the slides stay inside the chuck body and reduce the knuckle busters.

Had not thought of using a draw bar in that fashion. Thanks for the idea.

I once turned a nine foot long dowel on my two foot lathe by passing it through the headstock, through a chuck, and through the tailstock. Had to put eye bolts on the cabinets on both ends to contain the whip. It was just a stupid exercise to see if I could do it. Now I don't have to do it again. I have moved that to the other list. Things I never have to do again. The opposite of, but rhymes with Bucket List.

Re: morse taper and wands

John K Jordan

One reason I use the morse tapers for things like wands is the chuck takes up too much of the length of the mini lathe when turning offsite, but there are several other reasons.

One is as you mentioned - no chuck, no knuckle busters! (or tool busters) Another reason is for better clearance on the headstock end for shaping tight against the driven end.

Another bonus reason that is occasionally very useful: unlike with a chuck, the partially finished piece can be remounted on the lathe with perfect registration, every time! This lets me take it off the lathe, perhaps for the recipient to hold and test, then remount for detailing, texturing, and finishing.

One thing about the drawbar - I used a length of 1/4-20 all thread rod for the bar and drill a hole just under 1/4" in the end of the blank - it doesn't even have to be well centered. Rather than use a tap to cut threads in even hard woods, I found it sufficient to use a small triangular file to cut several v-grooves into the threads on the working end. This in effect makes the end of the rod into a tap which cuts the threads. (A dremel with a metal-cutting disk works even better.) To keep the all-thread rod from turning while attaching it to the wood, I ground a short flat area I can hold with an adjustable wrench.

JKJ

Re: morse taper and wands

Clifton C

I think I'll try shorter tenons. Here's a few other uses. At the top is my traveling buffer, one end M/T, the other threads onto the live center, buffing wheel pinched between. On the right is a hook & loop sanding mandrel. Below, with the blue tape was for a small box, then it was repurposed for something else. The red/green one is for turning "buttons" for throwing tops. And the left two I can't quite remember? All in all, a good skill to have.