Cherry Roubo

[Mark J]

Even though it was overkill, I'm curious if you used waxed or dewaxed shellac?  Just thinking that waxed might be less prone to adhere to the errant drop of glue, etc.  

[Chestnut]

46 minutes ago, Mark J said:

Even though it was overkill, I'm curious if you used waxed or dewaxed shellac?  Just thinking that waxed might be less prone to adhere to the errant drop of glue, etc.  

Well the plates are inside a mortise tucked back there a ways so if i get glue on them I'm doing something really wrong. I used dewaxed thought as that's all i have in my shop. I've found that finish wise it's as good as the waxed stuff and has more utility as i can top coat it with other finishes.

[Chestnut]

So i had to get an oil change on my Subaru. Fortunately while i wait Rockler was only a very short 1.5 mile walk away. So instead of sitting and wasting time i went there and talked to a good knowledgeable employee. I've been needing a way to replaece those rotten aluminum knobs so was just poking around to see if there was some way i could manage that.

Yeah it went south fast.

The Comet II was on sale with a G3 chuck and tools for less than the regular price of just the lathe. Also a set of carbide tools was on sale for buy 2 get 1 free.

So here we are my bench is near complete,

and I bought a new toy that is just going to distract me.

I guess at least I'll have knobs now. I'd proably have more free time and money if i just paid someone to turn them for me.....

[JohnG]

Nice, you’ll enjoy it! I’ve got the old original Comet and I’ve been working up toward convincing myself to get the II. The speed control and reversible feature look nice. I haven’t really had any need for a bigger lathe, but I wouldn’t turn down the couple extra inches in diameter and between centers. 

[Chestnut]

Hum well it took me 3 hours to make 1 knob.... this might take a while.

There is no way these 3 knobs are going to be any where close to similar.

[..Kev]

Once you get the first one under your belt, the rest will go faster..  Set yourself up some calipers for the different diameters..  

[Chestnut]

Nailed it!

Identical copy and don't you dare tell me different.

 

.....

[Chet]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

Identical copy and don't you dare tell me different.

It's like looking at them in a mirror.

[wtnhighlander]

And we joke about the women buying stuff just because its on sale!!! 

Good catch, Drew! You're going to enjoy that lathe!

[Mark J]

There is no reason the knobs should be the same.  Make them anyway you want!

It looks like a very good surface finish.  Did you use the carbide scrapers? 

[RichardA]

I can't tell them apart, but then I'm old and not wearing my glasses.

[pkinneb]

That was one expensive oil change LOL. $100 plus a knob only a ww could justify that, nice job!!

Bench is looking great Drew!!

[Tom King]

I'm sure that would be a fun lathe to have! 

Now that you have some practice,  look for some Amboyna burl.   And maybe get those metal wheels smoothed, and Cerakoted.

[Chestnut]

8 hours ago, Mark J said:

t looks like a very good surface finish.  Did you use the carbide scrapers? 

I sanded quite a bit then used the saw dust trick i keep hearing turners talk about. I can't believe how abrasive sawdust is.

Yes i used carbide tools, not sure if it's a scraper, it's the round one. The diamond shaped parting tool really isn't the best for parting, so i was going the sharpen up and use the HSS parting tool. How exactly does one avoid catches?

16 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

And we joke about the women buying stuff just because its on sale!!! 

Hey now!

7 hours ago, Tom King said:

And maybe get those metal wheels smoothed, and Cerakoted.

That looks like an awesome finish. Though i probably won't have the wheels smoothed as i could have bought them like that. I heated the wheel up with a torch and applied some boiled linseed oil, hopefully that's enough to stop major rusting.

[Mark J]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

How exactly does one avoid catches?

By not turning the lathe on ! 

OK, there's some truth to that.  Everyone gets carches, although with experience it's less often.

I'm betting the carbide tools you have are scrapers.  The top surface will be flat.  A carbide shear cutter will have a sharp up turned rim, like a pie pan shape.

Typically you get a round cutter for general shaping, a radiused square for roughing and some shaping and a diamond tool which is for detail work, not parting.  Just get an ordinary parting tool for now.  

Here's some quick advice on using these types of lathe tools. 

Keep the tool rest fairly close and positioned so the tool shaft crosses at 75* to 90*.  The tool is positioned flat level--no roll, no pitch.  The tool tip should be at the center of rotation--zero altitude. 

Now keep a light touch.  If you're roughing a square to round you can ge more aggressive, but it doesn't pay when you're trying to make a contour. 

