Spindle turning

[edmund]

Yuletide greetings to everyone!

I am bravely venturing into this forum as I'm planning on adding some spindle turning skills to my repertoire (at least I'm going to try ). I've plumped for a Record CL1 lathe, which I hope will be adequate for my needs, so I'm now working out what tools I'll need, hence this post. As I said, at the moment I'm planning on spindle turning to make legs for tables etc. (and nothing too elaborate) so for the moment I won't need to worry about tools for turning things like bowls. My current plan is to get some Ashley Iles tools as as follows:

- 3/4" roughing gouge (possbily also 1")
- 1/2" and 1/4" spindle gouge
- 1 1/4" skew chisel
- 3/8" square beading and parting tool

Any suggested additions or changes would be gratefully received. (I read Brian Clifford's Introduction to Woodturning on turningtools.co.uk website, and came up with my list.)

Any recommendations for reading material would also be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance, Edmund

 

[Alf]

"Woodturning, a Foundation Course" by Keith Rowley is essential reading. Oh, and make the skew an oval one, but if you're like me you'll be too terrified to use it most of the time anyway...

Cheers, Alf

 

[Oldflyer2]

Welcome Edmund,

Your list is pretty good in my opinion. From my own experience I would forgo the 1" roughing tool and maybe even the 3/4". I have had a 3/4" for three years and used it maybe 6 times.

The 1/2" spindle gouge will do all the roughing you want and in my opinion with less wear and tear on you.

I agree, an oval skew is easier to use. There again, I would go with a smaller one. Skews do tend to get hidden and forgotten. It is one of my favorite tools, but then I like peanut butter and warm beer too! (It's OK, I'm Canadian)

Tom

 

[trevtheturner]

Hi Edmund,

Welcome to the world of round things.

I go along with Alf's recommendation of Keith Rowley's book - essential if you are starting out.

Any well known brand of high speed steel tools will be okay. Just avoid cheapie unknown ones. Oh, and have you got a grinder for sharpening? You will need one, and to sharpen properly and well is a little challenge in itself when you start.

I don't disagree with Tom that you can do your roughing with a spindle gouge but, as you mentioned table legs, I would still go for a roughing gouge, a 1" . I find the roughing gouge very useful if I have a large spindle blank on the lathe as I find I can cut more aggressively with it than with a spindle gouge and so get the blank down to the round much quicker. But you only need one and I would go for the 1".

Read up on the use of the skew and learn how to use it. When you have got the hang of it, it is a marvellous tool.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Horst Hohoff]

Hi Edmund,
The idea of the oval skew is, that it glides more smoothly on the toolrest. But usually these tools are considerably thinner than standard skew chisels and therefore more prone to chatter. If you're not completely fixed on Ashley Isles I would suggest the HAMLET round edge chisel, which combines the advantages of the afore mentioned types: it's as thick as a standard chisel and has rounded edges to glide easily on the toolrest. The width of the skew chisel must somehow correspond to the diametre of your workpiece: the larger the diam. the wider the skew should be. If in doubt, I'd buy the bigger one. And of course: The Taming if the Skew takes some practice.
And I would consider buying a special parting tool, which is not as wide as the one one you picked. Using this for parting off would always mean you loose relatively much wood in the process.
I also think that a well sharpened roughing gouge does an excellent job.
I've got 3 sizes and use them all. But I think one will do for a start.

 

[Argee]

Welcome to the "round" section, Edmund! Your starter tool list for spindle turning looks fine, although I'd add a thinner parting tool as well. I've tried both the conventional (flat section) and the oval skews - as soon as I tried the oval I knew I'd made a mistake and went for the largest conventional skew I could find - much better!

Because they're primarily used for shear cutting, they need to be used at an angle and the trailing edge must be kept from contacting the work at all costs - otherwise a monumental dig-in results. When used for planing cuts on a spindle, the larger the blade, the easier it is to cut with the trailing edge clear.

If you've got the time, contact

Hegner UK Ltd.
Unit 8, North Crescent, Diplocks Way, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 3JF
TEL: 01323 442440
E-Mail: [email protected]

and see if they still do their free demo video of the Hegner HDB 200XL lathe. If they do, ask them to send you one, as it contains some great footage of Nigel Voisey using a large skew - it's worth getting just for that alone.

If they've stopped doing the free videos, drop me a PM - I can probably dump it onto DVD for you.

Ray.

 

[Oldflyer2]

One thing I forgot to mention that could be very helpful. Try to find another turner near you or a club. That way you could perhaps 'ave a go' before you part with your money. Because you mention a Record Lathe I assume you are "Over The Pond". I am almost positive if you mentioned where you were, someone there would be willing to give a hand.

As you can see by the responses to your question ... every turner has a different way of doing things ... and they are all right ... for them. You won't know what is best for you until you try it and if you have bought the wrong tools for you, it is annoying to see them in the tool rack but never pick them up. (How do I know that?)

Ask ten woodturners how to do something and you will get 14 answers ... and they all work!

Tom

 

[edmund]

Thanks very much for all your replies. All the information is very helpful. I always find it a bit nerve wracking when venturing into the unknown so I always like to arm myself with as much information as possible before I take the plunge.

