Shopsmith Forums

derekdarling wrote:Yup, what he said. You might also think about lubricating the tailstock end with some light oil, unless you have a live centre.

Also, get a chuck, check this: http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2012/Main/137 middle of the page shows a few 3 and 4 jaw chucks with 'unthreaded' mounts... that is what you want. Oh, and get a live centre, you will thank me later.

Derek

You don't need any other adapter with those? Just the 5/8" unthreaded and that's all you need?

Thanks Bob, I saw this either on another post, or on another forum I am on. There is actually a group in town, and they meet on Saturday, so I am going to go. have my form already filled out and will be joining as long as I like the group.

I have done woodworking throughout the years, but never anything serious. Now that I have gotten the SS, I want to get into doing some more serious stuff. With the SS, I am getting a few tools I didn't have before, so that will definitely make it easier to do the woodworking.

Just curious, how are you making spinning tops while turning between centers. I've always had to use some sort of chuck to hold the wood just to the headstock, without using the tailstock, so I can get a nice point on the end of the top. Turning tops between centers might be why, as you said, "The piece keeps flying off the lathe".

There are are lot of guys on this forum who can help with advice on how to turn wood, I among them. But just reading about it on a forum makes it hard to 'see it'. The best way is one-on-one with a turner who has some experience. A woodturning club can help you with this by matching you with a mentor.

Good luck, and be warned that woodturning can become very addictive, to the point that you may lose interest in any other type of woodworking.

stickthrower wrote:It has a live center for the tailstock. I have been using that. It has a regular center too, but I haven't used that.

the SS came with a faceplate with a piece of wood mounted to it. If I wanted to mount a piece of wood do that, would I just center it on the piece of wood mounted on the faceplate and then screw from the face plate to the mounted wood?

The wood on the faceplate was added by a previous owner. Usually you want to use CA glue to attach a scrap piece of wood to the piece you are planning to turn, in the old days I used paper between the two pieces to make it easier to separate. With CA a hard tap with a mallet usually separates the two parts.

Screw the scrap block into the faceplate with strong screws making sure they don't go through the scrap.

IMHO - throw away the dead center.

If you want to turn very hard material I would use a Steb center, they grip really well. The material stopping when it gets caught is not a bad thing, much safer than throwing your lathe tool.

heathicus wrote:You don't need any other adapter with those? Just the 5/8" unthreaded and that's all you need?

If you get a Nova brand chuck look for the "S" insert not the 5/8" plain "F" insert.

paulmcohen wrote:If you get a Nova brand chuck look for the "S" insert not the 5/8" plain "F" insert.

Well, I was asking specifically about those Grizzly chucks. The Nova chucks are out of my budget, but I might could swing a Grizzly.

heathicus wrote:Well, I was asking specifically about those Grizzly chucks. The Nova chucks are out of my budget, but I might could swing a Grizzly.

I don't know what your budget will tolerate but maybe a reconditioned Nova G3 will fit.

Sample of chucks to compare. Adapters to fit the Shopsmith 5/8 inch plain bore are available for all.

Chucks

Here is a link to a threead I started on Using a Jam Chuck