Machining wood what tools?

[ieezitin]

Hi.
I have never turned wood on my metal lathe, or for that fact never turned wood!.

I am currently making a tool grinding jig and want to make a round wooden handle for a shaft that turns the feed to the grinder. And I want it to look nicely finished. I am blinging this tool jig up!.

I want It ½ inch thick x 3” dia with a ¾” boss dia x ¾” long or wide with a 7mm bore, it will be connected to a steel rod.

Questions. Can I use HHS bits if so any idea on the angles a sketch would be nice.

What type of wood that can be easily purchased from a local hardware store, and why that type of wood?

Speeds or SFM ?

I have researched this subject and know that they use chisels which I do not own but could easily be made and if this is the best way to so be it!.

Any precautions with the wood chips or dust relative to the machine ware and tool hygiene, I know wood holds moisture so I would assume being clean would be an advantage. Any tips?

Lastly joining wood to metal meaning the steel rod shaft to the wood hub.

All your advice Is welcome. Thank you. Anthony.

 

[Kermit]

If you have any carbide insert lathe tooling I would suggest using that. Also depending on the direction of the wood grain you may want to treat it like brass and use a neg rake. Other than that, be prepared to clean in all the little crevices if you don't cover up everything before starting.

One complete tear down and re-oil-ing made me a believer in the drop cloth technique when turning wood on a metal lathe.

It's a real joy to turn the wood with sharp carbide tooling, cuts like soft butter. I'm sure one could get a better finish with real wood turning instruments, but after using sandpaper and varnishes I don't think it really matters toward the final outcome.

Kermit

 

[joe d]

Anthony

One suggestion, with no regard to what type of wood you finally go with, turn a bushing to go on the shaft (Brass would go well with wood) and epoxy it into the hub of your knob. If you could knurl the bit that goes in the knob, even better.

Any hardwood would do the job, but if you've got access to a chunk of apple wood, or hickory, (any fireplace users in the neighbourhood?) they are both hard as sin and finish nicely with just a bit of oil, so would fare well in the shop environment. They both cut well on the lathe, but both produce a really fine dust that does get everywhere!

Hope this helps,

Joe

 

[hammers-n-nails]

hss will actually cut alot smoother if you sharpen it with a wet stone because its possible to get steel sharper than carbide and thats the main thing, it just doesnt last as long(especially when you hit a nail) thats why some woodworking tools are carbide. a 0deg rake will give the best finish but if the tool is sharp it really doent make much difference. the chisle on the old mans repeating wood late is almost tangent to the work. there is no way your lathe goes fast enough to burn up a tool in wood, the work flying out because its not balanced or breaking apart if its cracked would be the only thing. a hardwood is easier to work than a soft wood. a hand turning tool for a wood lathe is called a gouge but its pretty much just a big chisle, make sure its sharp and the lathes going fast and you rest it on the compound or something thats up close to the work, it wouldnt have to be anything special.

probably about any way you go you will get an acceptable result. wood isnt nearly as hard to work as metal

 

[rake60]

Anthony I started to build a simple oscillator engine out of oak about
a year ago. True to form for me, it is still not finished. My only reason
for using oak was I could get dowels of it at the hardware store.
A harder wood would be much better.

Anyway, I found very sharp HSS tools worked best for me when it came to
turning and boring. For milling any sharp end mill will do.

Here's the cylinder and piston of my engine.

Note the total lack of hand finishing to date, but the cylinder bore and piston OD were
bored and turned to a very good fit with no hand finishing required.
I really do need to finish that build someday.

Rick

 

[user 284]

Ieezitin,
This isn't a lathe tool but if you own a mill, Buy what's called a rotary planer, Grizzly is one dealer for them, This is without a doubt the very best tool I've ever used on wood in a milling machine. Planeing wood to .001 is as easy as metal with a face mill. The only thing to remember is you need to back up the exit side of the material with scrap wood to prevent chip out. These tools were designed to be used in a drill press but work far better in a mill. The three HSS cutting tips are also easily resharpened by the user.

Pete

 

[JohnLanark]

Recently, I've been making a pattern for a steam cylinder on my Myford S7, using various woods and the normal metal turning insert tools. The smoothest finish I achieved was from an old chair leg retrieved from a skip, that I believe was beech. John.

 

[Jasonb]

I'd go with HSS tooling either your standard grind or a higher top rake, woodturning gets the best results when the fibres are sliced or sheared not scraped.

For your disc handle have the grain running at right angles to the lathe axis eg use a 3" long piece of 3x1, if you have the grain along the lathe axis (like a slice off a log) the disc will be weak.

Any fruit wood, maple or beech will give good results, avoid any woods with an open grain.

I have been know to do a bit of wood turning in my time, you can see some home made hollowing tools in this album as well as turnings. And there is a pic of some ebony being turned on my metal lathe in this one.

Jason

 

[ieezitin]

Gentlemen.

I have taken advice from every poster here. All sound words of guidance.

I have learned a lot considering it’s a little round piece of wood.

Kermit. A drop cloth I shall use. My tutor back when I was an apprentice went nuts every time I did some tool post grinding on his lathe and I left a little exposed bits on the machine. Sorry to hear about your strip down. Point taken.

Joe. A brass hub will be inserted and knurled and glued like you suggested, makes sense.

Hammers & Jason. HSS and the better edge, logical verses carbide. The fact that the edge needs to be sharp and shave the wood makes perfect sense to me. Also a no brainer about the wood grain, obvious now its been explained.

Pete. I own a mill, but I bet its not like yours. Mine is in pieces, has been since 2006 too many woes, I do all my milling on the lathes I own. Great piece of information on the rotary planer. New tool for me and its logged in the brain considering the tolerances.

John. The chair leg. Wife would flash a swift knee to the nuts if I even considered her dining room set. She foams at the mouth if I take Tupperware tubs to the shop.

Rake. Nice work on the wood pieces. I have never seen a wooden engine. don’t be like me and shelve stuff. Finish it off I am interested.

Thanks once more. I will post piccies on my piece when finished.

All the best. Anthony.

 

[New_Guy]

i second sharp HSS like what you would use for Aluminum so it cuts 0 rake will scrape and not always the best idea. make sure the grain is length ways to the bed but personally (i have a wood lathe) i would set up a rest to use chisels you can make an old file into a great skew chisel but its frowned on a little and it can be tricky to use first time

one tip get yourself some sanding sealer its great stuff wipe it on then very lightly sand it back and you have a very smooth finish

oh and as for ferals (bushes) they should not be glued on but a tight fit make a 45 "shamfer" on the inside bore on the end thats to go on the handle and a 45 on the OD on the other end

sorry if its a bit hairy makeing tool handles is really fun ;D here is one i made