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New Lathe Arrived

William Young

William Young

Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Messages
254
Likes
0
Location
Wynndel, British Columbia, Canada
Website
www.picturetrail.com
For better or worse I got this 14" lathe. It was on a sale and just within my price range. I was a little shocked that I ordered it by phone one afternoon and it arrived the next day by overnight transport. Cant beat that for service from a supplier is that about a 12 hour drive from where I live.

Capable of 14" bowls etc and 43" between centers for spindle work and 63" overall length.
It has a rotating headstock for outboard turning

I was pleased with the heavy guage of steel for the stand components and a full metal shelf rather than just support strips half way down like some lathe stands have .. I got the stand together and just about strained my milk getting the lathe on to the stand. The whole thing weighs 213 lbs.

The Reeves drive seemed a little sluggish so I took the cover off and coated the sliding parts with white lithium grease as per manual instructions and it now works just fine.
Now for a final cleanup and check everything for tightness and give it a whirl.

I think the first thing I will make will probably be a 14" compression chuck to save myself the hundred and some dollars they want for jumbo jaws for my oneway chuck..
W.Y.
79677223.jpg
 
Ray Dewey.
I got a bunch of compliments and congratulations on another forum where everyone doesn't have big expensive lathes. A few of them also mentioned sandbags but time will tell on that. For the next post on its performance that you were looking for, here it is. I am totally delighted with the power and smothness of running and performance of this lathe for my purposes. It is actually way better than I expected. I never intend to do anything with it beyond its capabilities so it will serve my purposes quite well. It is amazing what can be done with high quality sharp turning tools . I have had a busy day with making the compression chuck and turning a quick trial bowl with it and re-arranging my shop . And as I am inclined to be somewhat lazy as well as busy I am pasting right below a response I put in another site to save me some typing. ....

Thanks for all the replys. I hear ya all about the sand bagging but for what I have done so far it has been completely vibration free and very smooth running. I made the compression chuck and then turned a bowl (not the small one in it. That was just for the picture). I turned a 10.5" shallow bowl and it was a dream to use. Here is a picture of the compression chuck. I haven't taken a picture of the 10.5" bowl yet but I will and post it this evening.
Perhaps if I get into some heavy duty roughing out I will have to sandbag but so far it is not at all necessary.

I had to put the wing nuts forward instead of backward because of the size of the motor and how far it sticks out in relationship to the end of the spindle so care was needed not to get near them with it spinning. But I have ideas how to get around that... No problem.
W.Y.
79787234.jpg
 
OK... as promised here's pictures of my first practice piece of a 10.5" shallow bowl turned on the new lathe and the bottom turned on the new 14" compression chuck I just made.
I have a lot to learn yet with shaping the bottoms of bowls :o but I'm gradually getting there. At least it sits nice and flat and it is good enough to give to one of the kids or grandkids. :D
W.Y.
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Loks good to me Will. Think I wil make a compression chuck this weekend. Do you need the pink stuff to fill the gap or is it just sitting on the base of the bowl? (in your first pic)

Ruth
 
Ruth;
The pink stuff is that rubberized shelf lining that is so popular these days. It used to be expensive but is now quite cheap in rolls from Walmart etc. It is there to protect the top lip of the bowl. I used spray adhesive to fasten it to the backplate.The backplate is 3/4" plywood.
The front plate is 3/8" plywood and I used a roundover bit on the inside of the hole and put some of the rubber stuff on that edge as well to protect the outside of the bowl . I am going to make a few more outer plates with different size holes to accomadate different bowl bottom sizes.
If you have room, be sure to put the head of the carriage bolt on the outside plate and the extra bolt length and wingnut on the back side of the back plate.
I bought a few sets of three of different lengths of 1/4" bolts to acommdate for different bowl depths .
That chuck is quite easy to use after a little practice.
Good luck with making yours.
W.Y.
 
Last edited:
Happy turning

Hi Mr. Young
No advice here. Just congrats. And happy turning.
Duane
 
I like your design and would like to replicate it for my lathe butr I have a couple of questions. How did you mount the compression chuck to the lathe spindle? Is there any internal mechanism you used to help center the bowl on the compression chuck before applying the external clamp? Thanks.


DD
 
DD.
The lathe came with a 6" faceplate which is way too big for most faceplate applications but it was perfect for a dedicated faceplate for the compression chuck.
To centre the bowl on the compression chuck you just slide the tailstock up and centre the bowl to the point in the live centre. . There should be a centre location mark if the tailstock was in place when turning the tenon.

Bob;
You are correct. It is plenty good enough for the stuff I am producing and also plenty good enough for everything I will be producing as I get more proficient with turning.
Lots of people have made beautifull turnings with a lot less. It isn't always the size of the turning that determines its quality of workmanship or value. Huge powerfull lathes do not make an artist but the operator certainly can and I never had any intention to turn 20" or 15" or even much more than 12" stuff when I bought that 14" lathe that suits my purposes just fine. Beautiful things can also be turned on a mini lathe. Only holdback there is size restriction and that is why I upgraded from a 10" to a 14" model.
Do you have a website that you could post a link to Bob? I would be interested in seeing your big lathe and the size of some of the stuff you are producing up there in Edmonton.
Best regards.
W.Y.
 
Thanks Bob;
I am fully aware that I am amoungst some highly talented company here. That is why I am here. To learn from them.
A freind of mine over the border belongs to AAW and has invited me to join AAW and I fully intend to in the spring when the weather gets better to drive to my nearest chapter which is in Spokane , Washington. It is only a three hour drive from where I live but that can be fairly tricky driving through the rockies for about three months this time of year.

BTW ; That is one beautifull looking chess set. Would you please explain the finishing method you used on it.
W.Y.
 
