Now I have a wood lathe... in bits...

[skotl]

My neighbour was a carpenter - total nightmare to help, standing over me, making sure I was nailing his fence right etc...

Anyway, poor chap pegged it a couple of years ago. His widow knocked on my door a few months back and said "He'd have wanted you to have his lathe"... fast forward a few months and a bunch of extremely heavy bits were deposited at my door. Honestly, I think there's probably 200KG in there...

Turns out it's a Record Power unit from 1998, and a whole bunch of chisels.

A local lad who knows his wood turning has kindly offered to help me get it set up.
It's not going to be a small installation!

 

[Gareth J]

I've a more basic, older version. Yours looks in good nick. Pretty easy to put together, a picture will be ample guide.

May all your files have handles.

 

[Arc Tourist]

That's a nice gift.

 

[frank horton]

brilliant gift......
very calming thing to have n use......take a look at carbide tipped tools or make ur own....slightly diff to our eng tips.......
those HSS chisels will always want sharpening.....
thats not a prob but some of the bowl gouges have a tricky shape....there's all kinds of jig's n fancy grinders but mine get done by hand......
dont think about Tormek, nice machine but v'slow to use n set up for dif chisels, plus the last time I checked they were around £400.....plus the jigs.....

I guess he would have bought a decent brand of chisel...there are loads, not nec from Shefield......
my advice to learners is to buy a cheap set....use em and learn how to sharpen them before u get onto the fancy brands....coz some of them are vv expensive.....
PS, u really dont need that many dif shapes either.....
to sharpen I use a linisher of one sort or another....reshapeing the tip is frought with temp worries on norm workshop bench grinders.....
but I'm sure ur aware of that......
have a look at this guy on youtube thepapa1947 he does a lot of fancy stuff but if u watch carefully u'll find lots of sensible/safe use of chisels......
ur fire wood pile will hold many good items in the rough....

Once my new workshop is finished and ready I will be offering wood turning classes for those that rent our villa......
My wife is desperate to learn turning and it will be great fun to do that......she really good with tools......no sniggering at the back....hahaha.....

for being a good boy she bought me this to add to my less scary lathe......

it's 1932 or 7 Wadkin RS.....around a 1,1/4 tons of old fashioned cast iron....

have great fun times.....it's a nice thing to do in the winter within a warm shed......radio on with a coffee machine.......mmmmmm.......
of course u'll now need a storage shed for all the wood u save/rescue......lol.........
find a local tree surgeon for blanks but they will need a long time to dry and that practise is a bit like a black art......
being the UK u'll have lots of dif woods available.....here we only get Olive and then not very big....
which leads to the above Wadkin.....I will be turning Olive tree root balls to make large arty bowls etc....1/2 a ton plus.......
I learn't from my great Japanese friend in Calif.....

Lastly find a local Turning club......great for advice, wood and equipment....
quite often they get a prof turner in to show the ropes....those I went to included a BBQ.....great times....

best thing is u can make something from nothing, on ur own if thats ur want plus even when ur too old to work under cars etc u can still do it.....

I made a few good friends that way, sadly not here anymore.....good luck....

 

[cocker]

Wow ! What a fantastic gift .
wood turning is addictive once you get into it .
BUT before you start get a good 1/2 face dust mask and a face shield . I use a combined air/shield thing now .
You will always have a few "flyers" - and a safety squint isn't enough to stop a pound or two of wood from rearranging your kisser !

 

[arther dailey]

My neighbour was a carpenter - total nightmare to help, standing over me, making sure I was nailing his fence right etc...

Anyway, poor chap pegged it a couple of years ago. His widow knocked on my door a few months back and said "He'd have wanted you to have his lathe"... fast forward a few months and a bunch of extremely heavy bits were deposited at my door. Honestly, I think there's probably 200KG in there...

View attachment 464379

Turns out it's a Record Power unit from 1998, and a whole bunch of chisels.

View attachment 464380


A local lad who knows his wood turning has kindly offered to help me get it set up.
It's not going to be a small installation!

200kg

 

[arther dailey]

brilliant gift......
very calming thing to have n use......take a look at carbide tipped tools or make ur own....slightly diff to our eng tips.......
those HSS chisels will always want sharpening.....
thats not a prob but some of the bowl gouges have a tricky shape....there's all kinds of jig's n fancy grinders but mine get done by hand......
dont think about Tormek, nice machine but v'slow to use n set up for dif chisels, plus the last time I checked they were around £400.....plus the jigs.....

I guess he would have bought a decent brand of chisel...there are loads, not nec from Shefield......
my advice to learners is to buy a cheap set....use em and learn how to sharpen them before u get onto the fancy brands....coz some of them are vv expensive.....
PS, u really dont need that many dif shapes either.....
to sharpen I use a linisher of one sort or another....reshapeing the tip is frought with temp worries on norm workshop bench grinders.....
but I'm sure ur aware of that......
have a look at this guy on youtube thepapa1947 he does a lot of fancy stuff but if u watch carefully u'll find lots of sensible/safe use of chisels......
ur fire wood pile will hold many good items in the rough....

