Shopsmith Forums

Q1. I find myself turning off then on again when in the lathe mode to check measurements, or inspect the turned piece. Does turning off and on again affect the SS motor in any negative way?

Q2. If a piece of wood, say 24" long, is mounted on the SS lathe and the drive spur and the live center are not exactly in the center of the piece and the piece is rounded, are the holes for the drive center and the live center, by definition, exactly in the center of the turned spindle?

Bob
San Diego

rdewinter wrote:Q1. I find myself turning off then on again when in the lathe mode to check measurements, or inspect the turned piece. Does turning off and on again affect the SS motor in any negative way?

Q2. If a piece of wood, say 24" long, is mounted on the SS lathe and the drive spur and the live center are not exactly in the center of the piece and the piece is rounded, are the holes for the drive center and the live center, by definition, exactly in the center of the turned spindle?

Bob
San Diego

1) Probably not. It will cause it to heat up slightly(but it is also 'off' for some time). It WILL cause more wear of the belts, but probably will not decrease their useful life. If turning a large piece, reducing the speed b4 any off/on cycle would be prudent.

2) If I understand the question(workpiece not centered on centers b4 'rounding') which is then 'rounded'; then the answer is YES! (you have removed the material which was 'off center'.)

Turning the SS on and off to check measurements will not harm it any more than it will harm an actual lathe. Now doing it every five seconds might be another story, but that frequency is not needed for measuring any turning mounted on the machine.

As long as you keep the maintenance up you should have no problems. I'm sure when they designed the machine they took this into account. Afterall, when using it in the table saw mode, users turn it on and off frequently while cutting wood too.

Q2: Why are you turning it off to check meansurements? There's nothing wrong with using outside calipers (round the tips), or an open-end wrench to check measurements carefully while a lathe is running.

woodburner wrote:Turning the SS on and off to check measurements will not harm it any more than it will harm an actual lathe. Now doing it every five seconds might be another story, but that frequency is not needed for measuring any turning mounted on the machine.

As long as you keep the maintenance up you should have no problems. I'm sure when they designed the machine they took this into account. Afterall, when using it in the table saw mode, users turn it on and off frequently while cutting wood too.

Frequent cycling of the switch will probably do more harm to the switch then any other component of the SS.

Rick
I tried using a 12" outside caliper and it just kept bumping along the spindle. I did not however, round the corners, but wouldn't that alter the accuracy of the caliper, for example, transferring the caliper reading to a ruler or tape?

My meager experience (I have mostly turned pens & bowls, but next week I'm taking an Alan Lacer class at Marc Adams school on spindle turning) is that you check one diameter at a time. If you are duplicating a piece, then you get a diameter for one element, then part to that diameter, or turn to that diameter, and then move to the next diameter that you need to check. For thes, you only need to see if your guage (outside caliper, locked vernier caliper, or open end wrench) fits the turned diameter. In between the critical diameters, you turn beads, coves, and tapers as needed to move from one to the next.

If you are talking about lineal distances, then the way to transfer those is to turn the square round (where you need it round), hold up the original (or use a tape measure), and touch a pencil to the spindle while it is turning to leave a series of marks to show the locations of your elements or transitions.

In a couple of weeks, I'm sure that I will be able to give a much fuller explanation. ;-)

[quote="JPG40504"]1)
2) If I understand the question(workpiece not centered on centers b4 'rounding') which is then 'rounded']

IF, the Centers are centered, no? If the Centers aren't centered, seems to me, the centers will be off center after rounding (or is that oblonging?).