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AAW symposium

john lucas

john lucas

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Over the next few days I will try to put together some of the things I learned or saw at the symposium. I'll be a little slow with this as I have other commitments to take care of.
I didn't take an accurate count but there were at least 4 or 5 dealers selling the CBN wheels. I can certainly understand why, I love mine. Sorby had their sanding sharpener. Expensive but certainly does a good job. Tormek was there of course. I didn't see any other sharpening systems.
Johannes Michelson had his sharpening system and so did Stewart Batty. I really like the Michelson fixture for positioning the tool in the sharpening jig. Stewarts tool rest is solid as a rock and easily positioned. I'm real happy with my Robbo Rest which does the same thing. Stewarts rest in infinitely positionable and solid as a rock but is a lot more expensive than the Robbo rest.
There were 2 new chucks. The Nova infinity is called the game changer. It has instant release jaws similar to the Easywoodtools chuck but the big advantage is your old Nova chucks can be converted. You buy a new set of inner jaws and all of the new quick remove inserts will fit your old chuck. You can also buy the replacement inserts to fit your old jaws so they can all be converted to the new system. It's very fast and easy to change jaws. I think the whole new chuck with a set of jaws ran about $400. I didn't price the inserts or quick release couplers. If you own a Nova chuck I would look into this.
The other chucks were from www.chucksplus.com His chucks look a lot like the Vicmarc chucks and will even take the Vicmarc jaws. Very well built with titanium coating on the jaws to resist rust. They have 4 different sizes from very small to really massive. I bought the small one which is perfect for mini lathes. Even the small one will take 4" jaws. They use a 10mm hex key like Vicmarc does. The pricing is very good which is why I ended up with another chuck (like I need more)
Robust lathes had Andre Martel in their booth selling some very nice calipers for measuring wall thickness. Wish I had purchased one but just didn't think about it until too late. The Robust lathes are really just spectacular. That's about all I can say about them. Everything works with ease and precision. If I upgrade they will certainly be on the top end of my list.
The new Jet 12" mini is massive. 137lbs and solid as a rock. If you are thinking of upgrading to a larger mini this needs to be on your list of possibilities. Everything works smoothly and with precision and the mass of the lathe will handle some pretty good out of balance pieces.
Well there will be more to come as I get time. don't want to make this 40 pages long.
 
Robo Rest

I was not able to attend this year but wanted to throw my 2-cents in for the Robo Rest as I don't see them mentioned often. I purchased one from Reed late last year and really like it's total ease of use and the ability to set to precisely the same angle over and over again. Fits perfectly in my Oneway jig. I like building my own tools/jigs whenever possible and am really glad I simply wrote the check for this. Well built and very well thought out.... and I ain't on the payroll🙂
 
i am not sure if i am getting better choosing rotations, but all the rotations were useful for me and were enjoyable.......in the past i have done the what am i here for questioning

loved the instant gallery, sorry the vendor area was not a priority, but did enjoy talking to Don Geiger at robust
 
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More Symposium stuff

There were 2 new booths this year. Both selling sphere turning jigs. http://www.chefwarekits.com/woodturning-thread-cutting-and-wood-ball-jigs
Craig had both threading and sphere turning jigs plus a bunch of very fun kits for woodturners to make products for selling and gifts. Nice products and the prices are good.
http://www.sphereturning.com/ Probably the best sphere turning jig on the market. I'll be able to tell you more in a month or so. One of my best friends bought one and I'll be able to play with it shortly. I did watch the demo several times and observed my friend learning to work with it before she bought it. This thing leaves a great finish and is very very easy to use. Price is not cheap but the neither is quality at this level. It will also hollow the sphere very precisely if you make it in 2 parts.
http://www.davidnittmann.com/airbrush.php I am very impressed with these air brushes and compressor. I drooled over them in Arizona. I found an unbelievably good deal on an Iwata with compressor or I would own one of David's now. The compressor is very quiet and small the air brush seems excellent. Certainly beyond my skill level.
http://www.rjrstudios.com/ I didn't buy one at the show but will probably order one when some more money comes my way. I think the sanding mops will greatly increase my production of some of my mirror handles and footed bowls. Stephen Hogbin was discussing how he sands his cut apart pieces for accuracy before re assembling them. He thought the sandflee drum sander might speed up this process. If someone has one, let us know what you think. I've always wondered if it would work for sanding segmented rings.
 
good looking sphere jigs John

i attended James McClure's rotation Spherical Boxes & Beyond, and can aspire to do as well as James, it was not fireworks or anything, just a woodturner and a pencil and a gouge......i was impressed, do not know if Al was impressed, but we both enjoyed the rotation
 
john lucas said:
http://www.sphereturning.com/ Probably the best sphere turning jig on the market. I'll be able to tell you more in a month or so. One of my best friends bought one and I'll be able to play with it shortly. I did watch the demo several times and observed my friend learning to work with it before she bought it. This thing leaves a great finish and is very very easy to use. Price is not cheap but the neither is quality at this level. It will also hollow the sphere very precisely if you make it in 2 parts.
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Click to expand...

