This evening, I was working on a nice maple burl bowl and got to a spot on the interior that had a very slight tear-out at one particular spot. On the outside of a bowl, it's pretty easy to take a black felt tip pen and put a mark on the tool rest. This makes it easy to identify the small area of concern once the bowl is spinning on the lathe.
On the inside, however, it's not as easy as the outside.....particularly if the walls of your bowl change directions sharply as with some inward slanting bowl walls. This means you will be supporting your lathe tool at a greater distance from the cut as some of us might like. It also means that identifying a particular spot of concern isn't as easy as putting a mark on your tool rest. You can use your best judgement and cut accordingly.....but quite often you will not hit the spot you intend exactly.
Weeeellllll, I had this nutty idea that I could use a fixed laser pointer to indicate the spot while the bowl is spinning on the lathe.
To make a long story short, I made up the laser pointer mounted to a wooden adapter, attached to a welding rod encased in an old piece of rubber tubing. The other end is attached to a strong magnet which attaches to the lathe itself. (see pictures below)
My fellow lathe turners......this idea works beautifully, and I can see this is something I will want to incorporate into my technique permanently! There is no guesswork, and the exact spot of concern is identified positively......nails it! There will be no more incorrect guesses on exact location while the lathe is running.
Now, the only trouble with the mount I made is it isn't as steady as I'd like. It's good enough for experimental purposes, but I need to improve on this idea. What I'm doing is taking the lamp and moving it to make contact with the laser pointer. Although this works, it isn't good enough. I need something removable, and solidly based.
An articulated arm, like seen on some industrial lamps would probably work nicely, but I sure don't want to buy one of these lamps just to get the articulating arm. Anything like that available elsewhere?
Your ideas and comments are welcome.
ooc
On the inside, however, it's not as easy as the outside.....particularly if the walls of your bowl change directions sharply as with some inward slanting bowl walls. This means you will be supporting your lathe tool at a greater distance from the cut as some of us might like. It also means that identifying a particular spot of concern isn't as easy as putting a mark on your tool rest. You can use your best judgement and cut accordingly.....but quite often you will not hit the spot you intend exactly.
Weeeellllll, I had this nutty idea that I could use a fixed laser pointer to indicate the spot while the bowl is spinning on the lathe.
To make a long story short, I made up the laser pointer mounted to a wooden adapter, attached to a welding rod encased in an old piece of rubber tubing. The other end is attached to a strong magnet which attaches to the lathe itself. (see pictures below)
My fellow lathe turners......this idea works beautifully, and I can see this is something I will want to incorporate into my technique permanently! There is no guesswork, and the exact spot of concern is identified positively......nails it! There will be no more incorrect guesses on exact location while the lathe is running.
Now, the only trouble with the mount I made is it isn't as steady as I'd like. It's good enough for experimental purposes, but I need to improve on this idea. What I'm doing is taking the lamp and moving it to make contact with the laser pointer. Although this works, it isn't good enough. I need something removable, and solidly based.
An articulated arm, like seen on some industrial lamps would probably work nicely, but I sure don't want to buy one of these lamps just to get the articulating arm. Anything like that available elsewhere?
Your ideas and comments are welcome.
ooc
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