turning

Oct 31

Written By issa

a sabbatical-quarantine affair

updated May 23, 2021

When I came home and saw the woodworking (power) tools, I knew I needed to pick up a related activity. A few YT videos in and I narrowed it down to woodturning or scroll sawing - though I couldn’t think of anything I needed to make with a scroll saw.

pen rose gold leveche rollerball

purple heart - walnut burl - bubinga - zebrawood - holly

top ring titanium & pink ivory

bottom ring titanium & box elder burl

Instant gratification

I decided making '“useful” items for myself and others was a good idea - plus, this hobby really spoke to my impatience - that you could “complete a project in a day” was extremely appealing, especially after watching loads of youtubers do it - and the steps seemed straightforward enough.

A couple weeks of research later and my first delta 46-460 arrived in late January. Yep, first.

Turns out it is not as easy at it looks,

I had Dad come out and watch - that ended in about a dozen arguments over whether it was my technique or tool sharpness. Meanwhile, he refused to exercise safe protocol and procedure while demonstrating techniques (aka complaining at me and aggressively taking over). Oh - I also didn’t have the right tools $, chucks $$, or necessary sharpening system $$$.

No matter what I did, I was just digging into the wood. It would make strange noises, and at times it would start smoking, or fly off and hit me / other items in the garage — pretty much anything but cutting the wood.

Looking to buy time and mildly frustrated, I spiced things up and returned the lathe to amazon with a single day to spare - what a fun repackaging and shipping experience that was. I think we are still traumatized… I stopped amazon returns after that (for a few months).

why am I like this

As expected, I reordered it for a final time when quarantine came in full swing and took off with the pen making. By this time, I lost my real estate in the garage to the 5-axis CNC and metal lathe metalworking station (which I had to “take the right” for before - the garage is Dad’s yellowstone) - it didn’t help that his new lathe was placed precisely where my lathe was previously. After finagling with the Warden and aid from Mom, I got set up again and kicked off with my beginner rockler pen makers set, progressed onto kits from psi and beaufort ink, and then tried my hand at modifications from the pen makers bible. Simultaneously I joined the IAP (International Association of Penturners) to “master” finishing techniques and learn about the likes of kitless pen making.

Something was wrong when to my horror, my new, much nicer chuck system that didn’t have “reverse locking pins” kept unthreading (a terrifying experience). So, delta’s lathes are wired incorrectly: their “forward” spins away from you, which is clockwise, which is the opposite of the convention on all other lathes - so you need to operate it in “reverse”to effectively cut anything. Of course, a quick google search yields the amazon review that confirms my suspicion.

And… this explains why I struggled so much the first time around!

Unbelievably, the direction was not something that occurred to me, and the chuck I tried before contained reverse locking pins so I would never have witnessed the effect of turning without pins in the wrong direction. Nowadays in my shop, running in reverse works like a charm :-)

lesson: with a sharp tool, the results of turning wood are highly therapeutic and rewarding.

I still have yet to sharpen a HSS tool - I caved for carbide tools until my system is setup and reliable. I see endless possibilities for creative inputs and outputs, and can only imagine the satisfaction achieved as my turning skills progress.

Understanding woodworking fundamentals like hand planing would have been a more appropriate place to start in order to make learning turning more accessible and therefore more enjoyable: relativity always counts, however you can find it. In fact, I found as I did research on the lathe, I was drawn to the hand woodworking referenced and many of my current interests and projects gravitate towards those tools and techniques. On another note, the key physics concepts can be applied to snowboarding, peeling an apple, etc.

This year I almost exclusively focused on pens, tops, bottle stoppers, rings and tool handles - I realllllly want to start making bowls, but will continue honing in on spindle turning… stay turned! :-P

Preferences

Tool: Carter & Sons 1” Skew

Chuck System: Oneway Scroll, Oneway Talon, Oneway Penmakers Chuck
Finish: BSI Gold (thin) CA, GluBoost, Danish Oil - plans to try others
Wood: burls of all kind, pink ivory, koa
YT: wortheffort, kimtippin, ashleyharwood

individual blanks from which the the laminates of my pen are designed - holly not pictured

putting the pieces together - quick dry fit

custom center bands

yellowheart - holly - padauk | zebrawood - holly - bubinga | purpleheart - holly - greybox burl | leopardwood - holly - canarywood | redheart - holly - marblewood