newbie to turning

[fraseman999]

Hi Folks,

Well i have not had my Tormek T7 for very long. Only really bought it for straight edge stuff. But i have decided to buy a cheap lathe and give it a go.

I have also bought the woodturning kit, which was nearly as much as the lathe!

Now the set of tools that i have purchased is a set of Robert Sorby has chisels. So i went online today to order the blackstone(my pet hate they take your order and tell you it wont be in for 6 weeks). It seems Tormek dont have any until that date. So tried many others and the story is the same.

So i will have to sharpen with the standard stone.

Can i still sharpen on the standard stone? Will it damage my stone? And any tips that anyone could give me starting out in turning would be appreciated.

Thanks

John

[Dick Parman]

John
The fun is just starting.  First if you have Tormek's set of turning jigs,
watch Jeff in the video.  He pretty much covers everything you need
to know to get started sharpening your tools.  The grey stone which
came with your T-7 is just what you want for most of your lathe tools.
I am sure your Sorby tools are HSS, so either the Grey stone or the
Black stone will work fine.  The Black stone will not work as well on
steel which is not at least of HSS or better hardness. Just make sure
you move your tool evenly across the stone so as not to make any
grooves from grinding in one place for any period of time, and you
will only notice normal even wear on the stone.  Again, make sure
to watch Jeff Farris in the included video, or go to YouTube for the
same video.  He explains everything in simple to understand steps.
Study the section on grading your stone.  You will not be happy unless
you change the courseness from initial shape grinding to final honing.
       Good Luck and have fun!!!!

[Rob]

Hi john

Is your intention to turn spindles (between centres) or bowls?

What lathe have you bought and what is its swing?

What are the chisels in the Robert sorby set? (3/4" roughing gouge etc)

I echo the advice on Jeff's touch n turn DVD. It's very well done and Jeff's quite the turner himself.

Ill get into more individual experience sharing when I know what you want to turn and which chisels you have. This is very relevant for me as I trod this path myself just before Christmas.

Know one thing though, you've just entered the heartland of what Tormek is brilliant at. It really excels at sharpening turning tools. Welcome :-)

[Rob]

Out of all the "tips" I watched or read at the start, here are what I found most useful:

Do make the wooden spacer blocks to quickset the universal sppt, one for each chisel that uses the SVD-50 multi jig (you'll be using that a lot)

Don't bother doing that for bowl gouges as the turning tool setter has a really useful calibration feature for the same job when using the articulated gouge jig

Don't worry about your grey wheel, its fine, if the blackstone takes 6 weeks so be it, it won't slow you down.

I will leave out grinding the wings off to create fingernail grinds for the while until you talk about what you intend to turn.  If you go down that route, we can cover that as that's about the biggest shaping (not sharpening) job you'll do to your turning tools. The Tormek is pre-eminently superb at this, truly exceptional given the complex curved geometries.

Last point, unrelated to sharpening. Go easy when you begin, do all the safety checks, run the lathe slow at first, wear safety specs or a full face job. When you're new, you'll get a few smacks cos you'll hold the chisel wrong as you learn.  As long as your fingers aren't between the tool rest and the rotating stock, they're scary but not dangerous. NEVER wear loose clothing or jewellery.

I bang on about the safety cos it becomes a tired cliche in the manufacturers manuals.  To bring it to life my personal experience is I've had three pieces fly off the lathe (just since Christmas).  All were to do with cracks in the stock, as I removed material it exposed the weakness progressively till... Two missed me by miles, one clipped my ear. Another time I got a chip in the eye. (On the one time I had mislaid my safety specs). Hurt like hell for an evening but no damage

Dust from sanding is the other hazard.  Talk about fine dust, below 5 microns ie the really lung eating stuff!  When you power sand with a 400 grit pad, the dust is like smoke its so fine!  Use extraction and a proper face mask professionally rated to remove particles below 5 microns (I use those 3M ones that have two exchangeable filters that cost around £30-40, I also have trends powered full face mask). DON'T use those disposable white paper jobs unless your goal is to be coughing up Bubinga globs 20 years from now!  I use the trend for monster sanding jobs ( which incidentally good turning practice should negate) and the 3M job for smaller bursts.  The trend isn't necessary its just I owned one already, the 3m or similar is. Extraction can be achieved with domestic quality vacuums cos you're only using them at sanding time, not for the shavings. One with a hepa filter bag is a good call.

Last tip....keep a chainsaw in your car boot every time you go out. I've become like a fanatical road kill collector, only its not road kill I'm collecting its down'd trees. In my local woodturning supplies shop, the minimum cost of any bowl blank is £7 and they go up to £50 for larger or more exotic species. Upside of trees down is, they might be spalted, good for turners, they might be quite dried out.  Downside, they tend to have a lot of cracks, shakes from the pith out wards.  But....they're free so great for practice.  Also green wood is a million times more forgiving to turn than dry wood.

