4th September 2007
After another hearty breakfast I headed back to the site, and back to the workshop. Today I'm turning my hand to the pole lathe.
Starting with a 1/4 or 1/8th log which has been cleeved, remove the heartwood using a side axe. The heartwood is not stable enough for turning. The axe was also used to round off all the corners, leaving me with something like an octagonal log. The draw knife was then used to round this off even further, getting to something approximating a cylinder. This rounding off can be done on the lathe, but its harder work and can quickly blunt the tools. The centre of each end was then centrepunched, and a drop of oil added for lubrication. The piece is then mounted in the lathe. The correct way to do this is to hold it in your right hand, pass it behind the cord, and then use your left hand to wrap the cord around a couple of times. This can be reversed if you are left-handed. The cord should leave the piece from the front.
The shape was roughed out using a gouge. Ride the back of the gouge on the piece, and then gradually lift the handle to engage the edge. Always run from uphill downwards as this will stop the grain splitting out. Once the basic shape has been produced, it can be smoothed off using a flat chisel, with the bevel face down. The flat chisel is used much like the blade of a plane to shave the surface. The final tool we used was a skew chisel. Start with the toe down, held on a slight angle to make a cut to the required depth. Repeat from the other side of the cut. Then open out the cut and round off the edges by turning the chisel toe up and using the heel of the chisel to round over the corner. If you need to go deeper, you cn use the very tip of the toe to shave a slice off of each face, allowing the chisel to go in further.
Decorative burns can be added by holding a dry, thin, offcut into the cut and treddling vigourously, although I never quite got the hang of this.
Lunch today was refried beans served with chappatti, and salad.
I made a rounders bat, a handle for my Froe blade, and a practice piece. The Froe handle will need to season for several months before being whittled to a final fit.
I finished about 5 and returned to the campsite. We had dinner of Dahl and chips which Hazel had prepared. We all sat round the fire chatting. The sky was really clear and we had a good view of the Milky Way, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, and Dolphinus. I left just after 10 to head back to my B&B.
Starting with a 1/4 or 1/8th log which has been cleeved, remove the heartwood using a side axe. The heartwood is not stable enough for turning. The axe was also used to round off all the corners, leaving me with something like an octagonal log. The draw knife was then used to round this off even further, getting to something approximating a cylinder. This rounding off can be done on the lathe, but its harder work and can quickly blunt the tools. The centre of each end was then centrepunched, and a drop of oil added for lubrication. The piece is then mounted in the lathe. The correct way to do this is to hold it in your right hand, pass it behind the cord, and then use your left hand to wrap the cord around a couple of times. This can be reversed if you are left-handed. The cord should leave the piece from the front.
The shape was roughed out using a gouge. Ride the back of the gouge on the piece, and then gradually lift the handle to engage the edge. Always run from uphill downwards as this will stop the grain splitting out. Once the basic shape has been produced, it can be smoothed off using a flat chisel, with the bevel face down. The flat chisel is used much like the blade of a plane to shave the surface. The final tool we used was a skew chisel. Start with the toe down, held on a slight angle to make a cut to the required depth. Repeat from the other side of the cut. Then open out the cut and round off the edges by turning the chisel toe up and using the heel of the chisel to round over the corner. If you need to go deeper, you cn use the very tip of the toe to shave a slice off of each face, allowing the chisel to go in further.
Decorative burns can be added by holding a dry, thin, offcut into the cut and treddling vigourously, although I never quite got the hang of this.
Lunch today was refried beans served with chappatti, and salad.
I made a rounders bat, a handle for my Froe blade, and a practice piece. The Froe handle will need to season for several months before being whittled to a final fit.
I finished about 5 and returned to the campsite. We had dinner of Dahl and chips which Hazel had prepared. We all sat round the fire chatting. The sky was really clear and we had a good view of the Milky Way, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, and Dolphinus. I left just after 10 to head back to my B&B.
Labels: course, crafts, handle, pole lathe, rounders bat, tool, turning, westonbirt
posted by Graham | 22:40
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