Lathe Swing

dkerfoot · Post by **dkerfoot** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:54 am

Shopsmith lists the swing of the lathe and the drill press at 16 1/2" but the drive center is only about 6 1/4" above the ways.

Are they wrong or am I missing something?

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:42 am

If your drive center is 6 1/4" above the ways, the swing would be 12 1/2". Where the other 2" comes from, I'm not sure.

kd6vpe · Post by **kd6vpe** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:04 am

My guess would be that there is space between the tubes that a round object could fit that might be the extra 2 inches. Very interesting question I never thought about it before. I did turn a segmented bowl that was 14 inches in diameter and it fit just fine. Since it was segmented there was not that much vibration but there was some. I use the universal tool rest to help and need to get a speed reducer some day though to make it easier to turn those larger objects.

rkh2 · Post by **rkh2** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:21 am

I just went out to my shop and measured the distance between the center of the quill and the edge of the way tubes and it measured a bit over 8 1/4 which would give you the 16 1/2" diameter that SS says is the capability for turning. If you had measured from the center of the quill to the top of the way tubes using a straight edge to lay across the way tubes, then you would get a much less distance, however as long as the object you are turning can clear the edge of the way tubes, then you can turn something up to that diameter. Like Jim mentioned that he has done a 14" bowl with no problem, I can see where the SS has the capability that they say it does. I haven't personally done any bowls yet that are that large in diameter. Hope this helps explain what SS says in their advertisement.

dkerfoot · Post by **dkerfoot** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:34 pm

Thanks for the responses. That makes sense. I've done a bunch of smaller bowls and now I'd like 13-14" salad bowl. There is a guy on eBay selling roughed out bowls that have been fully dried - just waiting for the finishing spin. I think it may be the way to go, since I don't envy the thought of spinning a large wet log on the SS without a speed reducer. It'll be pretty fast around the edges, but I think manageable.

tom_k/mo · Post by **tom_k/mo** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:43 pm

dkerfoot wrote:There is a guy on eBay selling roughed out bowls that have been fully dried - just waiting for the finishing spin. I think it may be the way to go, since I don't envy the thought of spinning a large wet log on the SS without a speed reducer.

I was not aware of those postings on Ebay, some nice looking blanks there. Just out of curiosity, some of the spalted blanks say "some corkwood". What would you do if you got 1/2-way through turning a bowl and found a portion of the finished bowl would be corkwood, scrap it or what? The spalted wood has nice figure though...

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:39 pm

dkerfoot wrote:Shopsmith lists the swing of the lathe and the drill press at 16 1/2" but the drive center is only about 6 1/4" above the ways.

Are they wrong or am I missing something?

WHERE did 6 1/4" come from??????

Did you measure it at the tail end with the stop all the way down????:rolleyes:

dkerfoot · Post by **dkerfoot** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:28 pm

tom_k/mo wrote:Just out of curiosity, some of the spalted blanks say "some corkwood".

Not sure what listing you are looking at, but I'd avoid any that talk about corkwood too! Spalted wood is always going to be a bit of a crap shoot though...

dkerfoot · Post by **dkerfoot** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:30 pm

JPG40504 wrote:WHERE did 6 1/4" come from??????

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill myself...

A good place to start though would be to measure it in a hurry using a framing square and then maybe use the inside scale...

Thankfully, I would NEVER do such a thing on a real project!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:05 pm

dkerfoot wrote:I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill myself...

A good place to start though would be to measure it in a hurry using a framing square and then maybe use the inside scale...

Thankfully, I would NEVER do such a thing on a real project!

Makes more sense than my tail stock theory! Next time remember to add the width of the leg.