Exploding blanks

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AZturner said:
I sent rherrell a PM this morning to see if he can fix me up. I want to confirm that his tool rest's won't have the same problem with my particular model of lathe before ordering one.

I'm not dying to dump a bunch of money into a new lathe, but I also don't want to throw good money after bad with this one...
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I am sure you will be very happy with the lathe once you get that tool at the right height. I have purchased from him before for a pin chuck so I could turn closed end pens I think. You could just grind that one down to and get it at the right height. Another thing you can do is get a skew and get to turning. There are lots of youtube videos that will show you how to get started with it.
 
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AZturner said:
I sent rherrell a PM this morning to see if he can fix me up. I want to confirm that his tool rest's won't have the same problem with my particular model of lathe before ordering one.

I'm not dying to dump a bunch of money into a new lathe, but I also don't want to throw good money after bad with this one...
Click to expand...

There is one other thing you should check before getting a new rest . Does the slide allow the vertical tool post ( not the offset edge of your rest) to be within about 1/4 inch of a turned slim barrel ? If not , your tool won`t be as well supported as it should be , and on occasion you may get some chatter , even though the carbide tool is quite rigid . I had to manufacture a short offset round bar rest for my lathe because of this .
 
OK, well I think I managed to fix it to where it will work OK for me. I ground down the top of the banjo so the rest would sit lower, and also smoothed out the top of the rest where it was pretty rough and bumpy. Hopefully things will work much better now!
 

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I have and use carbide tools, but I also use regular turning tools. I have turned many pens with a 3/4" roughing gouge that is very sharp and when first turning it allowed me to develop my skills and progress to be a turner who can also use regular turning tools. Carbide is nice, but it is also good to develop good tool handling and presentation of tools so that you can become a proficient turner of many things.
You don't have to start with the most expensive tools and it allows you to learn how to sharpen tools properly without fear of wasting money and develop good skills.
 
mikespenturningz said:
Dan Hintz said:
mikespenturningz said:
Try tipping your cutter up to maybe 45 degrees so you get more of a sheering action instead of a scraping action.
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After his latest pic, I was going to ask how he was presenting the tool to the blank. Too often people think carbide means "cuts anything". Present the tool improperly and a catch can easily rip apart the blank, good glue job or not.
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Ya Dan I agree but if you want to scrape you put the tool flat against the tool rest and just scrape away. If you want to cut you have to present the tool in such a way that it is about to slice the wood cleanly and efficiently. When you do this the effort you need to make a cut is greatly reduced and the cleanness of the cut really shines out. It means you use much less pressure and put less stress onto the wood that is being turned. It is more of a learning process. Once I learned to tip the carbide tool up on edge I was better able to use the radiused cutters better. Now I rarely use the carbide tool but it is there if I need it. I use almost always my skew.
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The skew works fine on most timber but on short-grained timber like river redgum, can pull the end of the blanks out in an instant, no matter how good the glue job. I use a Sorby mini roughing gouge sharpening on my Tormek and don't have problems anymore.
 
For most of my pens I have used a skew and or a gouge.

I tried turning some old recycled Red Gum blanks to slim straight pens. They kept tearing apart. In the end I found the only way to succeed with these blanks was to use a scraper.

As for your gluing, I use an expanding foaming glue. It gets a good grip on blank and tube and fills any gaps well.

The advice you have received all ready seems to cover it well, I have only read the first page and some of this.
 
A quick update for everyone...I just finished turning my first piece since adjusting my tool rest height, and it worked magnificently (based upon how the tool felt during turning, that seems to have been a large part of the problem). Thanks again to all who helped out with tips and suggestions!



 
That is a beauty, one of the better looking patrizio's in my opinion. I am glad that you will be able to enjoy your lathe and the hobby now, without worrying about dodging pen blank shrapnel.
 
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