It was just too beautiful outside today to spend time in the shop. Rototilled the garden, planted onions and got some grass seed on the front yard bare spots. I'll be paying for this tonight when I try to go to sleep.

 

Over the weekend, I did have the opportunity to finish up the coffee scoops. 

 

 

Each one is a little different from its' neighbor but all hold about 2 tablespoons of grounds (we like Navy coffee). I don't put any finish on these. I learned from Ruth Niles that they will develop a smooth silk-like surface through repeated use. I also see that I really need to work on my sanding techniques.

 

Recently, I stumbled upon a manual jig used to help apply a finish to a turning. The concept is to prevent runs in the finish. It looks easy to make and seems like it works. I wonder if an added grill rotisserie motor would work to make it a bit more automatic?

 

 

Several of our "Wednesday's...." discussions have been on lathe steady rests. Mostly we think of them as large devices with three or four wheels to keep the turning from whipping about. Here's a different technique for those fragile spindles. I found this steady rest at Rich Hutcheson's website http://www.scrollsaws.com/. He has a bunch of lathe related information/projects. Here's a link to the steady rest http://www.scrollsaws.com/WoodLathe/woodlatheString.htm  

 

 

Safe Turning!

First off, cool scoops Lew! I am amazed at how thin you get the walls without splitting. How far did you take the sanding too just out of curiosity?

Also, the steady rest is a great idea with the rope. I am reading up on the construction of a shaker post and rung rocking chair and I'll need to turn the long 42" back supports/legs for the rear of the chair and they reference a steady rest need be used. The chairmaker in my book wraps his wright hand in masking tape, and supports the back of the spindle like this following image, but the fellow in my book has wrapped his hand with tape.

 

 

Of course the spindle I would be turning is almost 4 feet long, and he uses his hand for a steady rest the whole way, I am not sure if I want to do that, it may be faster, in lieu of moving a fixed rest up and down the lathe bead, he can turn the entire piece freely with his hand as a steady rest, but I am a bit concerned about the safety behind it.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the kind words, John! 

The coffee scoops were sanded thru 320. I suppose I just got careless near the bottom and missed seeing some of the scratches when sand up thru the grits.

 

I discovered the same problem when I turn my rolling pins; it takes too much time to set and reset the steady rest. I have a big old loose fitting welding glove- I know gloves and turning are not suppose to mix- but the thickness of the glove protects my hand from the heat. You wouldn't think a rolling pin would vibrate but my tapering jig uses a cutter made from a metal cutting lathe. It does not cut like a gouge. By applying hand pressure to the turning it reduces the vibration.

The grill rotisserie will work great for that Lew I and many of my fishing lure building friends use that type of set-up to keep epoxy (enviro-tex) top coats from pooling, running, and dripping while it hardens.

3 hours ago, John Hechel said:

The grill rotisserie will work great for that Lew I and many of my fishing lure building friends use that type of set-up to keep epoxy (enviro-tex) top coats from pooling, running, and dripping while it hardens.

I may just have to build one of these, then!

On 4/14/2016 at 7:01 AM, lew said:

Thanks for the kind words, John! 

The coffee scoops were sanded thru 320. I suppose I just got careless near the bottom and missed seeing some of the scratches when sand up thru the grits.

 

I discovered the same problem when I turn my rolling pins; it takes too much time to set and reset the steady rest. I have a big old loose fitting welding glove- I know gloves and turning are not suppose to mix- but the thickness of the glove protects my hand from the heat. You wouldn't think a rolling pin would vibrate but my tapering jig uses a cutter made from a metal cutting lathe. It does not cut like a gouge. By applying hand pressure to the turning it reduces the vibration.

Thanks for the advice Lew, appreciate it much! I have been looking at steady rests today, and I have also been looking at plans for steady rests. I want a steady rest that I do not have to move, I can shape inside the steady rest as well for spindles. Something like this, I can turn in front of it without having to slide it down the bed to get it out of the way.

That's a neat idea, there. The only drawback I can see is that it might not provide enough stabilization for a hollow turning unless the lathe is run in reverse. For a hollow turning, with the lathe running in the "normal" direction, the cutting tool is applied to the inside towards the "turner". This idea wouldn't provide any support for that particular situation.

On 4/15/2016 at 11:02 PM, John Morris said:

Thanks for the advice Lew, appreciate it much! I have been looking at steady rests today, and I have also been looking at plans for steady rests. I want a steady rest that I do not have to move, I can shape inside the steady rest as well for spindles. Something like this, I can turn in front of it without having to slide it down the bed to get it out of the way.

John another bad part of this steady is that the solid surface wood will burnish the workpiece. A strip of HDMW may help to aleviate the burnish, but I prefer wheels.

Great looking scoops Lew.  I like the rotisserie idea too.  Automatic is good.

22 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

Great looking scoops Lew.  I like the rotisserie idea too.  Automatic is good.

Thanks, Dan!