Help....... re: wine stoppers

[smredleg]

Purchased Woodcraft's wine stopper starter set. My SS 510, with Lift Assist doesn't get me close enough to use it with the tail stock live center as they suggest. Any suggestions? I'm prepared to go to their open screw center using the Woodcraft wine stopper mandrel, but there is got to be a better way.

Any suggestions,

Wayne

[charlese]

Sorry, It just doen't seem the lift should prevent the headstock quill from touching the tailstock. Did you extend the quill any?

[charlese]

Sorry - I just can't understand why a properly installed lift would interfere with the quill touching the tail stock. Did you extend the quill any? Did you check the installation of the lift. There has been some problems in lift installation in previous threads.

[paulmcohen]

The is one solution I know works, first you have to use the old tool rest not the newer univerals one. Second you need two Shopsmith live center extenders ( then are a few dollars each plus shipping). These are not listed in the Shopsmith catalog but customer service knows what they are. One comes with the lathe duplicator. This extends the end of the live center ~3-4" closer to the headstock and overcomes the issue with the lift assist.

A better solution (because mine does not support the univeral toolrest) would be to get the tailstock closer to headstock with an offset like exists for the bandsaw but Shopsmith does not make one and I don't have the metal working skills to make one either.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[greitz]

Packard Woodworks sells a MT2 extension which has a male end which fits into the tailstock and a female socket which you insert your live center into. I haven't tried mine out yet, but I'd guess it extends the reach by about 4". And you could probably stack a couple together if you needed to reach farther. It's part number 113404, $14.95, and here's the URL:
http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchan ... apacc-extn

Chuck- I'll try to take a picture of the "reach" issue for you this weekend. I think I've got my Lift Assist installed correctly, and with the quill fully extended and using the regular carriage (not the Universal Toolrest), there's a gap between the drive center and the live center. There's an even larger gap using the Universal Toolrest.

Gary

[paulmcohen]

It's part number 113404, $14.95, and here's the URL:
http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=packard&Product_Code=113404&Category_Code=lathes-acc-tapacc-extn
Gary

I wish I had found this sooner I just got my Nova Chuck from Packard, UPS is making more money from me then any of the woodworking vendors.

This is exactly what I have been looking for, the ability to use my universal tool rest and other tail-stock accessories.

[charlese]

Thank you Paul and Gary! I'm getting an education here - because of your posts.

[paulmcohen]

Sorry - I just can't understand why a properly installed lift would interfere with the quill touching the tail stock.

With everything installed properly, the standard tool rest and the quill extended all the way you get within 1/2" of the live center touching. If you use the universal tool rest you are a few inches apart.

The two pieces not touching only really affects alignment. The bigger problem is when you are trying to turn you need to move the tool rest to different angles and there is not enough room to to that with the standard tool rest, you can with the universal tool rest but then the points are too far apart.

The Shopsmith extenders works will enough with their live center but it has its limits. I just ordered the Packard extender which I think will work much better with other accessories.

[charlese]

O.K. I think I understand the problem now. After reading Woodcraft's instructions, #2 says to select wood of any size you wish that is longer than the threaded stem of the wine stopper (underlining mine) - - Will the following solution work?

Saw your workpiece to be 4 to 10 inches longer than you want the finished handle on the stopper. (I used 4 to 10" only as a guess.) You will need a workpiece that is at least long enough to reach the tail and allow room for the tool-rest.

Now you can mount the wood on the kit's mandrel to the headstock as instructed and use your normal tail center to support the other end. After rounding - Then begin turning/shaping only on the part of the stock you want to use as the top of the stopper - you can shape it any form you want. You can also select the length you want. The last lathe work is with the parting tool. Get it close to the breaking point and remove it from the lathe. Then saw off the piece wanted and with a little sanding it is finished. You might even be able to get several tops out of one workpiece!

[paulmcohen]

Very creative but if the wood is expensive it would be very expensive to waste that much wood. Some of my corks are just over 1" thick. I have the same issue making a plate, getting a 10" thick plate blank would be insanely expensive.