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Forrest Forschmiedt

F

Forrest Forschmiedt

Joined
Sep 5, 2019
Messages
134
Likes
80
Location
Martinsville, VA
Thanks for letting me join your group.

I've already been lurking and learning. I figured it was time to join the group officially so I could ask a few noob questions and participate in discussions.

My wife and I bought a fixer-upper house here in Martinsville, VA at the beginning of this year. I left my bookkeeping job in Greensboro when we moved in to work full time fixing up the house. She makes twice what I ever did as a legal professional so it made good sense for me to stay home and work on the house vs working 40 hrs so we could pay someone else to do 5 hrs of work that I would have to fix later anyway.

We are in our 50s now. For the last twenty years I have spent the majority of my work life sitting at a desk. Now I am determined never to go back to a desk job ever again. As a hobby for the last couple years I have been making soap and selling it at craft shows, holiday festivals and the local farmers market. Along with the soap I have been making soap dishes with my miter saw and table saw. These have been really popular. As I walk around the craft shows and look at other people's stuff I always think "I could do that better". Of course if I say that out loud, my wife says "then do it!"

So, recently the wife has been asking me when I'm getting the lathe. Even when I tell her that the $500 lathe is going to cost us at least $1,000 in the end, she is still encouraging me to go ahead.

So, after many hours of reading reviews and watching videos, I think I have settled on a Jet 1221SP. I'm pretty much done trying to sift through the junk on Craigslist or FB marketplace looking for that bargain. A new machine with a warranty seems a better option for me. Amazon has it for $499.

I've always done my own wrenching and home repairs so basic tool safety and knowledge is not a mystery to me but it should be fun to learn how to use this one well.
 
Welcome to the AAW forum, Forrest. The Jet 1221 is a very fine lathe. You will be very happy with it.Learning to turn is not intuitive and trying to teach yourself by reading and viewing YouTube videos is far from being optimal with lots of traumatic catches along the way. The best way to learn, by far, is to pair with an experienced mentor. Fortunately, there is an AAW chapter, Southside Woodturners Guild, that meets in Martinsville. They meet at 6:30 PM on the first Tuesday of the month at Burr Foxx Woodworking, 824 Koehler Road. It's a very tiny club so I suggest calling the club president, Rocky Fizzano (276-629-8686), to confirm the meeting time and location.

It is serendipitous that I used up my last bar of lye soap yesterday and was doing a web search for information on making soap when I happened to discover your website. I finally discovered the information that I needed on the Mother Earth News website on saponification to make sure that I had the right ratio of ingredients. I used to enjoy watching my grandfather make lye soap in a big cauldron. I used to buy lye soap from a lady in Abilene, Texas but she retired.
 
A good web page for creating your own soap recipes and calculating how much water, lye, etc. to use is soapcalc.net. This is just a recipe calculator though. It assumes you already know how to actually make the soap.

Just this last week I have finally gotten my soap shop set up in the new house to the point where I have been able to pour a couple batches of soap. I still have a few dozen bars of soap of various flavors on hand but the new stuff won't be ready to use for a couple months. I haven't paid a lick of attention to my soap web site for months now. Since I will be starting anew in a different city and state, I will be starting with a new site and new business name soon. If you would like a few bars of handmade soap, send me a message. I could send you a couple bars. One thing about handmade soap is that it gets smoother and nicer to use with age. Most scents will fade after 6 months or so but the soap itself is very nice to use for a couple years or more, depending on the recipe and how it's stored.

I know exactly where Burr Fox is. It's just around the corner from the Lowe's, which of course I visit almost daily. I will reach out to them. That is an extremely helpful tip. I was planning on reaching out to a few of the local wood shops in search of cheap wood for turning. It seems one of the keys to woodturning is reasonably priced supplies. I see you can spend stupid amounts of money on little pieces of wood and kits for pens, pepper grinders, etc.
We had a big Red Oak tree fall on our property early in the year. I'm kicking myself now for not saving a few good pieces of the trunk instead of letting the tree service company haul it away.

BTW, your cat looks a lot like our Max.
 

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Tuxedo kitties are the best in the world. The Puddy Tat and I have been pals for almost 20 years. He and I are growing old together.

