Safe size,weight and speed

[Dean]

Hi all, would anyone happen to know of a guide for safe size,weight and speed for turning on a Rexon TB900
I have been given a huge piece of Purple Heart, 14 inch Cube.
Today I have turned a blank from a slice which is now Eleven and half inchs by Three inchs, bloody hard work but no real problems.
I mounted the blank using a large face plate and turned a deep recess for the chuck and everything seems fine BUT I am not sure if the lathe and Nova chuck are capable of turning the bowl I am thinking about, The lathe Is only 3/4 HP
Could any of you more experienced turners advise please ?

Thanks

Dean

 

[wood yew believe it !]

dean, as long as your chuck has a good ol' grip on your blank, which i assume must be balanced as you turned it there wont be a problem, just start with the speed set on slow, okey dokey

dave

 

[PowerTool]

As Dave said,if it fits on,it should be okay.
I just find the shavings from turning purpleheart a bit like being shot by blowpipes - seem to end up with little darts of purpleheart stuck all over my clothes,rather than nice long curly shavings..

Andrew

 

[CHJ]

If you have got that far then I see no real problems, just take it slowly, the cutting that is, and just go no faster than you feel comfortable with.

On that diameter there is a lot of leverage available even with a small motor so be positive with tool holding.

See here for what a small lathe can do with care

 

[RogerS]

When you have some wood that is out of balance I know that I can increase the speed gradually until it starts to vibrate and then back it off a bit. But, in a similar way to out of balance car wheels, I know that if you increase the speed you can 'go through' the vibration.

So what do folks do? Run under the vibration point ...with the clunk, clunk, clunk that the wood makes as it slowly goes past the gouge...or do folks go through to the higher speed?

 

[Dean]

If you have got that far then I see no real problems, just take it slowly, the cutting that is, and just go no faster than you feel comfortable with.

On that diameter there is a lot of leverage available even with a small motor so be positive with tool holding.

See here for what a small lathe can do with care

Thanks CHJ, I'm a lot more confident after seeing those pictures.
Thanks for all the replies, I will post some pics when I have finished the bowl

Dean

 

[Paul.J]

Hello Dean.
I would just like to say to try and reduce the size before putting it on the lathe,if you think it is too big and heavy :wink:
Paul.J.

 

[wood yew believe it !]

hiya dean, hows that big purple heart bowl coming along ? :lol:

 

[Bodrighy]

So what do folks do? Run under the vibration point ...with the clunk, clunk, clunk that the wood makes as it slowly goes past the gouge...or do folks go through to the higher speed?

I have found that if I am turning something off centre, I am more likely to get catches at slow speed as well as more vibration. I start it up slow then move up until it feels comfortable. I make sure it is well held first though. Having said that, when I turned a piece of wood recently I had it on a worm screw with the tailstock brought up to play safe and when I moved the tailstock away it fell off the screw it was so rotten at that end. Just glad it fell of and not flew off.

Pete

 

[Dean]

hiya dean, hows that big purple heart bowl coming along ? :lol:

Hi Mate, here is a pic of the purple heart blank, I'm going to have a go at it at the weekend if possible. Will post more pics when in progress, fingers crossed :roll: .
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Dean

 

[wood yew believe it !]

yep, thats a big un' all right! have fun dean

dave

 

[Dean]

Had a go at the lump today ( No! not the wife :roll: )
Doing more sharpening than turning :roll: and I've run out of superglue.
I'll have another go at it next week. :lol:

[url=http://suprfile.com/get.php?id=69bh3mc]http://suprfile.com/get.php?id=69bh3mc[/url]

 

[Dean]

Getting there slowly but perhaps not the best choice of wood for this project.
I'm determined to finish it after getting this far :lol:

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And for my next trick :shock:

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Only joking.........honest Guv

Dean

 

[CHJ]

Dean, just take a leaf out of Grahams book and have a word with "Percy Veer", you'll get there in the end.

 

[Paul.J]

Dean that's one big lump of wood.
Should look good when finished.Keep on with Percy
How is your lathe coping with it.
Paul.J.

 

[wood yew believe it !]

getting there dean getting there, b good to see it when fin, then u can start on that ever so slightly bigger bit lol :lol:

 

[Dean]

Still getting some help from Percy, very helpful chap but he does go on a bit :lol:
Hi Paul, the lathe has been coping fine but as I said before there has been a lot of sharpening going on which is understandable considering the type of wood and the amount being removed. I have now finished the bottom of the bowl which despite the repairs to splits has turned out quite well considering.
It's turning out to be a very good exercise in bowl turning but it's a very sharp learning curve :roll:
I'm sure Percy will help me complete the project

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Dean

 

[wood yew believe it !]

good one dean! keep going m8, starting to look impressive!!

 

[Paul.J]

Dean.
That's looking really good
Can't wait to see the end result.
Paul.J.

 

[Dean]

Well me and percy have finally finished the job :lol: .
Not the best piece of work I know but it is the biggest so far and there was a lot more work involved than I thought. Didn't want to risk making the walls any thinner because of the splits.
I will try another one but from different wood next time :roll:
Still enjoyed the challenge

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Dean