New Lathe

My desire to make bigger bowls and turn bigger projects got the best of me. I bought a new lathe to replace the 1942 model I was using.  I bought a Steel City 60100G. It has a granite bed and head stock. 12" swing with 27" capacity, Variable speed.

I've only messed with it a little but I am happy so far. I need to build a stand for it (all my other work surfaces are too tall for it.)

A fungi for fun

I have a hard time staying away from the lathe, I really enjoy turning. I had a little extra time one morning in the shop so wanted to turn something. During a thunderstorm recently a Bradford Pear tree at my parent's was damaged. I picked a few pieces out of the log pile to make things out of.

I had watched videos of people turning mushrooms as practice.  I grabbed a piece of the bradford pear and put it between centers on the lathe. The bradford pear turns wonderfully with the wood still being green (wet).  It was a lot of fun.

Since the wood was green the mushroom will crack and possibly warp as the wood dries out, but that will just add character. Finished size is roughly 5" tall, 3.5" across the cap, and the bigger part of the stem is around 2" in diameter.

Green Bowl Turning

Late last summer I cut down a cherry and an apple tree in the yard, I cut some bowl blanks as I was cutting up the trees.

While hauling some firewood to the shop I got distracted by the bowl blanks and brought a couple of them to the shop. I used the band saw to cut a rough circle and then mounted the bowl to the lathe using a lag screw as a screw chuck.

I then turned then outside of the bowl and glued my glue block I've used with my other bowls on to turn the inside. The blanks weren't all the way dry and the "green" wood was fantastic to turn. Since the wood was green I could either leave the bowl thick and let it dry slowly in a bag of shavings and then true up the bowl and finish it once it was dry. Or I could make the bowl thin and allow the bowl to warp and dry on its own. I didn't want to have to wait so I chose the second option. I used mineral oil to finish the bowl, which is a food safe finish. Here is the finished Apple bowl. It has already warped and has became oval shaped.

I am looking forward to making more bowl like this one.

Snack time

I am working on a big project and I am going to make one blog post about it when it is done instead of several post along the way.

Lathe Repair

Back in December I mentioned how I was having some trouble with the tailstock on the lathe and how I wanted to have it machined to take a Morse taper (MT). I ended up ordering a drill chuck that fits on the lathe and the reamers to cut a No.1 Morse Taper. I also order No.1 MT live center and mandrel saver for turning pens. All the parts finally came in so it was time to make the repairs.

I started by drilling a 3/8" hole in the tailstock, and then used the course and finish reamers to form the Morse taper. The process went good for the most part, with only a few hiccups.

Here is a video I made of the process.

I've used the live center to turn a few items and it work so much better than the dead center. This was not just a repair but an upgrade. As a bonus the drill chuck is allowing me to give bowl turning a try as was seen in my previous post.

Walnut Bowl

I recently bought a drill chuck that will fit on the head and tail stock on my lathe. I bought it in order to make some repairs to the lathe but wanted to try and use it for work holding. I made a glue block using a carriage bolt and some cherry scraps. I then rough cut a circle from a walnut off cut. Then I glued the walnut circle to the cherry glue block. I think chucked the carriage bolt in the drill chuck and turned the walnut into a small bowl. It was my first attempt at a bowl and it came out pretty good. I finished the bowl with a friction polish on the lathe.

part way through the sanding process

The finished bowl

I will get a picture of the carriage bolt glue block when I make the next bowl.

I've delivered the large counter top I had been working on and need to clean up the shop now. We all ended up with the flu and the weather has been miserable so there hasn't been much going on in the shop. The next big project is going to be some book cases for the kid's rooms.

Pens

Back in November I mentioned that I had ordered pen making supplies and I hadn't posted about turning pens mainly because I've been to busy turning pens. Making stuff on the laths is a lot of fun.

I've been making pens and pencils for gifts and have made several for other people to give as gifts. I am looking forward to making more pens to sell and custom orders after Christmas.

A apple wood Designer pen 

Mechanical Pencils

These are more of the walnut that my Grandpa cut down from his farm. I turned 7 of these in March when I was learning to make pens.

In the new year I want to expand the styles of pens and see where it all leads. I've a had a lot of fun the last month turning pens.

I am going to have to do some modifications to the lathe though. The lathe had a dead center on the tail stock and the pen mandrel has wore away the point. I have made a spacer/bushing that is working for now, but I plan to have the tail stock machined to take a morse taper so it can then use modern live centers and accessories like a modern lathe can take.

This is the tail stock quill that I need to have a taper bored into

There should be a sharp point in the center of this.

More Ornaments

I am still playing with the lathe in between other task or when I have a little extra time. Last week I brought a load of fire wood into the shop and picked a few pieces of spalted maple to try make something out of.

I used a hatchet to rough out a blank before putting it in the lathe. I turned two ornaments from the piece of firewood. The first one I sanded using paste wax and didn't add any finish other than the paste wax.

 The second ornament I stained with mahogany gel stain and I am top coating it with spray shellac.

 Here are the 2 ornaments from last week with the wire added to hang them and the walnut one has 4 coats of shellac on it.

Last night I prepared some blanks for making pens and today my pen making supplies were delivered, I am looking forward to getting started making pens.

The Lathe is Magnetic

I can't seem to stay away from the lathe, it is addicting. I went to the shop to work on the large counter top but while the shop was warming up I was drawn to the lathe. I had a piece of walnut in the lathe that I had made round the last time I was in the shop. I decided to see if I could make a small Christmas ornament. It was  fun little project and it came out pretty good. I plan to get some thin copper wire to hang it on. So far it has a coat of boiled linseed oil on it, I plan to give it a clear finish in a few days.

After working on the counter top I found myself digging in the scraps trying to find something to put in the lathe. I found a small chunk of oak in the scrap bin. I decided to make another ornament this one really looks like a top. I haven't tried to spin it with a string to see if it works as a top. I sanded it on the lathe using some paste wax and I think it came out nicely.

I am looking forward to adding more home made ornaments to our tree. Thanks for stopping by.

Starting to turn

Back in March I introduced my 1942 lathe that was in storage. Well I finally brought the lathe up to the shop, I am wanting to turn pens and some other gifts.

 I had to try the lathe once I got in the shop. The lathe tools were somewhat sharp and worked good enough to really make me want to turn more. In these pictures I was just playing with a piece of pine 2x2.

Dunlap Lathe and D R Barton tools

Turning the pens and watching some other turning videos has got me really interested in getting my old lathe setup. So I stopped by dad's where the lathe is in storage and check it out and looked for any tags on it so I could look up any information on it. The lathe was my Grandpa's.

From what I can find it appears to be a 1942 Dunlap sold by sears.

1942 Sear Catalog

The motor looks a little scary but the lathe looks to be in good shape

Dunlap

 I also gathered up the turning tools. They  are all D R Barton tools look to be from 1880 or prior according to the Davistown Museum

I am looking forward to getting this all cleaned up, and ready to use. Using the tools that once belonged to my grandpas is a neat feeling for me.