Shopsmith Forums

I started reading the first few posts and they were somewhat pertaining to adding a pen turning section of this forum, among maybe others. I place my vote on adding a "pen turning" or just "turning" section. I am mainly a pen turner and I agree it is difficult to find information on turning pens on a shopsmith, I have a 1951 10ER as well as two other lathes. Just my opinions of course.
Tim.

+1

timsturnings
I agree that a turning section would be beneficial but turning on a SS is really no different than turning on any other lathe. One of the mistakes that I see people make continually is to put too much pressure on the mandrel causing it to bend. The maximum pressure that is applied to the mandrel is just enough to keep it on the tailstock so that it doesn't vibrate or wobble.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO SAY THAT THE SS IS NOT A GOOD LATHE. It is as capable as any other mid sized lathe.
I started by making a bunch of pens which make great gifts. I am now turning bowls. And pens and bottle stoppers and starting to do some off center turning.
Our retirement community's woodworking club recently bought a Delta 46-460 midi lathe because some of the members were so biased against the SS that we finally had to spend $600 bucks to keep them satisfied. They can not seem to grasp the fact that the SS tightens the mandrel from the left instead of from the right.
Tool control, tool usage, and cutting techniques are the same as for a "conventional" lathe.
The woodworking club has about 90 members with about 15 very interested in turning and I have become the defacto instructor. Not that I am all that qualified but I can keep people from getting hurt.
There many sites on U Tube for turners and I suggest a guy named Eddie Castelin who calls himself the Captain and he has over 200 videos that he has posted. Have some fun there.
Bill V

Beeg
Thanks for the link. I just got my computer back from the shop and it still has some quirks. Eddie is still recovering from his surgery and seems to have slowed down somewhat. He is fighting to come back though.
Bill V

I know about "Captain Eddie" and I have seen Youtube videos. I didn't say I didn't know how to do turnings, but I usually use one of my other lathes for the task. I know the Shopsmith is capable of doing turnings but I would like to read about some. I have a 10ER so it has the required weight for bowl turning, etc. Like people are posting about their latest projects done on the SS I would also like to be able to use a turning section of the forum to have my interests in one area. And I know there were requests for forum section ideas.
Thanks for your response, Bill.
Tim.

Tim: I too would enjoy a generalized non dedicated section on turning. Like yourself, I do not use the SS as a turning instrument as I enjoy the utter silence of my other lathes. Turning to me is a very relaxing medium and I do not enjoy the constant drone and background noise of the SS. I only want to hear the cutting of the tool into the wood. The SS is however a very capable tool for turning, however I feel its forte is in bowles rather than spindle applications but that's only my personal opinion. As for Capt Eddie, if you can muster a lot of patients waiting for him to get to the meat of his demos, he a jolly good fellow with a bunch of experience to share. Let me add that in all the years I have owned my SS, I am far from a SS expert. I only use it only to support several other hobbies including home maintainence. No part has ever failed me and it has performed as advertised. Over the years, I have felt that in the long run, that the SS is a compromise in some areas but what a great compromise it is.

wa2crk wrote:timsturnings
I agree that a turning section would be beneficial but turning on a SS is really no different than turning on any other lathe. One of the mistakes that I see people make continually is to put too much pressure on the mandrel causing it to bend. The maximum pressure that is applied to the mandrel is just enough to keep it on the tailstock so that it doesn't vibrate or wobble.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO SAY THAT THE SS IS NOT A GOOD LATHE. It is as capable as any other mid sized lathe.
I started by making a bunch of pens which make great gifts. I am now turning bowls. And pens and bottle stoppers and starting to do some off center turning.
Our retirement community's woodworking club recently bought a Delta 46-460 midi lathe because some of the members were so biased against the SS that we finally had to spend $600 bucks to keep them satisfied. They can not seem to grasp the fact that the SS tightens the mandrel from the left instead of from the right.
Tool control, tool usage, and cutting techniques are the same as for a "conventional" lathe.
The woodworking club has about 90 members with about 15 very interested in turning and I have become the defacto instructor. Not that I am all that qualified but I can keep people from getting hurt.
There many sites on U Tube for turners and I suggest a guy named Eddie Castelin who calls himself the Captain and he has over 200 videos that he has posted. Have some fun there.
Bill V

Would love to hear your specific fixes for the following:
1) light weight causes it to move in general. I understand the concept of "more weight" but would love to see how you addressed it.
2) the stock lathe tool rest has a lot of slop and can easily be moved out of place even while locked down.
3) with the upgraded lathe tool rest, your bowl is very far from the tailstock. I have a TP2 extender from a metal lathe, but again, would be interested to see if you have other fixes.
4) with the upgraded lathe tool rest, the handle that locks down the banjo to the plate can easily be in the way of a larger bowl if trying to use the tailstock.

I have been using the SS for turning most of my life. My father had a 10ER and then a greenie and I think I turned my first bowl at about age 12. ( I am 63 now ) ! I agree that the SS sometimes involves compromises. As SS has progresses though the years those compromises get fewer and fewer. The power pro headstock and the 520 table systems are a great example. But that being said there are times when work arounds are necessary. You hit on one item that is difficult to mitigate which is using a live center to stabilize a large rough turning blank when using the upgraded lathe rest. I usually just use the standard tool rest to get it roughed in and then switch over to the beefier tool rest when the tail stock center is no longer needed. As far as weight goes that is a serious limitation for the SS. You have to weight it down to keep it stable when turning large rough blanks. My late father came up with the best solution and I have not been able to improve upon it , which is diver weight belts. He was a free diver in the early days and had them laying around. Just drape them over the upper tubes and they work great. They hang down out of the way and you can add as much weight as you want. I usually add about 40 pounds. They are available on CL just about everywhere. If you can't find them a couple of bags filled with just about anything would work. Sand for instance. Connect the bags with some light line.
Paul

DMcPhail wrote:My question is will excess weight by turning large bowls damage the head stock?

Which model?