John,
This jig is made by Marvin Stoltzfus a distant neighbor. Marv is president of the sarasota club and he loaned me one of the jigs last march.
The now has a newer model.
Marvin has spent a lot of time working on the jig and improving it.

I've used it and it works great. I have done a demo I call two easy ways to turn a ball twice and plan to do more.
I turn two 3" spheres one with a gouge and then one with the jig.
Both take about 30 minutes with explanation slowing the process.
I have been using the jig to turn 1" and 2" balls. For me the jig is much better on the small balls than I am with a gouge.

Getting a fine finish with jig I make 3-4 light passes with the cutter tilted.

It uses the hunter carbide cutters so you would have to give it a look 🙂
Have fun
Al
 
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charlie knighton said:
good looking sphere jigs John

i attended James McClure's rotation Spherical Boxes & Beyond, and can aspire to do as well as James, it was not fireworks or anything, just a woodturner and a pencil and a gouge......i was impressed, do not know if Al was impressed, but we both enjoyed the rotation
Click to expand...

I am impressed with James's work and demonstrations. We've been friends a long time. We even turned a bowl together as a demo twice-James is the inside man- I turn the outside and we do a running commentary while the other turns.

Al
 
More Symposium stuff

Well I have to say the most interesting booth was Stewart Batty's. He had 6 large monitors and 6 camera angles to cover all the demos done in his booth. He of course had a full line of tools that were pretty extra ordinary and quite different from anything else before.
His catalog is very informative and worth reading even if you don't want to buy any tools. In he tells you all about the shapes and why they are the way they are.
I handled quite a few. Had to wipe off the drool. they are really sweet but a little beyond my budget although I'm still considering a negative rake scraper.
The demonstrators in his booth did a wonderful job of showing how the tools worked. The tooling and finish on these tools are second to none. It will be interesting to see the results from actual users of these tools. There all made from 10V particle steel which many consider state of the art. The Carbon fiber handles are works of art as well. Very comfortable to hold. He also has adaptors so you can adapt your tools to his Bolster and handles.
He also sells an adaptor to use his grinding platform on Oneway bases. It is a work of art also and works extremely well. www.woodturner.org
 
No idea of when the Omni-Grinder will be available....

Good luck Reed.....

It's been two years since the grinder was 'introduced to the world', and it seemingly is still awaiting release as an available tool. (I agree - the prototype I saw was pretty nice...) They didn't say anything about when the grinder might actually be released; did anyone hear anything to the contrary?

I can't get very excited about buying into a proprietary tool holding mechanism and special handles (even with the the carbon fiber they're made with - they are a bit too 'light' for me), so I won't be pursuing any of the Batty Tools (or the 'new' Glaser tools) any time soon. I asked, and SB Tools does not intend to offer any of their innovative tool designs (I was interested in the negative rake scraper and shear scrapers) without the attached proprietary bolster, so these are officially off my 'want' list.... I'll be happy to stick with my Thompson tools, several D-Ways, my older Sorbys, and my array of Bosch, Hosaluk, Oneway, Munro, Thompson, and home-made handles. I like the versatility and ability readily switch tools and handles among the various manufacturers without being 'stuck' in one tool-handle system. The Clewes cam-lock quick connector system that Doug Thompson makes is also a very useful way to quickly switch out what tools you need.

I suppose I might be tempted by the SB sharpening grinder platform that fits the Oneway Wolverine mounts, but it would need to be a pretty good deal, since the Oneway tool platform of the Wolverine system is fully functional....

Decisions, decisions.....

Rob
 
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Rob,
I first saw the Omni Grinder in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Stuart told me it would be out that October. I asked again down in San Jose, and he said, again, it would be out that October. Still waiting. My main use would be as a shaping grinder, and for rounding over the edges of my scrapers. Probably dozens of other used, but will most likely stick with the D Way CBN wheels, and my Baldor Grinders.

PM sent.

robo hippy
 
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