Spindle Turning

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mountain4don
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Spindle Turning

Post by mountain4don »

I have been tasked with the job of turning about 60 hand rail spindles going up the stairs to the second floor and around the front porch. I am to match the existing spindles along the stairway up on the second floor of the 107 year old house. They are to be made out of oak. The problem is the only oak stock I have is 3/4" thick, so I plan to glue up strips of 3/4" lumber to make 1 1/2" squares for the spindles. Squaring them up with the jointer and planer. They will be turned 28" long and then trimmed for length to be in alignment as they progress up the stairs (2 per step). I purchased a Shopsmith lathe duplicator which should be here any day. So, since I am new to lathe turning, my question is, does anybody have any recommendations? Is glueing up the two 3/4" pieces going to cause me any trouble? Is oak hard to turn? Any particular techniques that I need to practice? Is this something the wife could do in her spare time? Or does this take a lot of "manly muscle"? Does the lathe duplicator work pretty well? The spindle pattern is pretty simple and not complex. :confused:
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JPG
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Post by JPG »

mountain4don wrote:I have been tasked with the job of turning about 60 hand rail spindles going up the stairs to the second floor and around the front porch. I am to match the existing spindles along the stairway up on the second floor of the 107 year old house. They are to be made out of oak. The problem is the only oak stock I have is 3/4" thick, so I plan to glue up strips of 3/4" lumber to make 1 1/2" squares for the spindles. Squaring them up with the jointer and planer. They will be turned 28" long and then trimmed for length to be in alignment as they progress up the stairs (2 per step). I purchased a Shopsmith lathe duplicator which should be here any day. So, since I am new to lathe turning, my question is, does anybody have any recommendations? Is glueing up the two 3/4" pieces going to cause me any trouble? Is oak hard to turn? Any particular techniques that I need to practice? Is this something the wife could do in her spare time? Or does this take a lot of "manly muscle"? Does the lathe duplicator work pretty well? The spindle pattern is pretty simple and not complex. :confused:
If the porch is 'outdoors', I hope the oak is 'white'. Being outdoors places an extra demand upon the glue.

As far as glueing the stairway spindles be sensitive to the grain of the opposing pieces. You did not state if you intended to paint them. If not the two part construction may be obvious.

I would 'practice' with some inexpensive pine. Since it is soft, getting a good smooth surface is more difficult with it. That would give you some experience with setting up the pattern etc. as well.
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Post by paulmcohen »

mountain4don wrote:Any particular techniques that I need to practice? Is this something the wife could do in her spare time? Or does this take a lot of "manly muscle"? Does the lathe duplicator work pretty well? The spindle pattern is pretty simple and not complex. :confused:

There is a Nick Engler video on the lathe duplicator that may help. I have not used Shopsmith but I have used Shopsmith cutters and it to me is very simple and hard to mess up; it is not like lathe turning which requires some skill or at least practice. Basically once you have the pattern, you just follow it and let the lathe and tool do the work.

With a spindle that long make sure you use a steady-rest near the middle.

I don't know why you need to use a planer, and the jointer is only so you can have a flat surface to glue the two pieces together, and if you start with 3/4" pieces you don't have enough material to joint. The lathe duplicator only requires that the ends be flat and that he minimum diameter is in your case 1 1/2". If you plane/joint it at all you will not have the diameter you need.
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mountain4don
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Post by mountain4don »

JPG40504 wrote:If the porch is 'outdoors', I hope the oak is 'white'. Being outdoors places an extra demand upon the glue.

As far as glueing the stairway spindles be sensitive to the grain of the opposing pieces. You did not state if you intended to paint them. If not the two part construction may be obvious.

I would 'practice' with some inexpensive pine. Since it is soft, getting a good smooth surface is more difficult with it. That would give you some experience with setting up the pattern etc. as well.
Only the stair spindles will be white oak and finished with a light stain and polyurthane finish. The porch spindles will be made out of something else and receive a white painted finish. Maybe someone has a suggestion what kind of wood I can use for the porch spindles? And hopefully buy it in 1 1/2" thick pieces? The lathe cut sections on all of these are only about 18" long and the porch spindles are only 24" long total length.
mountain4don
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Post by mountain4don »

[quote="paulmcohen"]There is a Nick Engler video on the lathe duplicator that may help. I have not used Shopsmith but I have used Shopsmith cutters and it to me is very simple and hard to mess up]

And where might I find the "Nick Engler video"? I was hoping the oak would be strong and stiff enough not to need a steady-rest out in the middle. If I apply the cutter at a slow speed. And I was just going to glue up pieces 1 3/4" wide so I could true up the glued split edge in the jointer and reduce the overall dimensions down to 1 1/2" square.
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Post by pennview »

If you go here -- http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... icator.htm -- you'll see four videos on the subject.

In gluing up stock for turnings, use Titebond III waterproof glue. While there are other waterproof glues, this is among the easiest to use and get a good bond.

You might want to think about rough turning your spindles using a gouge and then doing the finishing with the lathe duplicator.
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mountain4don
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videos

Post by mountain4don »

pennview wrote:If you go here -- http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... icator.htm -- you'll see four videos on the subject.

In gluing up stock for turnings, use Titebond III waterproof glue. While there are other waterproof glues, this is among the easiest to use and get a good bond.

You might want to think about rough turning your spindles using a gouge and then doing the finishing with the lathe duplicator.
I looked at the videos shown on the shopsmith site, but none of them were using the "lathe duplicator" mode to copy a spindle. They were all of other uses for the attachments. I would like to find one of a typical stair or leg spindle turning job. And from your recommendations I have already asked my wife to pick up some Titebond III on her way home from work today. I have Titebond II in the shop now for gluing up wider boards for window casings and widow sills I am building using the Shopsmith bisquit jointer. I appreciate the recommendations! Thanks!
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terrydowning
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Post by terrydowning »

Make sure the glue is even across both side of the stock on your glue up. I have had glued up joints fail on the lathe, and it isn't fun. Wear a face shield!! Make sure any tools are sharp and keep them that way. The glue will wear a cutting edge faster than whole stock, that's just the way it is.

Oak in general is an open grained wood and as such does not turn as easily as the tighter closed grain woods. Oak can be very grabby! Take your time use sharp tools and light cuts.

Practicing a few with some pine is a good recommendation pine is also open grained and usually very soft and can be very grabby this will give you a rough Idea of what you are in for. If you can turn soft pine, you can pretty much turn any wood IMHO.

Last but not least, make sure the glue line is centered when you setup the spindle. This way when you install the spindles you can put the glue line along the axis of the stairs to help hide it. 6/4 stock would be a better starting point but I do understand where you are coming from regarding cost and needing to lower expenses.

Last but certainly not least: Make sure SWMBO is well aware of the glue lines and show her a sample before plunging headlong into the project. I'd hate to see you turn over 100 spindles just to have them rejected. If she rejects the glue line, you may be able to find a lumber yard the will trade some of your 3/4 stock for 6/4 stock. Just a thought.

Oh yeah, post pics of the progress please:)
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mikelst
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Post by mikelst »

"Is glueing up the two 3/4" pieces going to cause me any trouble?"

I may have missed it but I think you will need to glue up 4 pieces to get 1.5x1.5 from 3/4 inch stock.:rolleyes:
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terrydowning
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Post by terrydowning »

Unless the 3/4 stock is 3/4 x 1.5" or wider.
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Terry
Copy and paste the URLs into your browser if you want to see the photos.

1955 Shopsmith Mark 5 S/N 296860 Workshop and Tools
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Public Photos of Projects
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