Wood turning lathe power feed or manual if that's a thing

[dave_87]

Hi all,
Apart from dabbling in school many moons ago, I'm new to turning.
Does anyone know if it's possible to get a wood turning lathe with a power feed or manual feed like metal working lathe has?
I've had a search on Google but can only find DIY solutions but would prefer a stock one.
If at all possible I'd also like to be able to swap it for a normal tool rest/post.
Does anyone know if this exists?

Thanks,
Dave.

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[marcros]

I have only seen it on a massive wadkin lathe.

Why do you want it- is it something that the correct technique and practice would overcome?

 

[Dave Brookes]

A power feed such as a crossslide will not be able to react to a change in the cutting sound if a change in the structure of the wood is encountered.
As Marcos said ‘why wood you want it’.

Dave

 

[Lazurus]

A copy lathe or attachment is the only thing I can think of, but as above I cannot see the benefit. People do use metal lathes for wood but I think it would be very slow and limiting, if you consider the continuous and subtle changes we make to tool presentation a machine would never reproduce that. guess the short answer is "Practice".

 

[AndyT]

Isn't this what a Legacy ornamental lathe does? There used to be some Legacy owners on here so a search might find good info.

There are automatic lathes for mass production, but I don't think many amateurs want to take all the fun and skill out of their turning!

 

[Rorschach]

You need good rigidity and stability to use a power feed, as well as accurate lathe ways. Wood lathes (for their size) have none of this I am afraid.

If you want to be able to do metal and wood work remember that you can turn wood on a metal lathe, but you cant turn metal on a wood lathe. So basically, buy a metal lathe.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=wadki ... __srXGaAJM:

 

[dave_87]

I have only seen it on a massive wadkin lathe.

Why do you want it- is it something that the correct technique and practice would overcome?

I was wanting it to turn perfect cylinders.
I'm sure technique and practice would overcome the need for this.
Thanks for the reply.

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[CHJ]

I was wanting it to turn perfect cylinders.
I'm sure technique and practice would overcome the need for this.

A Pattern Makers Lathe is the animal for this but tend to be very large (for home workshop) and getting rarer to find.

A cheap (basic) Metal working lathe is your best bet if it is controlled dimensional sizing you are after, you will need to experiment with tooling to get a decent finish as cutting Rake and Angles are critical.

The other inherent problem is that you need very stable wood if the dimensioning is critical, most readily available kiln dried woods will move considerably after they are turned and bored.

I find that rough turning and aging for several weeks before final finishing gives reasonable results but they will still move over months or years due to moisture absorption so perfect cylinders and wood are not long term bed fellows.

 

[Sideways]

Wasn't there an ornamental lathe listed in the for sale section here not too long ago ?

 

[LancsRick]

As mentioned above, going to the precision you're talking about will almost certainly be thwarted by wood movement.

My suggestion for consistent cylinders on a wood turning lathe would be to ensure you have a rest that runs the length of the workpiece, waxed, and use a broad (probably 1") skew chisel to take continuous cuts, keeping your tool projection constant. With a bit of practice you'll be surprised at just how consistent you can be in both diameter and quality of finish.

 

[Lazurus]

http://www.jonathanleech.co.uk/blog/old-lathe/

 

[kjmc1957]

I guess it also depends on the size of the perfect cylinders, if they were small enough they could be resin infused which would mitigate against any movement but still leave the decorative pattern of the wood. IF you went this way part turn the inside diameter before infusing, that way you don't drill out loads of resin.

 

[timber]

I have a Legacy ornamental lathe perfect cylinders every time plus many more thing that it does Just doing some boxes out of oak flooring finger joints plus rebating and spiral work.
If you are interested Dave let me know.
I did send you a private email but it seems to have got lost??????
Timber

 

[dave_87]

I have a Legacy ornamental lathe perfect cylinders every time plus many more thing that it does Just doing some boxes out of oak flooring finger joints plus rebating and spiral work.
If you are interested Dave let me know.
I did send you a private email but it seems to have got lost??????
Timber

Thanks, I've had a look but can't see a PM, lost in the ether somewhere I guess.

I've had a look at ornamental lathes and if that's the bed thing with a router over the top(i know my terminology is amazing), it's not quite what I'm after as I will also want to try my hand at bowls in the future.

From all the comments I think I'll go with a 'normal' wood lathe and practice practice practice.

Thank you all for you comments and input.

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[jurriaan]

To turn 'perfect' cylinders, use a copy lathe. Search on Ebay.co.uk for 'copy lathe' and you'll see several for sale - from cheap to Hapfo. Even CNC is a possibility.

These lathes are optimized to create a form from a template in a piece of wood - balusters, table legs, parts like that. Because time is money, they try to run these operations at high speed. Also, the surface gets better at high speed. The surface still won't reach the quality of a master craftsman with a normal lathe, however.

These high speeds are not what you want when you want to turn bowls, which start out as a more out of balance blank than a table leg.

 

[MusicMan]

Perfect cylinders, spindle cut, are course needed for woodwind instruments, and many musical instrument makers use a metal lathe. Not too cheap, but something like a Myford is fine. A very good tool for this is the Glanze profiling tool, essentially a sharp cup:

https://www.axminster.co.uk/glanze-prof ... l-ax890026

You can grind a normal HSS tool to something like this profile: rounded from above, sharp rakes on top and all sides.

It can of course be done freehand with practice. +1 for a long toolrest, and for high speed when you get close. Monitor your diameter frequently with calipers. One maker I know uses a cheap plastic calliper gauge (and replaces them quite often as they wear!). Final sanding with your fingers against the paper will help you feel any irregularities, but be sure your fingers cannot get trapped if the paper catches and pulls.

Keith