Except for pens and specialty things woodturners generally don't buy wood. Free wood is everywhere. I need a bumper sticker on my truck that says "I Brake For Wood". Joining a club is often a way of sharing wood.

I did find the soapcalc.net site yesterday. It looks like soap making has gotten a lot more scientific since the days when my grandparents made it. I wonder how they got the recipe just right. I know that not everybody got it right and made some pretty caustic soap that would take your hide off.
 
Forrest Forschmiedt said:
Thanks for letting me join your group.

I've already been lurking and learning. I figured it was time to join the group officially so I could ask a few noob questions and participate in discussions.

My wife and I bought a fixer-upper house here in Martinsville, VA at the beginning of this year. I left my bookkeeping job in Greensboro when we moved in to work full time fixing up the house. She makes twice what I ever did as a legal professional so it made good sense for me to stay home and work on the house vs working 40 hrs so we could pay someone else to do 5 hrs of work that I would have to fix later anyway.

We are in our 50s now. For the last twenty years I have spent the majority of my work life sitting at a desk. Now I am determined never to go back to a desk job ever again. As a hobby for the last couple years I have been making soap and selling it at craft shows, holiday festivals and the local farmers market. Along with the soap I have been making soap dishes with my miter saw and table saw. These have been really popular. As I walk around the craft shows and look at other people's stuff I always think "I could do that better". Of course if I say that out loud, my wife says "then do it!"

So, recently the wife has been asking me when I'm getting the lathe. Even when I tell her that the $500 lathe is going to cost us at least $1,000 in the end, she is still encouraging me to go ahead.

So, after many hours of reading reviews and watching videos, I think I have settled on a Jet 1221SP. I'm pretty much done trying to sift through the junk on Craigslist or FB marketplace looking for that bargain. A new machine with a warranty seems a better option for me. Amazon has it for $499.

I've always done my own wrenching and home repairs so basic tool safety and knowledge is not a mystery to me but it should be fun to learn how to use this one well.
Click to expand...
Best place by far right here to ask anything about woodturning. Welcome aboard! Aloha
 
Good grief, you guys are costing me a lot of money!!

On Amazon it was only a few days from Jet showing no stock, to 11 units - one of which I bought - to no stock again. Jet must sell a ton of the 1221 lathes!

Gave up waiting for the brown van and headed off to my daily trip to Lowe's. Wouldn't you know, I see the brown van two blocks from home. So we move the box from his van to my car and carry on.

Lathe in box.JPG
The box had some wear but looked intact.
Judging from the broken up styrofoam, the box had been dropped on its head during the trip but the lathe was fine.
Lathe on bench.JPG
I modified a workbench that came with the house and added castors to it. No clear path fro mounting screws where I want to mount the lath so it gets mounted to plywood and the plywood gets screwed to the bench. I think it will stay in place just fine. I was planning on mounting the grinder on the right end of the table.

Has anyone started chips on fire sharpening tools too close to the chip pile? I'm wondering if I should mount the grinder separately.

So far I have received the lathe, Nova chuck and a drill chuck.

After considerable reading here and elsewhere, I came to the conclusion that my 5" high speed grinder was not suitable for tool sharpening. A Rikon 8" slow speed grinder should be coming in the brown van by the weekend, along with a Sharp Fast system and wheel dresser. I ordered a set of 8 tools also so I will have something to sharpen.

Now I need a better chainsaw...
 
So you say that you hijacked a UPS truck? :D:D

The box looks pristine compared to a few that I have received. Your workbench set up looks great. I have an old Jet 1014 mini lathe and have it mounted on a Harbor Freight hydraulic table cart so I can adjust the height to whatever feels comfortable.

You don't have to worry about sparks. There isn't much sparking with high speed steel sharpened on aluminum oxide wheels compared to carbon steel sharpened on silicon carbide wheels. If your grinder comes with gray silicon carbide wheels you will get sharper tools if you replace them with aluminum oxide wheels (white ) or some exotic alternative (ceramic, seeded gel, cubic boron nitride).

