Looking to turn up to 8' length

khd995 · Post by **khd995** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:11 am

Has anyone modified or in someway found a way to turn long length material (7 to 8 foot long) on there shopsmith. I need to turn some 6" material and can't find a lathe that will turn that long. I was hoping to be able to figure out a way to use the Mark V to get the job done.

dickg1 · Post by **dickg1** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:02 am

khd995 wrote:Has anyone modified or in someway found a way to turn long length material (7 to 8 foot long) on there shopsmith. I need to turn some 6" material and can't find a lathe that will turn that long. I was hoping to be able to figure out a way to use the Mark V to get the job done.

IMHO you should take a good look at the Parthenon. The ancient Greeks didnt make the columns from a single length of stone. They built them up from carefully crafted pieces resulting in columns of universal grace and enduring beauty. Consider turning that 6" material in more manageable pieces which you can then reassemble.
Dick

khd995 · Post by **khd995** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:43 am

I would do multiple pieces if I could.
However these must be 1 piece turnings.

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:09 am

khd995 wrote:Has anyone modified or in someway found a way to turn long length material (7 to 8 foot long) on there shopsmith. I need to turn some 6" material and can't find a lathe that will turn that long. I was hoping to be able to figure out a way to use the Mark V to get the job done.

I'll let the pro's here guide you but I would think that is too much mass to turn at the minimum speed. I am interested in following to see what the pro's say.

khd995 · Post by **khd995** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:10 pm

I have a speed reducer.

lv2wdwrk · Post by **lv2wdwrk** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:17 pm

You might try posting on the following:

http://www.workshopcompanion.com/

This site is run by Nick Engler THE expert on what can and cannot be done with a ShopSmith.

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:13 pm

I have made longer way and bench tubes by machining internal stubs/sleeves to connect the tubes. I did not weld the joints as I find it is difficult to weld without some outset occuring from the weld. I found some flexing/vibration of the way tubes is experienced when I was going over 5' with the tubes. With 10' tubes, I build a center support for the way and bench tubes with a carriage on each side of the center support. This worked well for turning 8' 4X4 porch posts. I quickly built a home made speed reducer to get below 200 RPMs for this task.

I firmly believe that any 6X6 post longer than 34" would really overload the quill bearing(s) plus would need to be turn at a slow rate. I used lag bolts and face plates for the 4X4s ends and still had vibration problems at less than 200 RPM that took bags of 80 pd. concrete mix to hold the Shopsmith from walking. I used a modified double bearing quill that I made that worked OK for this task.

I would believe the flexing/vibration for a longer 6X6 would be both dangerous to the user and the Shopsmith even at a slower speed. Since I have seen few really straight 4x4s or 6X6s, this will also compound the out of balance problem. I found 8' 4X4s was at the outter limit of what I would try to turn on the Shopsmith.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:17 pm

The other day, I ran across a bed plan in the Shopsmith Woodworking Plans section. This plan had bed posts that reached pretty high. Probably about 6 ft.

A glance at the plans showed the posts were made in sections. The connection between the parts were made with spigots (round tenons) on the end of some pieces and round mortises (counter bores) on the mating piece(s).

I'll give a try to find those plans, but the important point is - You can make shorter pieces (turnings) and join them together to make a much longer piece. With planning, you could make an 8 to 10 foot support column fairly easily with the Shopsmith.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:06 pm

The other day I ran across plans for a four poster bed in Shopsmith's FREE plans. Since the posts look to be about 6 ft. tall.

I looked to see how this was done on a Shopsmith.

[ATTACH]5810[/ATTACH]

The plans show the posts were made in separate, shorter sections. The sections were mated together with 'mortise and tenons' (my terms). One of the mating pieces had a spigot (a round tenon) on one end and the mating piece had a mortise (a counter bore). Take a look at the plans, by going to "Shopsmith Owner's Web Site" and clicking on "Free Project Plans" (found in the left column).

This methodology shows me that long columns can be successfully turned on a Shopsmith, without machinery modification.

joedw00 · Post by **joedw00** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:18 pm

You might try this http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/show...=1484#post1484

read the postings above the #1484. Especially the 7th post.