accessories for wood lathe

[Andy E.]

I have an older Craftsman wood lathe I inherited from my dad, I just recently set it up and started using it. My question is this, I'm interested in turning bowls and he didn't have any accessories for the lathe
so I could do this. Any recommendations for what I need to do this ?? I seem to remember a plate you could screw to the piece and then it was threaded to go on the lathe itself. I know they make other
ways to do this, but not sure if any are made for my lathe, and help is much appreciated, thanks !!

 

[bob vaughan]

Give us a little help here. "older Craftsman wood lathe" isn't much to go on. Sears had many different makers supply their lathes over the years so the specs varied greatly.
Faceplate is probably what you're looking for. 3/4-16 thread is the most likely spindle nose threading, but there were other sizes also.

 

[Henry W]

Re: accessories for wood lathe - several options

Yes Andy - what you are describing is called a faceplate. Available in sizes from about 2.5" to 6" diameter, maybe more. These are threaded onto your headstock spindle, and so need to be threaded appropriately for your lathe. My Nova is 8 TPI (threads per inch) and 1 1/4" diameter. There are several other common sizes. That thread size is important to know before acquiring any accessories.

In turning, like in other aspects of WWing, there are often other ways to do things. A faceplate can be a very secure way to mount something. Secure mounting is the best place to start, especially if you are a novice turner. Two other holding means are
- scroll chucks that have jaws that will hold a tenon (compression mode) or expand into a recess (expansion mode). You will need some way to hold the piece in order to trun that recess or tenon though, so even with a scroll chuck you will need at least one other holding mechanism
- between centers - with a live center in the tailstock and a spur drive in the headstock. These are typically accessories that have Morse tapers to fit into the head or tailstock. There are several sizes of Morse taper; mine is a MT#2, yours may be different. Smaller lathes are the ones most likely to have MT#1. There are well known turners who advocate this method as the most flexible (and appropriate) means to mount bowl blanks, especially for 'fresh from the log' blanks. I personally have difficulty using this method with any success, in part because of the style of my spur drive (and my inexperience).

YouTube is your friend here - lots of great material, and some awful stuff too. I can highly recommend any wood turning teaching video that Lyle Jamieson has out there; great teaching of the fundamental understand of blank mounting and the various cuts (i.e. push, pull, scrape, shear scrape). John Lucas is another, although I am less familiar with his videos. Carl Jacobsen has a lot of videos, some of which I have seen and are also fine.

I hope that helps get you started. Ask more questions as you proceed - woodturning is great fun. Also know that accessories in wood turning can cost way more than the lathe itself (i.e scroll chucks are AT Least $120).

Henry W

 

[Andy E.]

Sorry Bob, the Lathe is at least 30 years old and works just fine. I dont know the model # off hand

 

[Andy E.]

Henry, thanks for the reply, I will look into those video's and see what they use to get more idea's. I definitely don't want to buy items that are way more than the lathe itself. I have been looking for used items
ie Craigslist and Ebay.

 

[Mike Mills]

A scroll chuck is very nice for bowl work. Amazon has the Nova G3 for about $102 including the insert.
You can also use a faceplate or other method.
Here is a very good video by Mike Peace which covers most all methods of holding wood on the lathe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXil-5dEeo

[video=youtube;aUXil-5dEeo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXil-5dEeo[/video]

 

[KenOfCary]

The most common thread patterns on lathes are 3/4x16, 1x8 and 1-1/4x8 - the first number is the diameter and the last number is the threads per inch. Measure the diameter to see which one you have. There might be more that I'm not aware of though.

A typical way to turn a bowl is to attach a faceplate to what will be the inside of the bowl then turn the outside making a recess for the expandable chuck (another item you'll need that also fits on the threaded portion of the head stock.) Once that is done reverse the bowl and chuck it in the expanding chuck so that you can turn the inside of the bowl. This will usually remove the screw holes you used to attach the face plate.

There are many or our members in this area that would probably be happy to show you how its done. I'm no expert with bowls so I'll let one of our more experienced members volunteer to help you get started. If nobody else steps up, I can give it a try, but I'm still learning myself.

 

[chris_goris]

I have an older Craftsman wood lathe I inherited from my dad, I just recently set it up and started using it. My question is this, I'm interested in turning bowls and he didn't have any accessories for the lathe
so I could do this. Any recommendations for what I need to do this ?? I seem to remember a plate you could screw to the piece and then it was threaded to go on the lathe itself. I know they make other
ways to do this, but not sure if any are made for my lathe, and help is much appreciated, thanks !!

First, determine the thread size on the driving end of your lathe. Buy an inexpensive chuck (like a NOVA Teknatool). This chuck has a woodworm screw for your initial workholding. Get an adaptor to mount the chuck to the lathe. Also buy a set of cole jaws for this chuck. That is all youll need to hold onto your bowls. As for tools, a 1/2" bowl gouge is a must. I also use a parting too alot. Those 2 tools will get you started. One big problem with any turning is tool sharpening. Youll need a method to sharpen those tools frequently. These are the things I use to turn bowls, your mileage may vary. Good luck

 

[zapdafish]

This book is really good.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565235193/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Henry W]

Mike
That is a great video! He covers a lot of ground there.
Thanks.

Henry

 

[Andy E.]

Chris and Steve, thanks for your help. I will look into that book. I do need to determine my thread size so I can continue to get the parts I need. I started the video, ALOT of info wich is awesome !!

 

[Rick M]

If you can post a picture or detailed description one us will be able to identify your lathe. The most common type is a tube lathe, called that because the head and tail are connected by a round steel tube.

Sent from my KFGIWI using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Mathews]

Andy, measure the diameter of the threads, then lay the rule along the threads and count the number of threads in an inch of length. That's your thread size. BTW, I'm in Chapel Hill and have a number of lathe accessories. If you'd like to come over one day and look at my setup, it might help. Also, I work on the north side of Durham. I could stop by one day after work on on a weekend.

 

[bob vaughan]

Quick estimation
A penny is exactly 3/4" in diameter so that should be a go/no gauge for diameter.
A rule in 16th of an inch laid on top of the threaded part of the spindle will align with the thread points if the thread is 16 tpi

 

[Andy E.]

Rick here is a picture of my Tube lathe and Michael, I will take you up on your offer and would like to see your set up.

 

[awldune]

This is the standard Craftsman tube lathe. Your spindle should be 3/4'' x 16 with a #1 morse taper.

Although looking closely at that photo I am not sure anymore about the spindle. Is there even a thread? Is there a nut on the spindle for some reason?

 

[Mike Mills]

When measuring the tpi you normally measure from one peak to the last at one inch but you really want the # of valleys. So when measuring from peak center to peak center subtract one. A 16 tpi will be 17 an 8 tpi will be 9.

 

[bob vaughan]

That design is one of Sears' best selling. 3/4-16 spindle nose thread, #1 Morse taper in the headstock and quill. Accessories are somewhat easy to come by. Its a good starting point for a wood lathe. The speed range is somewhat limiting compared to the electronically variable speed machines available today. Adding a three phase motor and VFD controls will add some turning conveniences, but that can come later. After that, you can go for a $4000.00 Powermatic 3420B


Below is a link to the manual that might give more information.
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=1985

 

[Andy E.]

Sam, it does have threads, its just very hard to see from the pic. I do have the owners manual at home, I will check to see what it mentions.

 

[Rick M]

I think I read once of a guy filling the tube with sand to reduce vibration.

https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/measuring/tpiandpitch.aspx