DaveB Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 A lathe was pretty far down my list of things to buy, but I stumbled across this one for $50. There was this nagging voice in my head that said I'd be an idiot if I passed this up. It's a MasterCraft Model V1145-MC 12" X 37" belt driven lathe. The five knives came with it as well as a jig for apparently making pens- plus a lot of pen and pencil kits. The guy I bought it from said his wife picked it up at an estate sale, but he's really not into woodworking and had no idea how to use it. I watched Marc's video on the vampire stake trying to figure out how to use this thing but his is much more advanced than this one. I'm sure this can only be used on much smaller projects, but it seems like I'm missing some parts. I've used a metal lathe before, but it's apples and oranges I'm sure so I thought I'd see if anyone here can offer some advice before I render my kids fatherless! Is there supposed to be a chuck of some sort there to clamp the piece I'm milling? Or does it just kind of clamp in there? What determines how fast to turn the piece? I'm interested in maybe making columns or spindles for future projects, can this lathe be used for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwatson Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 Is there supposed to be a chuck of some sort there to clamp the piece I'm milling? Or does it just kind of clamp in there? for spindle turning this is a brief explanation. ok lets start at the beginning left side is the head stock and right side is tail stock. tail stock moves on the rail. ok so now that you know that the head stock and tail stock both have holes in them and the head stock has threads as well. well there is a piece that slides into the hole(the hole is called a morse taper. yours looks like a #2) that is called a chuck there are all kinds of chucks one of which is called a spur chuck has spurs around a center point. that locks into the piece. on the tail stock you will have a live center or other type of centering chuck. and then you move the tail stock against the piece and lock it into place. What determines how fast to turn the piece? you start slow and work your way up in speed as you get towards being finished on a spindle turning. slow when square and speed up as you get round then faster as you finish or sand. I'm interested in maybe making columns or spindles for future projects, can this lathe be used for that? spindle turnings would be perfect in this lathe. you will end up going to want to do more before long lathes are fun. edit: i do see that in the tail stock you have a live center which spins with the work thats a good thing. you might need the drive spur like i stated earlier. though now i cant see threads so a 4 jaw chuck probably wont mount but thats not a issue. if you get the drive spur that will get you started. something like this http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCENT3210.html is what you need for the headstock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Thanks JW! Yeah I thought something was missing. There are threads on the head stock- looks like maybe 3/4? But the spur chuck- I'll order one of those. It looks fun. I used a metal lathe a little in my last job and that was pretty cool. The guy I bought this one from gave me a whole bag of different kits for pens, pencils, key rings. I even saw one for a magnifying glass which my son would love. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simocco Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 looks like a good height between the the drive centre and the bed bar - so you could turn some good sized bowls. my dad does a lot of bowl turning, it can be very satisfying and rewarding; less fiddly. A good piece of spalted beech is very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 looks like a good height between the the drive centre and the bed bar - so you could turn some good sized bowls. my dad does a lot of bowl turning, it can be very satisfying and rewarding; less fiddly. A good piece of spalted beech is very nice! Now for that I would need a four-jaw chuck like JW was talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billboard Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 That is the same lathe my Dad picked up for $50. I bought a similar one on ebay that later fell apart. The spur you need is a #1 morse taper. You can also buy a pen mandrel for it (also #1MT). You can turn a 12 inch bowl. The bowl chuck you need has a different threading. I bought this one at Highland Woodworking http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/barracuda2scrollchucksystem.aspx It will allow for several tpi sizes of the spindle. Start your turning on the lowest setting and increase when the wood gets more round. If it vibrates then it is too fast. I would knock the rust off the pole for the tailstock to slide better. Maybe some wax too. It will be a great starter lathe. Then the turning bug will bite you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwatson Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 there are ways of turning bowls without a 4 jaw chuck. called jam chucks etc. small turnings you can glue to another piece that you screw on to a plate etc then separate later. i want to thank bill for stepping in, i am not familiar with that particular lathe so i was unsure of the actual taper it has. also i also recommend cleaning up the tube of rust. I have a shopsmith lathe and it has way tubes and even sticks without rust. so it would make your life easier to get the rust off and keep it waxed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted October 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 That is the same lathe my Dad picked up for $50. I bought a similar one on ebay that later fell apart. The spur you need is a #1 morse taper. You can also buy a pen mandrel for it (also #1MT). You can turn a 12 inch bowl. The bowl chuck you need has a different threading. I bought this one at Highland Woodworking http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/barracuda2scrollchucksystem.aspx It will allow for several tpi sizes of the spindle. Start your turning on the lowest setting and increase when the wood gets more round. If it vibrates then it is too fast. I would knock the rust off the pole for the tailstock