I have a turn crafter what accesories do you guys use when using the rod lathe for rod building? my lathe is very basic it is varible speed, I have a tailstock and live center that is about it what else do i need?

Maybe Mike Barkley will chime in as he's a Turncrafter owner. The variable speed is more than basic. It's a nice feature. A good chuck like the Barracuda 4 jaw will do you well. Get a good face mask. Dust collection will be a big asset and the box fan with Filtrete Filter works well .. better if you add a dust hood and vacuum. Get good turning tools.. Benjamin's Best to Crown or Sorby would be my suggestions. A sharpening wheel or better .. a Wolverine system will really keep your tools in great shape. A good book or lessons will be well worth the time and expense. Andy Dear's DVD " The Wood Lathe in Rodbuilding" is a great help and available from many of the sponsoring suppliers.

Good luck with your new lathe.

David

Bryan,
I'm new to turning s well--been at it for just over a year. I bought the same lathe as you based on Mike Barkley's recommendation. You will need a good self-centering chuck. I opted fro the Nova Midi Chuck due to cost and quality. I differ from David in that I bought an inexpensive set of tools knowing that I would need to learn how to use the tools and to learn how to sharpen them. This allows me to figure what tools I will need for rod building and not ruin an expensive tools. Now I feel that I can purchase just the good tools I will need. I would add one other tool I have found useful. The Stanley Sur-Form plane is quite useful. Recently, I bought a MicroPlane blade to add to the original blade that came with the plane I also purchased Richard Raffan's book "Turning" which is very well illustrated. While I haven't purchased the DVD by Andy Dear of Lamar Fishing, all of the reports indicate that it is also a valuable source.

By the way, Turning itseld can be almost as addictive as rod building. Good luck.

Mike Blomme

Thanks guys great info here

i am sure wherever you are located there will be a local woodturners group or wood working shop. get to know some of those guys. that will get you some hands on experience and good contacts. david gave you good suggestions on what you will need.

All great suggestions so far Bryan.

I would add a set of Andy's mandrels, along with the DVD. you probably can use a drill chuck mounted on a #2 Morse taper as well. This will set you up for boring and other tasks.

For turning grips, you'll just need a set of sandpaper. I like 80 through 120 in drywall screen, then 150, 220, 320 and finally 400 grit wet/dry. You also need a regular bastard mill file to use as a parting tool on cork.

I bought the non-variable version from PSI and I'll be getting the conversion kit for father's day so you made a great choice on the variable speed lathe.

Happy turning!

Terry

Everything said above also holds true for my new (at the Show) Jet Mini unit, except that we take our grits up to 1200 (from Harbor Freight).

I'm also considering a small buffing wheel kit with the three blocks of wax, because the VS capability of the lathe seems as though it'dt easier to do that than a fixed-speed grinder might be.

I'm going to suggest a rolling storage cabinet capable of holing all your stuff, or at the least the built-in drawers you can get with the "standard" lathe support. Just make sure the drawers are closed when you start turning!

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

You got a nice lathe, now comes the expense, LOL!!!! First off, you'll need chucks. There are a lot of good 4 jaw chucks and the ones recommended are very good. I use a Penn State utility chuck [www.pennstateind.com] that is very good and economical. You need a Drill chuck [www.pennstateind.com] (you may be able to find a cheaper one) for boring stock and holding mandrels (which you will also need) I would recommend the ones from Fishsticks4U (from Andy Dear) [www.rodbuilding.org]. In my opinion, the most important thing, bar none, in turning is SHARP tools. I use the Wolverine sharpening system with the Skew attachment [www.woodturnerscatalog.com] (there are other good ones also). I would also get a catalog from [www.woodturnerscatalog.com] Great place and tons of info!!

If you don't already have it, I would get the bed extension for that lathe, it will make life a LOT easier. It's really difficult to bore a hole in an 8" biece of wood using a 10 or 11" bit on a lathe with two chucks and no bed extension!!
Here's an inexpensive aid to the dust/chip problem [www.rodbuilding.org]

Also, keep in mind that turning is more addictive than rod building. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me an e-mail or post here!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I have a new lathe also. Do not know how to equip it Mike. It is a cheapo bought new from a flea market. It has 4 speeds (up to 3,000 plus)and seems to run fine. It is a 40" lathe. I have to take the cover off and change some belt to change speeds. According to the manual. Haven't had the cover off yet to see it. But I purchased a router speed control from Harbor Freight. It has a low, medium and high setting. Hoping I can leave my drill on top speed....and use the router speed control to change speeds. Remains to be found out I guess. Anywhooooo......will all the chucks you mention fit just any lathe? How do I know those chucks will mount on MY lathe?. Need to know....already ordered a mandrel from fishsticks. Nuttin' like getting the horse before the cart huh. I don't know how to order the chucks from Peen. Pretty dumb huh?

Jim

Jim, You need to know if your lathe has a MT (Morse taper) #1 or #2 Head and tail stock to know what chucks will fit.. You can google the make/model number of your lathe and probably get the info. (if you don't know how, e-mail me the info and I will try to find out for you! I don't THINK that a router control will work and might even damage your motor) I think that they only work on particular types of motors

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Thank you Mike for taking the time and the help. I will follow up. I figured it would not be as easy as just ordering the parts you listed. Yes, great parts list and I needed that. Now I just have to find out how to fit them to my machine. Hopefully I won't have to bother you as I sense you are a pretty busy person. I think I want to learn how to do marbling also. I'll check out my lathe. The router control says it works on any type of motor that has brushes in it.

Jim

Jim,

You won't be bothering me, holler anytime! mbarkley@wowway.com I'm not an electrician and have no idea if the motor has brushes but I know when I converted mine to variable speed, I had to replace the motor.. I tried a router control on something else (can't remember what) and burned up the motor. Personally, I wouldn't try it until I checked with an electrician.

Marbling is a ball!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Bryan,

I too have a TurnCrafter Pro on the advice of Mike. I invested in a Nova Midi chuck, not cheap but lower priced, and a jacobs drill chuck. This covers pretty much I need to do. At the advice of Tom Kirkman, I recently bought a Bedan tool. It makes it a lot easier to make shoulder cuts on reel seat inserts. My next purchase is definately gonna be the variable speed attachment. Definately order some of Andy Dears mandrels or order some drill stock and have different diameter ones made at a machine shop. Above all, get something to help keep your tools sharp. I bought a Craftsman lathe tool sharpening system from the refurb tool store at Sears. I stow it directly under the lathe. Good thing about their refurb tools is they are warrentied for 1 year of replacement instead of repair. Works great!!

Bill in WV