How to turn a spindles even?

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DavePowers

DavePowers

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Jun 25, 2006
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Shelbyville, KY
Ok, I am turning knitting needles and have completed several set but I am having problems with getting same diameter along the length. Any suggestions? I have the same problem when turning larger diameter spindles also.

Dave
 
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Do use calipers and parting tool to mark off smallest and largest diameters, then turn between these to points?

Also turning with the grain and not against the grain.
 
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possibly it may help if you cut the blanks accurately so when you turn the corners off it becomes the correct diametre as it loses the corners. this will show you when to finish cutting,trouble with doing thin and long diametre blanks on a lather is that they wip around a lot. alternatively use a router over a hole in a block of wood and drill feed the timber in through the hole tapering the start of the wood blank first, this is a very quick method. I believe the woodrat machine can be set up to do this or just make a jig up and invert your router in a table with the block of wood and a hole cut to the exact size of the finished diametre you need drop the router cutter over the hole till it touches the outer circumferance of the hole and then feed the blank through the hole with the router on. its simply making a dowel with a router really.hope this helps
 
Practice, practice, and more practice. Then practice some more.

Also, set your tool rest parallel to what will be the final shape of the spindle. Now, assuming you are turning right handed, place your left thumb on top of the blade of the tool and your left index finger under the blade. Keep your grip on the blade tight enough so it cannot slide through your fingers and keep the tool pushed forward with your right hand. Lock your left index finger tight against the tool rest. Now the path of the cutting edge must be parallel to the tool rest.

Oh, and, did I mention practice.
 
I have same trouble, but have discovered if you have a nice wide bladed very sharp scraper and go very slowly and take the lightest cuts, you can smooth the lumps out.

I don't do many spindles, but I do a lot of straight sided peppermills and had trouble making them smooth until I ground a skew square on the ends and then at a slight angle to make a wide bladed scraper.
 
I was asked some time ago to make a bunch of knitting needles for the ladies.
Small diameter, fairly long spindle were a pain in the posterior.
Found a site that sells small diamter wooden dowels in various flavors of wood,
coupled these with some fancy tips on each end and the ladies loved them.
Just another alternative to think about.
 
What Stan said. It's really about how you hold your tool and practice to get a smooth even cut.

Also, you can use a square nose scraper. What you do is very, very slightly round the corners of the scraper so you don't get a catch. Go very lighty the length of your work taking off the high spots. It may take several passes. BTW you can use the same technique to smooth the bottom, inside or outside, of a bowl and remove that little dimple you get in the middle and make a nice flat surface.
 
Here is my technique as well as I can describe it. in pratice I could show you in 0.3 seconds. so here goes.
I woudl be using a spindle gouge. pinch the gouge between your thumb and first finger. with the gouge positioned between the first and second knuckle. thumb on top of gouge. finger under it. wish I had a picture to insert here. buuuuut.
now using your first finger as the guide place the gouge on the tool rest. your finger will then be pressed tight against the back of the tool rest. some rests actually have a groove your finger fits into (mine does) but the bar type rests do not. your finger will still sit tight against a bar type rest though. now you can push the gouge forward into the work as needs. pinch tight again. then slide to the left or right as needed, (More detail on the slide to come). you need to concentrate on your hand hold not the cutting that the tool is doing. fell for the gouge trying to move between your fingers etc and that your pressure against the rest stays consistent. if this is a battle you are loose adjust the depth of cut you are trying to take. sometimes deeper cuts will help as much as lighter as to light of a cut invites chatter. play with that until your hand movement can be smooth and even.
now for the detail of the "Slide" think of ice skating and how the movement begins with the foot travels up the leg and results int he entire upper body moving from side to side. this is the movement you want to get. it is not moving just the hands it is your whole upper body that moves with the tool. it might help to actually lock your elbows against your side this forcing your hips to move rather than your hands. resist that urge to get the last little bit of cut by moving your wrists this will only produce an arc even if only a small one.
focus on controlling your technique to beyond the spindle this means stay in turning mode until the tool has passed completely past the end of the spindle or the portion you are working on at least.

Hope any of that helps.as I said it is much quicker and easier to show than describe. but the idea is that everything about your hands and body are locked to the only non movable part of the process. the rest.
 
Quick answer would be sand even with lathe on to remove all ripples and bumps. With lathe off, hand sand along the grain to further even out ripples and sanding circles.

Your turning technique could be improved with practice. I change my grip and angle of the tool if not getting results. Also use several passes using a lighter touch. On thin turnings will use my other hand to support the wood.

Sometimes it's the piece of wood too. Especially when trying to turn thin spindles some woods more forgiven than others. Don't forget about using a steady rest too, on regular spindles.
 
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