Once my new workshop is finished and ready I will be offering wood turning classes for those that rent our villa......
My wife is desperate to learn turning and it will be great fun to do that......she really good with tools......no sniggering at the back....hahaha.....

for being a good boy she bought me this to add to my less scary lathe......View attachment 464382 it's 1932 or 7 Wadkin RS.....around a 1,1/4 tons of old fashioned cast iron....

have great fun times.....it's a nice thing to do in the winter within a warm shed......radio on with a coffee machine.......mmmmmm.......
of course u'll now need a storage shed for all the wood u save/rescue......lol.........
find a local tree surgeon for blanks but they will need a long time to dry and that practise is a bit like a black art......
being the UK u'll have lots of dif woods available.....here we only get Olive and then not very big....
which leads to the above Wadkin.....I will be turning Olive tree root balls to make large arty bowls etc....1/2 a ton plus.......
I learn't from my great Japanese friend in Calif.....

Lastly find a local Turning club......great for advice, wood and equipment....
quite often they get a prof turner in to show the ropes....those I went to included a BBQ.....great times....

best thing is u can make something from nothing, on ur own if thats ur want plus even when ur too old to work under cars etc u can still do it.....

I made a few good friends that way, sadly not here anymore.....good luck....

wood has way way better smell than metal turning ,welding etc Hope to get a chance to do some wood bothering in the futuare

 

[MattF]

You will always have a few "flyers" - and a safety squint isn't enough to stop a pound or two of wood from rearranging your kisser !

Killjoy.

 

[dyno-tron]

@frank horton makes a good point about the chisels, I have inherited some very old cast steel (need constant sharpening, only good for sacrificial custom grinds), newer hss (ok for about 10 minutes) and some cryo / powder steel (can actually get some turning done with these). I’m going to restart my wood turning adventures sometime soon (after my car engine change project) so will definitely be looking at TCT tools.

 

[gaz1]

well at least you got something out of all your help over the years

but isnt your shed full to the brim allready where are you going to fit it as i remember your pic of your garage being so full

 

[Gareth J]

P.s, those bed/ways/bars are mint! Not that it matters really but mine are super seasoned. Your chap must have had it somewhere warm/dry.

I had to give mine a new belt and bearings. The spindle has to come out to do the belt anyway so figured may as well do the bearings then too as were a bit rough. Main bit of information that's actually potentially useful is that the pulley is held on with two stacked grub screws. Fairly common but easily overlooked.

 

[skotl]

P.s, those bed/ways/bars are mint! Not that it matters really but mine are super seasoned. Your chap must have had it somewhere warm/dry.

I had to give mine a new belt and bearings. The spindle has to come out to do the belt anyway so figured may as well do the bearings then too as were a bit rough. Main bit of information that's actually potentially useful is that the pulley is held on with two stacked grub screws. Fairly common but easily overlooked.

Yep - he definitely looked after his kit. Bit of a perfectionist.

 

[Turbo]

Nice gift!
But as with a steel lathe it's the accessories that soon makes things expensive. Chucks, tool rests, chisels, etc plus a good sharpening system soon add up.
Then when you really get into it you'll start buying exotic wood blanks which are not cheap.

As others have said, a face shield is a must. A friend is a very experienced turner and he's had a few lumps of wood flying at him.

A trend airshield pro is very good.

 

[skotl]

Nice gift!
But as with a steel lathe it's the accessories that soon makes things expensive. Chucks, tool rests, chisels, etc plus a good sharpening system soon add up.
Then when you really get into it you'll start buying exotic wood blanks which are not cheap.

As others have said, a face shield is a must. A friend is a very experienced turner and he's had a few lumps of wood flying at him.

A trend airshield pro is very good.

Yeah - haven't had a chance to go look at it in detail but, although there's a bunch of chisels, I think there's only one chuck (and don't know what kind that is!).
We have a sharpening system at the local men's shed so should be good for that.

And I also have a full face shield that will be getting employed!

 

[gaz1]

you own a drill press

 

[cocker]

Yeah - haven't had a chance to go look at it in detail but, although there's a bunch of chisels, I think there's only one chuck (and don't know what kind that is!).
We have a sharpening system at the local men's shed so should be good for that.

And I also have a full face shield that will be getting employed!

I would think that's a record Chuck , there's a big range of jaws for them - another rabbit hole to fall into !
Sharpening chisels - another rabbit hole !
It's all good fun though .
But do get some breathing protection , I use a trend airshield pro now - much better than a face shield + 1/2 face mask .

 

[Hitch]

My neighbour was a carpenter - total nightmare to help, standing over me, making sure I was nailing his fence right etc...

Anyway, poor chap pegged it a couple of years ago. His widow knocked on my door a few months back and said "He'd have wanted you to have his lathe"... fast forward a few months and a bunch of extremely heavy bits were deposited at my door. Honestly, I think there's probably 200KG in there...

View attachment 464379

Turns out it's a Record Power unit from 1998, and a whole bunch of chisels.

View attachment 464380


A local lad who knows his wood turning has kindly offered to help me get it set up.
It's not going to be a small installation!

Very capable machine that!