to slide better. Maybe some wax too. It will be a great starter lathe. Then the turning bug will bite you. Bill thank you so much! Yeah I'm anxious to give it a try. It did come with a pen mandrel but I don't know what kind of shape it's in. Like the rest of it there's a lot of rust. Everyone, thanks a million for the responses! I look forward to trying this out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simocco Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Now for that I would need a four-jaw chuck like JW was talking about? chucks are the best way to go but you can turn bowls with a screw chuck and/or faceplates. basically you attach a metal place to your blank; attach the faceplate to the drive center (make sure that your blank is as centred as possible) and off you go! one method is to turn the outside of the bowl and create a flat area on what will be the bottom of the bowl (the size of the face plate); remove the bowl; remove the face plate; attach the faceplate to the flat area that you turned on teh outside of the bowl (as centered as you can) now turn the inside of teh bowl. this is one very quick description of how to start turning without a 4 jaw chuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySats Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Hey David You may want to check out a local turning club , that's a great way to get some local help . Try google to see if you have anything close by . Good luck and have fun with your new lathe . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted October 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 chucks are the best way to go but you can turn bowls with a screw chuck and/or faceplates. basically you attach a metal place to your blank; attach the faceplate to the drive center (make sure that your blank is as centred as possible) and off you go! one method is to turn the outside of the bowl and create a flat area on what will be the bottom of the bowl (the size of the face plate); remove the bowl; remove the face plate; attach the faceplate to the flat area that you turned on teh outside of the bowl (as centered as you can) now turn the inside of teh bowl. this is one very quick description of how to start turning without a 4 jaw chuck. I think I'd like to get a chuck soon. My drive center should be here tomorrow so I'll have that to play with over the weekend. Never really thought about bowls but might give it a try! Thanks for the explanation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted October 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Hey David You may want to check out a local turning club , that's a great way to get some local help . Try google to see if you have anything close by . Good luck and have fun with your new lathe . Thank you! Yeah I'm looking forward to learning about it. Gonna have a lot of round stuff around the house for a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted October 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Hey one more question: I don't have any square stock around right now, so is it okay to glue pieces together and turn them? Or is that not really safe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwatson Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 yeah i have glued pieces together to make up bigger stock. one of the first thing i turned was a bowl on a face plate made of 2x4s glued up. my dad made the blank for me and heavily clamped it together. just make sure the glue joint is solid and it will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrence Brown Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Yeah, gluing is fine. If you want to get fancy, you can try "segmented turning" where you take a bunch of different pieces and glue them up and turn them. There are lots of different combinations you can try and you end up with something similar to the look of a breadboard/checkerboard. I've even seen a piece where the guy took a solid block, drilled a whole mess of holes at all different angles, and filled them with different kinds of dowels. after turning, he ended up with all these different ovals that looked really cool. As jwatson said, as long as you've got good glue joints, you're good. If you are just starting out though, it'll be easier if you make sure all the grain points in the same direction, but experiment and see what happens. It's all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 There are a couple of books you can get from the library on turning. While it's not the same as hands on, you get a general idea of things you can do. My particular library favorite was on turning ornamental shapes with grooves for a marble to run through, and the shapes looked like mobius strips. I wish I remembered the name, or the author. The short version is you take a block of wood, cut it in half, turn the second half by 90 degrees, glue it back together with a paper layer in between (to allow "split turning"), mount it to the lathe via a faceplate chuck, and turn a shape into it. When you're done turning, take the shape off the lathe, split it at the glue joint (the paper will help it separate without splintering), and glue it back up with the grain in the correct orientation. The effect is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, but I haven't tried to duplicate it yet. I believe the pulleys and belts are under that cover on the left. Have you inspected them yet? The next thing you are going to want is something to sharpen the tools with. If there is a Woodcraft or Rockler near you, try signing up for a couple of turning classes. You could start with a couple pen classes, then go to bowls or lidded boxes. (Then you'd be passing me and my skill sets.) Keep in mind this is a great lathe to start on, and you do not have to upgrade to the Powermatic 4224 to turn anything. I shopped for years before purchasing mine. (and spent years building the table to house it... but that's a different nightmare.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwatson Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 you know it was very helpful to read those books. I pick up books on woodworking from the library its a good source. the lathe books helped me learn to use a skew the right way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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