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Dancing around the shop
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
I would say reduce the speed until it stabilizes and increase as you go.
If you are turning large or out of balance lumps of wood then the lathe should always be bolted down Jim preferably into concrete it can be very dangerous not to, also run the lathe slower till it stops trying to dance
That must be some size blank Jim if its making your lathe dance. Bolts will definitely help mate.
keith
keith
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- Terry
You might get away with it running very slowly Jim until it becomes balanced. If you have an inverter start the lathe turning as slow as possible and increase the speed slowly until the vibration starts becoming too much and then back off on the speed until it settles and then you have a starting point. You should be able to increase the speed as the blank becomes more balanced!!!
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- Terry
Only chickens bolt the lathe down..
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Jim
Grand Master
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Grand Master
Jim,
I remember clearly we as a Woodcraft Guild elected to use a hall located out of town to host a visiting Turner from Melbourne and Richard Raffan said to me he had volumteered to do a video but would I do it for him then proceeded to stand with a couple of others up the back of the Hall as an observer. I think I still have a copy of that video the guy lived off that for years ( I would not have).
The Hall floor was old and rickety like being on the ocean wave well the demo proceeded I was 5 feet away eye in viewfinder huge burl in the chuck the demo guy turned on the lathe his previous object was small and was turned at three thousand revs switched on one almighty leap into the air with the lathe bits of bark showered the bystanders 40 feet away like bullets, by the time it was switched off I nearly needed a change of underwear and never will I forget that terrible feeling SO YES please always bolt down any lathe.
Seeing the Union Graduate recently in Show US Your Shop reminded me when Richard Raffan, separately his brother who had a business here years ago seemed to do enormous burl platters and bowls both Graduates were securely bolted down .
Used to be like Woody said we would pour about 1/2 a ton of concrete for a lathe base or build boxing and fill with sand bases for our lathes same reason.
A Dutch turner I knew used to turn huge pieces using really slow speeds and a 3/8 inch gouge completing some of the most exciting designed turnings I have ever seen his theory was SAFETY SAFETY above all else, he came from Victoria and every year used to attend a Turnathon outside Wagga Wagga NSW every year where they hired monster three phase generators convert a basketball court at a hire centre out of town on rural power and blokes used to bring heaps of lathes and turn and drink and turn and talk fully chef catered for three days ( the drinking was at night thankfully) this Dutch guy used to amaze me with his skill patiently turning burls with gaps etc never lost one with his technique got thousands for the end product original tortoise and hare stuff IMHO.
Stay safe Peter.
I remember clearly we as a Woodcraft Guild elected to use a hall located out of town to host a visiting Turner from Melbourne and Richard Raffan said to me he had volumteered to do a video but would I do it for him then proceeded to stand with a couple of others up the back of the Hall as an observer. I think I still have a copy of that video the guy lived off that for years ( I would not have).
The Hall floor was old and rickety like being on the ocean wave well the demo proceeded I was 5 feet away eye in viewfinder huge burl in the chuck the demo guy turned on the lathe his previous object was small and was turned at three thousand revs switched on one almighty leap into the air with the lathe bits of bark showered the bystanders 40 feet away like bullets, by the time it was switched off I nearly needed a change of underwear and never will I forget that terrible feeling SO YES please always bolt down any lathe.
Seeing the Union Graduate recently in Show US Your Shop reminded me when Richard Raffan, separately his brother who had a business here years ago seemed to do enormous burl platters and bowls both Graduates were securely bolted down .
Used to be like Woody said we would pour about 1/2 a ton of concrete for a lathe base or build boxing and fill with sand bases for our lathes same reason.
A Dutch turner I knew used to turn huge pieces using really slow speeds and a 3/8 inch gouge completing some of the most exciting designed turnings I have ever seen his theory was SAFETY SAFETY above all else, he came from Victoria and every year used to attend a Turnathon outside Wagga Wagga NSW every year where they hired monster three phase generators convert a basketball court at a hire centre out of town on rural power and blokes used to bring heaps of lathes and turn and drink and turn and talk fully chef catered for three days ( the drinking was at night thankfully) this Dutch guy used to amaze me with his skill patiently turning burls with gaps etc never lost one with his technique got thousands for the end product original tortoise and hare stuff IMHO.
Stay safe Peter.
MikeD
Registered
If you are going to bolt your lathe down don't forget the forces that are trying to move your lathe have not disappeared. If your work-piece is out of balance then the moment of that out of balance force is constrained when you fix the lathe to the floor. The force ends up being absorbed in the headstock bearing and the bed of the lathe. Similarly when you are carrying out an intermittent cut to try and balance the work-piece the shock load is translated into the bed of the lathe through the tool rest.
It is safer to bolt your lathe down but you may end up reducing the life of the headstock bearings and twisting the bed of the lathe.
What I do when I have an out of balance work-piece is to mount a router on the lathe and rotate the lathe by hand using the router to remove high spots from the work-piece. You can also use an angle grinder with a sanding disk. Having removed the worst parts of the eccentricity I then start the lathe at its slowest speed and remove more material.
If you are carrying out eccentric turning then consider adding counter balance weights to reduce the strain on your lathe.
It is safer to bolt your lathe down but you may end up reducing the life of the headstock bearings and twisting the bed of the lathe.
What I do when I have an out of balance work-piece is to mount a router on the lathe and rotate the lathe by hand using the router to remove high spots from the work-piece. You can also use an angle grinder with a sanding disk. Having removed the worst parts of the eccentricity I then start the lathe at its slowest speed and remove more material.
If you are carrying out eccentric turning then consider adding counter balance weights to reduce the strain on your lathe.
My lathe isn't bolted down yet either, I chuck a couple of bags of sand on the lathe bars, helps reduce the bouncing around a bit & start off slow, works for me.
Mike D has made some very valid points there Jim.
My own lathe isn`t bolted down instead I built a large cupboard with drawers that is fixed to the Nova leg stand, made from the best part of 2 sheets of 18mm MDF & a sheet of 16mm plywood it has add considerable stability to the lathe.
My own lathe isn`t bolted down instead I built a large cupboard with drawers that is fixed to the Nova leg stand, made from the best part of 2 sheets of 18mm MDF & a sheet of 16mm plywood it has add considerable stability to the lathe.
Doug i was thinking of something similar but only across the legs?
Thanks for all the great comments guys ..
That`s all I`ve done Jim. I fixed 2 battens 1 across the back legs & 1 across the front & sat the cupboard on top of them.
I`ll post a couple of photos up tomorrow if it`s of interest.
Penpal
Grand Master
Jim, Ballast all the way I used some old welding transformers for years bolted on.
Kind regards Peter.
Kind regards Peter.