You're gunna love this John:-)

[fraseman999]

Hi Folks,

Thanks to Dick and Rob for great info.

Rob, its great to know i can post when i am stuck.

Well here is where i am at.

I have bought an axminster awvsl 1000. I was really annoyed yesterday as like so many companies now, they take your money and then tell you that your item has shipped minus a 1" 4 prong 2mt, that wont be in for six weeks. But when i told them i would send delivery back they found one!

So it was between this one and a record and what swung it was the adjustable speed and the work cymru boy does on you tube, he had this lathe until upgrading this year. Love his videos.

Got it built up today and when i ordered my set of Robert Sorby chisels from Peter Child the guy said is was a very good machine for the money. And it might be a bit premature but i think it is. But until my chisels come and my headstock on Friday, i am just reading up and watching dvds, i have just pulled Jeffs dvd out the Tormek box and i have a great book called Woodturning, a foundation course by Keith Rowley and a dvd from the same.

I must confess i watched Keiths dvd last night and it is excellent, however, there seems to be a lot to learn, holding angles, cutting points, chisel choice and thats without sharpening!

So it probably a good thing that i can't start now, as i tend to try and run before i can walk.

I will be staring off turning spindles. However, as the blackstone was out of stock, and the money was there, i ordered a patriot chuck today, so bowls as well when i get better.

I had a chuckle there Rob, my wife asked me what the hell i wanted a lathe for(as they do) and i replied, well i have a nice chainsaw and if i am driving along the road and i see a trunk i will put it in my boot. She said i would get into trouble if i cut a tree down. Think she missed the point! lol.

Anyway thanks for the wonderful advice, i am off to study.

John

[Rob]

Brilliant John

Can't wait to hear about your exploits. I warn you now, wood turning is seriously addictive :-)

Don't worry about all the complexities, a long journey begins with the first step.  Spindle turning is the right approach. As well as one by one or two by two planed, see if you can find some thin birch branches that are really straight and try those too. Even if they're green. Doesn't matter that the barks still on either. They turn beautifully and the fact they're already circular is helpful as long as they're not too out of true.

Just out of curiosity, where are you?  You're not the chap from Essex are you?

Cheers

R

[fraseman999]

Hi Rob,

Thanks again.

Not Essex, up in Scotland, plenty trees down up here. Husquavarna at the ready!

cheers

John

[fraseman999]

Big Thanks to Jeff.

What a great dvd sharpening and using woodturning tools.

John

[Rob]

Haha. I should have known, "Fraser" the clue was there :-)

I'm a stihl man myself.

Avoid pine generally, it doesn't turn that great. Hardwoods generally.  I really like oak personally and any fruit woods, apple cherry etc.  Now when friends, family, neighbours are gardening, I'm all over their off cuts.  Ash turns really nicely.

Yew is a real belter.  Only last week I noticed a huge oak had been downed by a builder erecting a garage. I chatted him up and twenty minutes later was loading a couple hundred weight of bowl blanks into my boot. Once you know you want it, you see it everywhere, its great.

[Jeff Farris]

The Keith Rowley book you mentioned is my absolute favorite introductory book. Sadly, Keith past a few years ago. I had the great pleasure of hosting him at a turning workshop several years ago. You limeys will be interested to know that he was on the police force in Nottingham for many years. That's right folks, I learned to turn from the Sheriff of Nottingham.

[Rob]

Drum roll...... Symbol

Very drole Jeff....you should be on the telly :-)

[Rob]

Surely that also means you're one of the "merry men" ...........and wear green tights:-)

[Jeff Farris]

...........and wear green tights:-)

That's a photo that I promise you would close this forum forever. 

[Rob]

Yeah, I'm trying to suppress that image from loading in my head as I type :-)

[fraseman999]

Hi Jeff,

yes, the dvd that goes with the book is very good but the book confirms everything.

Now my chisels should come tomorrow a 5 set Robert Sorby.

I have watched your dvd 5 times, yes 5 times!

I could do it in my sleep (not).

Now you Jeff are a true craftsman and an even better salesman. lol.

So i will be the first to come on here on friday or saturday and tell you if its as easy as you make it look.

My first thoughts are that i know how long it takes the Tormek to grind a badly damaged plane iron. And thats with the stone going the other way.

But as you explain, if i use setting 2 and dont expect to remove too much steel straight away, then maybe i will be ok. Cant wait.

Thanks again to Rob for the wonderful advice.

John