Congrats on the lathe. Nice looking bowl. I use the same set up to finish the bottom of mine. Just one suggestion. Turn the bolts around so the wingnuts are on the back side of the jig. It is much safer that way.

Mike
 
Aaw

Glad to hear you can attend meetings with other turners. It will speed up your learning curve. I find these events the best way to see how its done. Every begining turner should have the chance to learn from others who have been through it before.

We have a group of about 120 in Toronto thats meets once a month. Meetings have a show and tell where members present their latest works - a great way to learn and very humbling to see whats possible compared to your own starting bowls, and then we have a presentation on a specific topic by a member or sometimes an invited guest. Next week we discuss colouring through dyes. Two weeks later there is the beginners night when we deal with one topic and can get some hands on training. Starting from sharpening, we progress through the use of specific tools to making bowls, spindles, lidded boxes, making our own tools and finishing.

The membership fees are nothing compared to what one can pick up at the meetings.
 
Hi Mike;
Thanks for the suggestion. I beleive I already mentioned that above to someone to reverse the bolts. Or perhaps it was on another forum that I mentioned it to someone. The reason I had to face them that way is because the motor is quite long and it is too close to the 14" plywood back plate out at that distance to have much bolt sticking out behind at least with the length of the shaft I have on my facelpate. Are there faceplates available with longer shafts ? ? or something else I thought of that might work woud be a short spindle adaptor with a female to male 1"x 8 tpi thread that would screw onto my lathe shaft to extend it out a little. If anyone knows of a supplier for an adaptor like that please let me know. I searched a bunch of sites already and found no such extension available . Barring that, I suppose a local machine shop would be able to turn one for me on a metal lathe.
For now, I am keeping my bolt lengths as short as possible and being careful of any loose clothing and staying well away from those spinning wingnuts. There is quite a distance between the part being turned in the centre hole and the outsides of the disk where the holes for the bolts are and I am being very carefull for now untill I devise a method of having more spinning room at the back for the protruding bolt ends and wingnuts..
I do have a variety of lengths of 1/4" bolts to provide for the thickness of different depths of bowls so would only need about a 1" shaft extension adaptor..
Hope somebody can help me find one. It would probably cost a lot less than machine shop labour.
W.Y.
 
Good Evening W.Y.

This may help to resolve your current situation.

Purchase an allthread coupler, (1"x8)? if this is your thread size, screw it on the spindle. Screw into the coupler the required leingth of a an allthread rod, and you have an extension. You can make it as long as you wish, with some linmitations. Total cost ? $3.00.

ps. You noted the reversal of the bolts, on post #6. ;)
 
Back to you W.Y,

I have been to the top of the Idaho panhandle, hit the border and turned around. Never been in your neck of the woods. I can't tell whats available up there, however I did hit up old Google, for allthread and couplers and such. Tons of info and suppliers, any grade material you wish. I would recommend only getting a stud rather than a 3' leingth of allthread.

If I knew you were only 6 miles from the border, I would have stoped in for that cup of coffee.

Happy hunting--it will work.
 
Thanks Bill;
I also spent some time in google on that. Most allthread came in three ft lengths and I didn't have much luck for couplers in that size. But we are on the right track with your suggestion.
There is a Machine shop in Creston that I know stocks some large bolts. Hopefully they will have 1x8tpi bolt that the head can be cut off of for the stud and a coupler to match up to it.. If not they would hopefully be able to get one or suggest another supplier.
W.Y.
 
Will, although I am in So Cal until September I live on Bowen Island, BC..hence the handle...anyway, you might want to give KMS in Coquitlam a call....they have a website KMStools.com...they may have something in their surplus room, they also sell a huge number of turning supplies and lathes. Also, Home Depot has plumbing pipe and also thread cutters.....If you are in Creston I am trying to remember where that is in relationship to Nelson..... They have a woodschool of some descritpion in Nelson... attached to the college?..they could also be a source of equipment/leads for you.

Best of luck,

ruth in Riverside CA
 
Thanks Ruth.
I have had KMS in my long list of tools favorites list for some time but that is one I never checked out yet. I will check their site and if no luck I will call them on Monday.
Also, it has always been a 7 hour drive each way for me to the nearest HD store. But they are building a brand new one in Sandpoint and the opening date is this Jan . 20th. That is only one hour south of the border. Guess where I will be on the 20th. :) That is one of my favorite hardware sources.
One way or another I will find those parts. Where there's a will , there's a way.
W.Y.
 
Good Morning W.Y.

Found your item. Check out Mcmaster-Car. WWW.mcmaster.com. Best place on earth to get whatever you may need. Look under coupling nuts, a 1"x8 grade 2 is $4.45, item # 90264A260. Other grades avail. Grade 5 = $15.07, Grade 8 = $49.07. Also any type of stud you can think of - even wood ;) . You can give them a call at (404) 346-7000 or email.

I hope others don't take this as an paid advertisement :eek: .

Good Luck, :) .
 
This is an update;
When I got home there was a response from them and they have those parts. But in the meantime , I had gone to town for some other things as well as coffee shop socializing ;) . On the way home I dropped into a welding / machine shop that had a huge selection of bolts .
I got a 1x8tpi all thread coupler and a bolt to fit it. They had no studs but I will hacksaw the head off the bolt to make the length of stud required. Only cost five bucks for the whole works.
Thanks to Bill and everyone else that has helped me so much here with various problems.
W.Y.
 
W.Y. That's just great, I didn't think it would cost much over $3-4.
And, hear along you thought you were living in outer Mongolia, I was quite sure they had that stuff up there in Canada. Let us know how it works out, this is what the site is about. :)
 
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