Does This Look Right?

[custard]

Thanks again for all this great advice. Let me chew it over. My metal machining ability is nil, but I know a man who can!

 

[woodpig]

The advantage of using a flange mounted collet chuck is that you can pass stock right through the chuck and headstock if your lathe spindle is hollow. This has come in very handy on my metal turning lathe but I doubt it would be an issue for my wood turning lathe. Having said that I already have an ER32 collet chuck so I should really machine a back plate for my own AT1416VS.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

This is what I had in mind.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ju ... ck-ax22446

I don't think the outlay is prohibitive for the use the chuck gets, and doesn't rely on a taper to keep things attached and made in England to boot.

Mike.

 

[woodpig]

This is the alternative. MT2 ER32 collet chuck £15.20 inc delivery. The body is also smaller so gives good all round access.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New-Pre ... SwLVZVo9Ah

It has flats on the body so no need to lock the spindle, just a spanner required. It's also ER32 (or 20 or 16 if required). You will need to add the cost of some collets.

Personally I like the better access and lower cost but it's a personal thing. The larger flange mounted ones mentioned earlier could be restrictive to some.

Edit: forgot to add. Ball bearing collet nuts require much less force to close them so for some jobs you may not need to use a collet wrench.

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue ... ing-Type-B

 

[CHJ]

If you have an axminster chuck with the engineering jaws I've found that they run true enough to grip something of that nature true enough for wood turning.

As I don't have a modern thread on my lathe it's how I drive my Chronos centres

 

[Jacob]

I've turned a lot of knobs in the past. No need for extra kit.
In the end I found it easiest and fastest to turn them out of one long cylinder blank , marking up each knob, picking out the details on each - which helps make them identical, then finishing the tailstock one as near as possible, reducing the spigot and parting off, tiny bit of hand trimming/sanding to remove the tail stock mark, then on to the next one with the remains of stump of the spigot on to the tail stock.
Found it quite fast eventually, very repetitive which makes for accurate reproduction of identical (near enough) copies.

PS tried a Jacobs chuck but it tended to crush the spigot.
NB spigot only needs to be fractionally smaller then the knob e.g. a 1" dia knob could have a 3/4" spigot - no point in making them smaller.

PPS i've just remembered - for finishing the last little bit I sometimes mounted the knob in a piece attached to a faceplate with a tight hole to fit the turned spigot.

 

[woodbrains]

I've turned a lot of knobs in the past. No need for extra kit.
In the end I found it easiest and fastest to turn them out of one long cylinder blank , marking up each knob, picking out the details on each - which helps make them identical, then finishing the tailstock one as near as possible, reducing the spigot and parting off, tiny bit of hand trimming/sanding to remove the tail stock mark, then on to the next one with the remains of stump of the spigot on to the tail stock.
Found it quite fast eventually, very repetitive which makes for accurate reproduction of identical (near enough) copies.

PS tried a Jacobs chuck but it tended to crush the spigot.
NB spigot only needs to be fractionally smaller then the knob e.g. a 1" dia knob could have a 3/4" spigot - no point in making them smaller.

PPS i've just remembered - for finishing the last little bit I sometimes mounted the knob in a piece attached to a faceplate with a tight hole to fit the turned spigot.

Hello,

A whole world of possibilities opens up, if you can have access to the front face of each knob, though! Inlaying different woods or other materials, adding hollows or ring details or little 'pips'. Losing the tailstock holding makes more interesting turners.

That said, it is possible with no extra kit, but TBH the kit is hardly expensive and the convenience out ways the faffing. When I was starting, I used to turn between centres a hardwood Morse taper with a mushroom on the end. This tapped into the headstock and then a hole of a size to suit the knobs' tenon's bored into the end and you get a great holding device for turning knobs similar to Custard requirements. Keep the tailstock contacting the work until the last minute and then free the work up for deatailling the free faces. Works a treat.

Mike.

 

[Jacob]

There's all sorts of ways! The advantage of using a long blank is that you can turn a whole (or part of) set of knobs in one go without stopping. A big collet chuck would help holding the end of the blank, but not essential (with a bit of juggling!).
The old books are good on things like this - modern books all involve buying gadgets, which may be reassuring but don't necessarily speed things up.

 

[SteveF]

i have to agree with Jacob
if u have longish blanks (is that even a real word?) then surely the way to go
I am a noob but the cost of timber taken into account, then u will waste lots less by going this route

Steve

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

You also need to bear another thing in mind when turning multiple "products" out of one long spindle beyond the obvious which is that you cant get access to finish the end on the lathe (as Jacob says it needs to be hand sanded to remove the nub).

That is the flex. if the spindle diameters you need to turn are sufficiently thin then the longer the spindle, the greater it will flex, costing you control of the finish and all manner of problems. Even that has a solution which is a centre steady but I think that's getting too complex for your needs. Personally, I've turned a great many small objects where you needed access to the end ie without tailstock support and my preference is generally to cut the blanks short on the bandsaw in batches and then mount them in a chuck. I do like turning access to the ends because the finish is always, always, always better than when you hand finish them. The nub's need to be left long or the grain tearout is irreparable even if you do do them by hand and the resultant hand finishing takes time. To my mind, you have a machine capable of turning things safely already set up....why not continue to use it to the very end of the job if you can. I agree it does waste a tad more wood due to the tenon left in the chuck after you part but in my case I've harvested all the wood I use so it's nearly cost neutral....and the stubs make excellent tinder for the wood burner

I'm not completely averse to hand finishing and do do it often, but my preference, where possible is to get access to the end of the piece while it's spinning.

 

[Jacob]

You also need to bear another thing in mind when turning multiple "products" out of one long spindle beyond the obvious...
That is the flex. ....

Keeping the spigots as big as possible helps.