My wife and I have been talking about getting a wood lathe for turning reel seat inserts and such. Are there any tools/attachments I should get with the lathe? Bits for boring?? And what chisles will I use most? Any advice??


Dave

the lathe is only the beginning and does not cover even half the cost of what you need. tools, chucks,mandrels,etc. do a search and you will get lots of info

really depends on how much you want to get into it...My buddy turns pens, pepper mills and all sorts of stuff, has a full assortment of tools and chucks that I just borrow from time to time. He has well over 1500 overally into a mini jet wood lathe and assorted accessories. My lathe is similar to the mudhole lathe but from harbor frieght.

HF also has a 2" mini chuck on thier website that isnt nearly the quality as some of the others but suits most rodbuilding things just fine. BTW their mini lathe # 65345 has an MT2 on both the head and tail stock contrary to what is advertised on their site and in the stores. (I have a store very close to me)

David,
The posts are right.
The lathe will be about 1/3 of your final cost, by the time that you get everything that you really want.

My suggestion is to get a decent lathe - preferably one with an extension bed, or a longer length base lathe.
Then, get at least a good 3 jaw lathe, two or three different style tail stocks.

For most of my routine handle work, I use an ordinary set of Stanley Wood chisels. I find that the shorter handles, and the smaller size of these chisels work just fine for nearly all of my handle work.

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Then, as you run into a particular requirement that you can't do with existing tools, purchase the single or group of tools that make sense. Sometimes folks go a bit overboard, and pick up a very large selection of tools that end up never being used.

As time goes by, you will likely pick up another chuck or several. You will likely get a few more different tail stocks and associated accessories.
You will likely get a full set of long heavy duty turning tools.
You will likely get a full set of handle length mandrals.

Take care
Roger

David,

There's a photo sequence at this link that may help you visualize how the chucks are used to bore & turn seats. --> [] No chucks for sale there BTW, because I've found that same four jaw chuck that we were selling under the "Barracuda" name from several online dealers for $139 delivered.

A three jaw chuck won't do you much good in the headstock. It WILL spin a mandrel, but since the back of the chuck is closed, you can't pass the mandrel through the back of it like you can a scroll chuck as shown in those photos. You'd have to cut a standard mandrel to make it fit between a three jaw chuck and the tailstock live center. Won't do you much good holding a square chunk of wood either. Yes, you can turn insert blanks on a threaded mandrel driven by a three jaw chuck, but again, you'll have to shorten the mandrel and have to drill it by hand before you can even put it on the mandrel which is tough to do, especially working with smaller stock. Best to budget $175 - $200 for three and four jaw chucks.

The reason I like the chuck pictured is because it comes with the correct jaws to hold the mandrel sizes you'll be using. A chuck like a "Nova" is going to come with a large set of jaws for turning bowls and they won't tighten down on your mandrels and you'll be another $40-$50 for accessory jaws before you can chuck up a mandrel. The Barracuda comes with four jaw sets too. No accessory jaws needed to turn a mandrel.

I have two different styles of 60 degree ball bearing live centers for the tailstock, but have never used the "accessory" center that I bought. I've never had the need to use anything other than the one that came with the lathe. Not sure what Roger means by 2-3 different types of tailstocks or why you'd need them. I've never seen an "accessory" tailstock, just the ones that ship with the tool.

As for tools, out of the dozen that I own, I pretty much use four of them for grips & inserts. A 3/4" roughing gouge, a 1/2" round nose scraper, a parting tool and a 3/4" skew. Many rod builders will start with a set of "pen turning" tools, as inserts are small and they don't feel that they need the "big" tools. Many of those same builders will tell you that those feel like toys in their hands compared to a full sized turning tool and I agree... A full sized tool is easier for most to get both hands on and control. The only "mini' tool that I ever use is the parting tool, just because it's kerf is so much thinner than it's full sized brother that it cuts inserts to length 3-4 times faster. Buying individual tools like Sorby's can run $50-$100 per tool. You can get "decent' 8pc. sets of imports in the $50 range, which isn't a bad way to start. Just be prepared to keep after the cutting edges to keep them good and sharp. You'll need something to sharpen your chisels with whether they're $10 chisels or $100 chisels, so keep that in mind.

As you can see from the photos, I use brad point drills for boring inserts. They clog much less than a forstner and are much easier to start in the blank's center than a standard split point drill. Another suggestion is "upsizing" your drills 1/64" from your mandrel size. A 25/64" for a 3/8" mandrel, 29/64' for a 7/16" mandrel, etc... It makes it MUCH easier to get the blanks/inserts on and off the mandrel and isn't oversized enough to give you any run-out issues. Not something that you'll find at the home Depot, but any woodworking supply house will have them and a 29piece brad point set will have them as well.

As for the bed extension, you won't need it on seat inserts. I've never needed it for any of the grips that I make, but if the need arises, I can buy one and bolt it up. It would have been growing hair under my bench for years now if I'd have bought it up front with the tool. Just for piece of mind, make sure that the lather you're looking at has an available extension. they're usually $50.

As mentioned above, make sure the tool you're looking at is a #2 Morse taper in both the headstock & tailstock, as the accessories are MUCH easier to find. Also make sure the male threads on the headstock drive are either 7/8" or 1", or you'll have a tough time adapting most four jaw chucks to it.

Hope that helps...

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Thanks for the help Mark, I think I've got enough info to find the right lathe and tools/ acessories to suit my needs.



Dave

Mark,
My comment on the use of different tail stocks were as follows:
I use the following tail stocks:
1. A simple pointed ball bearing tail stock for close spaced rod support.
2. A keyless chuck - that will fit into the tail stock for holding a rod, drill etc.
3. A universal ball bearing tail stock that has several different nose pieces - short taper, long taper, small flat end, large flat end. Depending on what I am holding in the lathe, this is often the tail stock to use.

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With respect to chucks:
My lathe uses a screw on chuck. So, whether I I use the three or the 4 jaw chuck that I have, the back of the chuck is open and longer rods or drill bits will go through the back of the lathe to hold the material being used in the lathe.
For quick setups on round material, I prefer the use of the self centering 3 jaw chuck.

For irregular and square pieces, I prefer the use of the independent 4 jaw chuck that I have.

As long as you are buying a new one, be sure to get a lathe with variable speed. You will soon find that you have a favorite speed for doing much of your work, and it will likely be used the large percentage of the time. However, you will find that you will run into projects where it is very convenient to be able to quickly dial the speed of the lathe up or down.
For example, if you are polishing, you often want to run slowly. If you are center boring, it is also nice to start slowly, and then gradually increase the speed. For sanding, it is nice to turn quickly.
Again, depending on the length of the lathe bed that you purchase, you may or may not need the extension. Most handles are about 15 inches or less. So, if you can get your handle stock, and your chuck and tail stock into the length of the bed, you are good to go.
Many of the nice Midi Mt2 lathes have a basic bed length of 30-35 inches, so they will be good to go with no extension. However, some of the smaller lathes only have a bed length of about 20 inches, and you may find that they are too short for some projects.

Good luck and enjoy this enjoyable facet of the business.

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Remember, lathes are a basic tool to spin objects. Many rod builders who buy a lathe to do handle work find that they enjoy working on the lathe for other things and expand their use and need for lathe expansions due to their expanded interests in turning objects that fall outside the venue of rod building. A very universal tool that is used for many many different things and enjoyed by all.

Take care
Roger