Don't overdo it, but you don't want the lathe speed too slow.  For a knob try 1000 rpm and then see if you want to go up or down from there.

And I would make those knobs three different shapes out of three different woods.  This is your time to take a stand on knob conformity!

[Coop]

21 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Nailed it!

Identical copy and don't you dare tell me different.

 

.....

I’m thinking boob jobs by two different docs but hey, never seen too many that I didn’t like. Looks great Nut! 

[Tom King]

1 hour ago, Mark J said:

By not turning the lathe on ! 

OK, there's some truth to that.  Everyone gets carches, although with experience it's less often.

I'm betting the carbide tools you have are scrapers.  The top surface will be flat.  A carbide shear cutter will have a sharp up turned rim, like a pie pan shape.

Typically you get a round cutter for general shaping, a radiused square for roughing and some shaping and a diamond tool which is for detail work, not parting.  Just get an ordinary parting tool for now.  

Here's some quick advice on using these types of lathe tools. 

Keep the tool rest fairly close and positioned so the tool shaft crosses at 75* to 90*.  The tool is positioned flat level--no roll, no pitch.  The tool tip should be at the center of rotation--zero altitude. 

Now keep a light touch.  If you're roughing a square to round you can ge more aggressive, but it doesn't pay when you're trying to make a contour. 

Don't overdo it, but you don't want the lathe speed too slow.  For a knob try 1000 rpm and then see if you want to go up or down from there.

And I would make those knobs three different shapes out of three different woods.  This is your time to take a stand on knob conformity!

I never knew how it was supposed to be done.  I just pick up one of the tools, and put it to wood to see what it'll do.  I didn't take shop in High School.

[Chestnut]

Big changes in the shop.

Old work bench had to be moved out of the way. I got the mortises done on the bottom of the tops to get mounted to the base. Marc did them with the router but i REALLY hate cutting mortises with a router so i decided to go full Luddite and cut them with a chisel. One is quite loose.... but it's on the back slab. One is quite tight but sitting on the slab sent it home.

After the mortises i hogged out the groove for the sliding dead man and then the base got moved in place.

Slabs on top.

Now I need to focus my attention on getting the chop shaped. I cut the 4/4 curly stock a bit larger than the 8/4 stock. I used the washer trick to offset the curve i created and shaped everything up. I forgot to take a picture of the detail so I'll have to post one later but this is what the front looks like.

Next up is flattening the top. I need to make a planer sled and get some 2x material for rails. My front slab ended up with a slight twist maybe 1/8" so I'll have to address that at least.

[Tom King]

Looking great!

[Johnny4]

Well done sir! 

[Ronn W]

NIce work and a lateh to boot.  Ain't woodworking grand?

[JohnG]

7 hours ago, Ronn W said:

Ain't woodworking grand?

I’d say it’s at least a few grand...

[Chestnut]

I got some finish on the chop and it looks pretty awesome. The cherry almost has a quilted maple look.

The front is a bit larger than the back so it creates a shadow detail. My thought was this would look kind of neat on the bench.

The finish is still curing so I'm going to wait to install the chop.

This week i was focusing on getting the top flat so I had to build a router sled. I went to grab some 2x6 material from the shed to realize that I've used it all so I had to go buy more. Because i drive by a box store on my way home from work i never make a specific trip for anything and just do it the next day.

So I had a night to mess around on the lathe. I bought some cheap calipers and dividers to take measurements and be able to replicate things. This made a huge improvement on being able to get the knobs similar in shape. For the sake of a few laughs i made all the knobs similar but just different enough that you can tell they aren't the same. I also wanted to make a bit of a joke on wood species so I used the 3 most popular woods. Purpleheart, Red Oak. and Pine, they also happen to be some of the most divisive woods.

The stock i cut the purple heart from was VIBRANT purple so that knob is going to get really flashy eventually. IIRC purpleheart is more mellow after it's milled and takes some time to gain it's color.

Last night I milled some 2x6s for guide rails to flatten the top. This worked out quite well. I ended up having a slight twist in the front slab and had to take off about 1/16" from the area in front of the leg vise. I think this is the biggest mess I've made in my shop. Normally the DC grabs all of the dust and my floor stays pretty clean.

It looked like a Cherry Bomb had gone off....

It felt like it took longer to sweep than it did to flatten the top.

[drzaius]

16 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Purpleheart, Red Oak. and Pine, they also happen to be some of the most divisive woods.

Ain't that the truth. You're becoming a bit of a subversive

[Bmac]

I thought that the figure was going to pop on that chop, it looked interesting even before you applied the finish.