| Blog series by Dave Rutan | updated 01-04-2019 09:27 PM | 6 parts | 8533 reads | 21 comments total |
Part 1: In the Beginning...
I had it in mind for some time now to rig up something on which I could do some small wood turning. The photos above and below show the result of that. I have some bugs to work out yet with this set up. The drive end wobbles a bit under pressure while cutting. I’m thinking I could add some support to the shaft of the drive spur to help stabilize it. I also think I need a sharpening day. I just used my straight mortising chisels. They work after a fashion, but I think they&#...
Part 2: Honey Dipper/Potato Masher
Fooling around this evening, I cut off a length of maple that the road crew lopped off our curbside tree a few years ago and put it on my turning set up. Having recently watched a few videos on the ‘This Woodwork’ channel, nee ‘The Teen Woodworker’, I decided to try making a honey dipper. It’s still a little rough. When I showed my wife she said it was huge. Oh well. It was just an experiment anyway.
Part 3: Playing with a Top
I do not own an actual lathe, but I lashed together something some months ago to play with [link]. With Christmas approaching and no idea for my nephew, it occurred to me that a top might be a good gift. I well remember and have rewatched Steve Ramsey’s video where his lathe gave him a hard time when he was trying to make a top. I decided that maybe, just maybe I could manage to make one with my improvised wood turning device. [Below] I glued up four pieces of 3/4 in. oak to make the...
Part 4: A Better Drive Spur for my DIY Turning Contraption
Digging into something I began last summer, I had 3 legs to turn. The first one jumped out from between the centers about three times. I was using the drive spur I made when I first contrapted my turning set up. Before I began turning the second leg, I remembered hearing that in a drill powered set up like mine, that a spade bit could also work. I happened to have a few short shank spade bits, so I hammered one into the center of the second leg, chucked it up and gave it a try. It di...
Part 5: A Big Fail
I got it in my head that i could create a turned box for my niece’s birthday. I glued up two blanks with a piece of plywood in between the two halves to add interest. I went out and bought some plumbing supplies to make a face plate for my drill powered, wood turning lash-up.And went to turning. While it was spinning it looked good, but when I stopped it to take a look, the ugly truth was revealed. I’m not sure if the problem was the vibration of the drill, ...
Part 6: Handling a saw
I got a lathe for Christmas. I had this in mind for at least two years, but never managed to accrue the funding for it. Now it’s mine! All mine! So I had this nest of saws with the blades that each fit on the handle, but only one at a time. I want to put all the blades in handles for ease of use and felt this would be a good beginning lathe project. Everything went well, except that I forgot to put two grooves in the end to maybe help it match the commercial models. Ah we...