On the sharpening side, I'm used to sharpening/honing chisels and plane irons for normal woodworking activities. But from what I've read so far with regard to turning tools, grinding is the only sharpening required. Is this right????

Thanks all, Edmund

 

[CHJ]

...snip...On the sharpening side, I'm used to sharpening/honing chisels and plane irons for normal woodworking activities. But from what I've read so far with regard to turning tools, grinding is the only sharpening required. Is this right????

...snip..

Edmund, I doubt very much that you will need anything other than a 'Fresh' cutting wheel for your turning tools. I certainly do not... although I am a relative newcomer to turning I have not found a need... in fact I would suggest that with the cutting loads and abrasive nature of most timbers encountered at turning speeds a 'razor edge' would rapidly fail.

There are details of my solution as a newby turner HERE

 

[Chris Knight]

As some one who very occasionally and reluctantly does a bit of wood turning but knows very little about it, I have found that a block plane makes an excellent tool for getting a spindle a uniform diameter and leaves a nice surface.

 

[CHJ]

As some one who very occasionally and reluctantly does a bit of wood turning but knows very little about it, I have found that a block plane makes an excellent tool for getting a spindle a uniform diameter and leaves a nice surface.

Bit early in the day with the Xmas carrot juice there Chris :roll:
Nearly as bad as my tailed alternate to the block plane:

 

[woodbutcher1]

Hi.

May i recommend this site if you are just beginning. Loads of References.
www.turningtools.co.uk/ Wonderful website for beginners.

I have downloaded some, also may i suggest joining a club in your local area. I am lucky where i am, i have a proffesional woodturner 14 miles away, and we are in constant contact, and visit each other. He gives his time freely, as long as you feed him coffee and biscuits!

 

[Chris Knight]

That's a serious lump of wood Chas. With all that glass in the line of fire I can see why you might want to get it balanced!

 

[CHJ]

That's a serious lump of wood Chas. With all that glass in the line of fire I can see why you might want to get it balanced!

That's why I have the sheet of Plexiglass along the back Chris, not tested for effectiveness very often thank goodness.

The glass is a risk but it makes the shed ideal for natural light, In the summer the heat is not a problem as the sun is high enough to put work areas in shade and windows to open a plenty, in the winter due to low sun natural heating is quite effective and I only need a heater on for 15-20 min at start of session even when below 0 deg.outside.

 

[WoodPecker]

Edmund,

I asked pretty much the same question a while back, here's the replies i got:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6998

Since then I've bought a CL3, but haven't collected it yet :roll:
Anyway, with regard to turning tools, I going to get the the pro 6 piece spindle set that RP do, recommended in the thread above and good value i.e. good tools for a very good price, has pretty much what you're looking for with an extra spindle gouge:

http://www.recordpower.co.uk/index.pl?p=RPCHS6&a=i

I'll be keeping an eye out to see how you get on, you and me both. I'll be collecting my lathe soon after christmas, and getting the tools for christmas

 

[Guest]

As with any tools what you start out with is always wrong and need constant adding to. There is always "Just one more chisel/chuck etc" Still, you do have to start somewhere so you can add the ones you really need later.

 

[Anonymous]

my first turning tools that I got were very, very cheap,like £45 for 8 chisels, the idear was that if I did not get into turning I would not have wasted much dosh, and I could practice sharpening these tools rather than a very good set.
Anyway, 18 months later I now have a good set of chisels, and not afraid to put them on the grinder, I doubt very much that this answer has any thing to do with the thread, but there ya go, hope you all had a good xmas......all the best for 2006...................

 

[CHJ]

my first turning tools that I got were very, very cheap,like £45 for 8 chisels, the idear was that if I did not get into turning I would not have wasted much dosh, and I could practice sharpening these tools rather than a very good set.
Anyway, 18 months later I now have a good set of chisels, and not afraid to put them on the grinder, I doubt very much that this answer has any thing to do with the thread, but there ya go, hope you all had a good xmas......all the best for 2006...................

A very sound approach, and I bet even the cheapo tools are still useable.

Any chance of a few pictures of your work :?: always good to see other peoples interpretations of the subject matter, especially if it leads to another challenge to produce something similar.

 

[Anonymous]

A very sound approach, and I bet even the cheapo tools are still useable.

Any chance of a few pictures of your work :?: always good to see other peoples interpretations of the subject matter, especially if it leads to another challenge to produce something similar.

would like to put a photo or 2 up, but dam if I can get my head round as to how????on other sites that I go on you only have to use an attach, and then hook the photo up straight from my pc. this image/ url way of doing it looks like I need a web page to link too???never have been able to sort this type of "add a photo"...maybe the format of this site is a bit old hat???or I'm just to old to use it..lol..lol...nun the least it's a very good site/forum, the only UK. one that I have managed to find

 

[CHJ]

sparky, there is a tutorial on This Link re: photo linking.
I guess that as Charley is hosting and managing the server side of this forum out of his pocket in the main it is not reasonable to expect the extra server space required and work involved to fall on his shoulders.