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Little spear off the lathe

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Little spear off the lathe

#1

Jack Guzman from Maine

Little spear off the lathe

Jack Guzman from Maine

I just finished roughing out some riven green oak blanks for chair legs. I take a 2"x2"x2' piece of red oak that I have just split out of a log. It is still wet it is so green. I place it between centers and using a 2" roughing gouge I turn it into a cylinder for air drying in the shop for awhile. I usually run the lathe as fast as it will go without shaking the lathe. I start at about 1200 and crank it up as it gets rounder. I had all the corners off and was getting close to smooth at about 2400 rpm when a 2"long splinter came off it and imbedded itself like a little spear about an eighth of an inch into the plywood wall behind the lathe. Never saw that happen before. I think I will be a bit more cautious from now on.---Jack

Re: Little spear off the lathe

#2

glad it was the wall...

GaryG in MD

and not you!

Thanks for the heads up.

It always pays to stay out of the line of fire -- in this case even for spindle turning. ...GG

Re: Little spear off the lathe

#3

Re: glad it was the wall... *LINK*

john lucas

How do you stay out of the line of fire while spindle turning. OK maybe 10" spindles like my handles but chair legs or table legs pretty much require you to move with the tool along the turning. I've had spears break loose before and it's why when roughing pieces I use a push in and then move down hill (usually to the left for me). When doing the push in your severing the fibers across the grain and there's less likely hood for splitting. When I first learned to rough I was taught to move the gouge left and right following the spindle. This can often lift spear like pieces from green wood if the grain doesn't run parallel to the spindle.

In Jack's piece the wood was probably riven so the grain ran as straight as possible but it can still happen.

Here is a video I made showing how I use the spindle roughing gouge. At about 2:15 is the push cut that I use to cut across the fibers and prevent the spears from peeling off.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8YYYYA-6jQ

Re: Little spear off the lathe

#4

Re: Little spear off the lathe

John K Jordan

I've had some green red oak that could be split very easily when splitting for firewood, more easily it seamed than most other species and even other red oak trees. It almost seamed to fall apart (but not ring shake). I wonder if yours was like that.

JKJ

Re: Little spear off the lathe

#5

Re: I rough spindles like you describe John.

jake niedling

Take small cuts down hill and work off towards the ends. Do this until it is round. I have had splinters when using the back and forth method to knock off the corners. Not to say that you couldn't have a loose splinter come off, but it does reduce the possibility.

Re: Little spear off the lathe

#6

Re: Little spear off the lathe

Barry Irby

I knew a man in my youth who was killed by a wood lathe. Turning a really ratty piece of wood he cut into a ring shake or other flaw and a large piece came loose at one end and clubbed him to death. At least that was the story the Coroner put out.