Thanks Dave, great tips. After a year with the lathe and a failed attempt to drill a hole in the top of a finished tea candle holder, I need a drill chuck. As embarrassing as it is. I did not know how to remove the tail stock live center. I punched out the center of it though and need RU-vids advise. I watched many videos and yours explained when others did not, in the first minute. I watched to the end and will now sand and wax my tail stock, banjo and bed. I subscribed. thanks again.
The information you presented is exactly what I was/am looking for. I want to make sure that I start my wood-turning endeavors correctly. Thank you! -Doc
thanks Dave. your video covered something that, as a a beginner woodturner, I had not yet come across in my self-teaching journey. Very helpful (and I enjoy many of your other videos as well)
Just got a lathe for my school's shop, assembled it today and was thinking - I haven't used one of these things for 25 years. Thank you for this tutorial! Blessings on you. If you have time for more video tutorials I'd be indebted.
Thank you so much for this video! I just received my new jet1221 lathe, and had no idea what to do next. (It is still in the box). This is very helpful 🤓👍
Great instructional video!! One question I have is.....why does the steel have to be sanded? Just to improve it ever so slightly? Also.....gotta love the music at the beginning, and the end...it reminds me of the music on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'!!
Great info. just getting started with my dad's old Sears lathe.how high should the lathe be ?.and the height of the tool rest is it at center of the work.or above or below.?
Stand at the lathe, let your relaxed arms hang down. Now bend your lower arm so that it is parallel to the ground forming a 90 degree angle with the upper arm (pretty much like my arms are at the start of the video). The points of the drive center and live center should be elbow height. This is the general consensus of how high lathe should be. As far as tool rest height goes it is not as simple. Generally the tool rest is below center of the wood being turned. A tool such as a roughing gouge or spindle gouge will have the handle angled down so that the cutting surface contacts the wood near center. when using a tool such as a skew the rest needs to be higher and the cut is made higher as well. Look at some of my other videos and you will see how to set the rest height. Good Luck!
Dave's Woodshop thx for the reply tht will surely help me out a lot,my live center on my tailstock is dead i think lol.it doesnt turn i have tried to knock out the chuck but no luck yet,the center point will come out to easy tho sometimes with the wood.
I recently inherited a delta lathe and would like to remove the spur center, but the simple tap you showed isn't doing it. Any suggestions? I am inexperienced with the lathe and don't want to damage anything.
It is not uncommon for the spur center to be tight even on a new lathe, especially if your last project was held in there pretty tight. Insert your punch out tool and give it a solid whack with a dead blow mallet. Should do the job.
My tail stock seem to have some lateral movement which makes it inconsistent and in a slightly different alignment one time over the next, any tips concerning this would be much appreciated.
impossible to say without a few details. Is it new or used? Lateral movement (side to side) can be a sign of a worn dovetail. If the lathe is older this might sometimes occur from wear. A simple solution is to shim the dovetail on the tailstock with some really thin metal strips (cut from an aluminum soda can). If the lathe is newer it sounds like a defect. Another possibility is that the tailstock is not tightening down properly. Check that out as well. A tailstock must end up centered each time or you will always have trouble. A headstock can be loosened and adjusted laterally for alignment to the tailstock but then must be tightened.
Hi Dave, I have just got myself a second hand lathe, a quick question if I may. Is it vital that I bolt my lathe down or buy feet adjusters? I am unsure and practiclay have no idea if this is ultra important or not. The concrete floor in my shed is old and chalky but average depth 100/120mm. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Lathe in question is a vicmarc vl200 6speed. Cheers mate and Great video, subbed.
I just looked up some pics of your lathe. Seems pretty robust. Every pic had a different leg configuration. If you are going to be turning moderate size projects then there would be no need to bolt it down. You can just shim the feet to make it level and stable. Now if you intend to mount and spin some larger blanks and find the lathe starts to walk away that is another story. A trick some turners do when a lathe moves is to install a shelf between the legs near the bottom and place some weight on it such as sand bags. I would just start turning and try to match my solution to the severity of the problem, if there is a problem. Like I said that lathe looks pretty robust and its own weight might be enough to stabilize it. Good Luck. Dave
@@daveswoodshop782 thanks for the advice Dave, I am just going to purchase some steel adjusting feet to level the lathe. I am only going to be starting small. Appreciate your help mate.
You can.t see it in the video but I took the easy route and just purchased the Jet base that was made for it. It was expensive but well worth the price. It is no wider than the lathe but very stable because it is made from heavy metal with very wide cast feet. It is doesn't wobble even when working with pieces that are not balanced. Homemade bases tend to be less stable. One recommendation I can make is that if your cabinet suffers from shake put a couple bags of sand on the bottom shelf. This will add greatly to the stability.
Great question. When I started out my research revealed that a good starting point is to stand at the lathe and let your arms hang down in a relaxed manner. Next raise your lower arm to create a 90 degree angle with the upper arm. Note the height of your elbow....this should line up with the height of the point of the spur center. I find this works for me and have been using this height for years. Try this out and see how it feels. You can experiment but this will get you started.
