Wood turning - what do I need to get started?

marteen · Post by **marteen** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:14 am

I have a 510 and been wanting to get into turning. SS sent me an email about their holiday special on lathe turning equipment.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/spec ... pn=URRQWQX

What are the bare essentials I need to get started (I have a set of chisels that came with my Mark V).

Thanks in advance.

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:29 am

Do you have all the standard accessories with your 510? If so, then you have what you need to get started with the basics. The standard accessories will get you the standard lathe tool rest, lathe tailstock, a spur drive, a dead center, and usually some basic turning tools.

No matter what, you need basic chisels (gouge and a skew are probably the minimum). You can get the shopsmith ones, or just go to your local HF and get a set of 8 HSS chisels for ~$50. The sky is the limit on chisels, and you can get nicer ones (like Sorby) or ones which need to be sharpened less often (carbide tips).

It depends on what you are wanting to turn:

Bowls/plates:
you will need either a faceplate or a chuck. The Nova G3 is a good choice which shopsmith used to sell, but you can pick that up at woodcraft (just make sure to also get the 5/8" smooth bore adapter). You can create a screw style center by attaching some wood and a screw to a lathe faceplate.

Spindles:
dead center will do ok with the spur drive. You will eventually want a live center. Any MT2 style center will work fine, and woodcraft sells a nice set of interchangable tips with a live center that works well. A screw center could be useful here as well.

Pens:
This is where it gets tricky. At a bare minimum you will need a live center, a pen mandrel, and something to adapt it to the shopsmith. Most pen mandrels that are MT1 or MT2 can have the taper part unscrewed from the mandrel. At that point you can chuck it up in the drill chuck, but a much better choice is the 1/4" router adapter. Another good option is the shopsmith pen mandrel from penn state industries.

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:36 am

With regard to tool rests - the shopsmith usually comes with a basic toolrest. I have found that woodcraft and rockler sell ratchet bolts for jigs that work great and are essentially equivilent to the 514264 Lathe Tool Rest Upgrade Kit. What you want is a 5/16"-18tpi with the stud - woodcraft PN is 129132, Rockler PN is 90902 (if anyone knows of cheaper sources, please post them).

The universal tool rest makes the shopsmith setup a lot more like a standard lathe. I have been considering it since my standard tool rest will exhibit some wiggle radially...hopefully its a simple fix, but otherwise I will get the universal tool rest.

As for the "specialty tool rests" - any tool rest with a 3/4" post will fit the shopsmith. The standard one is fine for most stuff, but if you really get into things you might consider one of the other ones, as well as those which are available at woodcraft/rockler/etc.

roy_okc · Post by **roy_okc** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:04 pm

marteen wrote:I have a 510 and been wanting to get into turning. SS sent me an email about their holiday special on lathe turning equipment.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/specials/7DU18.htm?jn=23496&kt=MKT&kr=0007716890&cnum=0007716890&epn=URRQWQX

What are the bare essentials I need to get started (I have a set of chisels that came with my Mark V).

Thanks in advance.

You absolutely need some way to sharpen your chisels. I use the SS sanding disk + SS's lathe chisel jig -- http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/sh_sharpeningguide.htm; if you go this way instead of a grinder, find the videos on using the jig, correct angles for each chisel, etc. I use the jig to sharpen both my SS and Harbor Freight chisels (if you get the HF set, you want the "red"/brown handle set, not the blond handle set); seems as fast or faster than I've seen people using grinders (barring setup/takedown time).

Knowledge on how to safely turn -- see if you can find a woodturning group in your area, or a turning class. Even a couple hours of safety, sharpening, and technique instruction will do wonders for you.

Beyond the above (cheap in dollars and insurance), you might need a good chuck, faceplates (you may already have SS's), a good live end, better/specialized chisels, pen turning mandrel/bushings, hollowing tools, etc., depending on where your interests go.

If your SS is older, you might find excessive play if you have a single-bearing quill for certain types of turning.

Good luck and have fun,
Roy

rkh2 · Post by **rkh2** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:39 pm

I go along with what already has been said, however if you have the spare $$ the universal tool rest with the speciality tool rest is certainly a good deal right now and once you use it you will wonder how you did any turning without it - Well worth the price. If you plan on getting into bowls, then you will need a bowl turning set of chisels and the ones SS has on sale are quite adequate and worth their cost. I definitely would take some turning classes first so you will know how to position the chisel to the material, how to sharpen the chisels and even how to sand and finish your projects. Like it was mentioned, any local turning clubs would be great and if you are near any Woodcraft stores, they offer excellent classes on both spindle and bowl classes as well as others and are well worth their expense. Again will emphasis that the chisel set that came with the SS will need to be sharpened or you will get disappointing results. Turning is additive so be careful. Penn State Industries offers a free DVD on turning and is an excellent place to buy supplies, especially for pen turning which also is addictive. Their web address is http://www.pennstateind.com

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 5:13 pm

rkh2 wrote:I go along with what already has been said, however if you have the spare $$ the universal tool rest with the speciality tool rest is certainly a good deal right now and once you use it you will wonder how you did any turning without it - Well worth the price. If you plan on getting into bowls, then you will need a bowl turning set of chisels and the ones SS has on sale are quite adequate and worth their cost. I definitely would take some turning classes first so you will know how to position the chisel to the material, how to sharpen the chisels and even how to sand and finish your projects. Like it was mentioned, any local turning clubs would be great and if you are near any Woodcraft stores, they offer excellent classes on both spindle and bowl classes as well as others and are well worth their expense. Again will emphasis that the chisel set that came with the SS will need to be sharpened or you will get disappointing results. Turning is additive so be careful. Penn State Industries offers a free DVD on turning and is an excellent place to buy supplies, especially for pen turning which also is addictive. Their web address is www.pennstateind.com

Where do I need to look for that 'offer'? Did not discover it on that web site!

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 5:52 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Where do I need to look for that 'offer'? Did not discover it on that web site!

You really need to learn to use Google and the search engine: http://woodturning.pennstateind.com/search/index?query=free+dvd+pen+making

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 6:37 pm

dusty wrote:You really need to learn to use Google and the search engine: http://woodturning.pennstateind.com/search/index?query=free+dvd
+pen+making

I Agree! Where's the 'operator's manual'?;)

P.S. rkh2 did not specify it was a 'pen' turning dvd.

rkh2 · Post by **rkh2** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:10 pm

Sorry about that folks. Yes the free DVD is for pen turning.

iclark · Post by **iclark** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 1:23 am

[quote="JPG40504"]I Agree! Where's the 'operator's manual'?]
here, for one:
http://www.dummies.com/store/product/Go ... 99305.html