I think that I would put the grinder on the far left, but it's a personal preference thing. The white aluminum oxide wheels shed a lot of grit that gets everywhere so wear your respiratory protection and have the grinder where the gritty mess creates the least interference with other machines. The advantage of the exotic wheels is less gritty mess, but higher cost. :rolleyes:

I had a Tormek long before I got into woodturning so that is what I usually use. I have a dry grinder, but it only gets used when I need to remove a lot of steel to shape a tool.

A chainsaw that is easy to start and has a sharp chain are two most important things. Also have at least one spare sharp chain. I recently bought a Stihl electric chainsaw for use around the house.

It looks like you still need some tools and wood. Don't forget the safety equipment: face shield, safety glasses, dust mask, and a smock. While some folks might question a smock as being listed as safety equipment ... just go walking into the house with dusty clothes and you'll find out why a smock is rightfully considered personal protective equipment.
 
It's always good to be on good terms with the man in brown.

Nothing is attached to the bench yet so any/all suggestions for layout will be considered. I like the idea of the hydraulic cart. I set up the bench so the spindle is elbow high but have no idea how well that will work for me over time. My wife says she wants to use the lathe also and she is a good six inches shorter than me. She has turned before and also wants to get a scroll saw for more crafty stuff. I have some serious organizing to do in the garage.

The grinder comes with Aluminum oxide wheels, 80 & 120 grit. I do have a face shield and safety glasses as well as dust masks, lots of ear plugs (not such a big deal for the lathe) and even a smock. I must admit I'm not so good at wearing the smock though.

Definitely going to have to figure out a better system for dust management in the garage. With the table saw and miter saw I roll them out into the driveway to use them then blow the sawdust into the weeds when I'm done. I'm assuming the lathe is more chips than dust except when sanding. Maybe I can use the shop vac for dust control when sanding?

I also have a little 14" electric chain saw that was given to me by a friend. Last time I used it was for some boxwood stumps so the blade needs sharpening or swapping out again. We have had three trees come down on our 1-1/4 acre lot this year so I absolutely need bigger chainsaws. The first tree to come down blocked both cars in the driveway. Need more power!!

And don't worry about the tools. No matter the hobby or whatever you want to call it, I have a bad habit of accumulating tools and paraphernalia.
 
Go meet Terry Michell @ 107 craft shop on church street....resident woodturner usual there after 3 pm
....its across the street from parking lot @ intersection Broad & Church sts.
 
charlie knighton said:
Go meet Terry Michell @ 107 craft shop on church street....resident woodturner usual there after 3 pm
....its across the street from parking lot @ intersection Broad & Church sts.
Click to expand...
Yup, I know Terry. I had a space in Studio 107 for a short time. Your name actually came up in conversation once or twice discussing the local sawdust maker scene.
 
I've had to transition to color....health limitations.....a lot of same things ie. learning curve....
 
Welcome. If you only spend another $500 over the lathe, you will have gotten off very cheap. Plan for about 3x that over the next year or 2. IMO when buying chucks get one with an insert that can fit 1x8 and 1-1/4x8 spindle threads with a different insert. When you go through the inevitable lathe upgrade all you need is a new insert vs new chuck.

Best way to handle both you and your wife turning is another lathe but for the short term, build a platform for her to stand on. Rule of thumb is spindle center height at center of the elbow, some like an inch more, some an inch less.
 
Doug Freeman said:
Welcome. If you only spend another $500 over the lathe, you will have gotten off very cheap. Plan for about 3x that over the next year or 2. IMO when buying chucks get one with an insert that can fit 1x8 and 1-1/4x8 spindle threads with a different insert. When you go through the inevitable lathe upgrade all you need is a new insert vs new chuck.

Best way to handle both you and your wife turning is another lathe but for the short term, build a platform for her to stand on. Rule of thumb is spindle center height at center of the elbow, some like an inch more, some an inch less.
Click to expand...

Well, this thread is over two years old now and much of what was predicted has come to pass.
I have since spent many times the price of the original lathe on the shop. There really is no end to it.
Turning tools, chucks, pp helmet, band saw, grinder, sanders, and so on...
The 1221 has been replaced with a Jet 1840.
I did buy a few direct thread chucks originally for the 1221 but I didn't lose too much and they were easy to sell when I replaced them with bigger chucks for the bigger lathe.

By the way, to anyone shopping, I recommend spending the extra dollars for the variable speed lathe over the step pulley version.
 
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