Woodturning Lathe

LATHE PARTS AND TYPES OF TURNING

A wood lathe is a fixed machine used to turn cylindrical shapes from a solid piece of wood using a variety of tools and chisels. As you can see from the image below, it's quite a basic machine, comprising 4 main parts, the headstock, tool rest, tailstock and the lathe bed.

The fixed headstock houses the motor which provides the drive to spin the wood.
The adjustable tool rest is used to support the lathe tool while shaping the wood.
The tool rest can be adjusted up/down, left/right, forward/backward and angled.
The tailstock is also moveable and can be moved left and right along the lathe bed to accommodate varying lengths of wood.

TYPES OF TURNING

There are two different types of turning: turning between centres and face-plate turning. Turning between centres is used to turn things like lampstands, rolling pins and spindles for staircases, whereas face-plate turning is mainly used to turn things like bowls and serving platters. Examples of products that have been turned between centres are shown.

STAIRCASE SPINDLES

LAMP

WOODEN PEN

BOWL

TURNING BETWEEN CENTRES

When turning between centres, the blank of wood is held in place between two centres. On the left-hand side, attached to the head stock, is the forked centre, and on the right-hand side, attached to the tailstock, you either have a revolving centre or a dead centre.

THE CENTRES

When turning between centres, it is the two centres that are holding the wooden blank at either end while the wood is spinning.

The forked centre, which is attached to the head stock, provides the drive to spin the wooden blank at a suitable speed.
The revolving centre serves two purposes: it supports the other end of the wooden blank and rotates with the wood.
The dead centre, as the name suggests, does not rotate with the wood, and its only function is to hold the wood in place.

The disadvantage of using a dead centre over a revolving centre is that the dead centre causes friction between the blank and the centre and, as a result, will cause the end of the wood to wear, generate heat and burn. To reduce any burning, lubricant can be applied to the end of the blank that is being supported by the dead centre.

FORKED CENTRE

REVOLVING CENTRE

DEAD CENTRE

PREPARING A BLANK FOR TURNING BETWEEN CENTRES

Prior to turning a blank of wood on the wood lathe, you must first prepare the wood to allow it to be held securely in place between the two centres. To do this, you should follow the 4 main stages.

STAGE 1

Using a steel rule, mark diagonals on both ends to locate the centre.

STAGE 2

Using a hammer and a centre punch, create an indent in both ends to allow the centres to be located.

STAGE 3

Using a tenon saw, cut a groove to accommodate the forked centre.

STAGE 4

Using a smoothing plane, remove the corners of the blank to make the initial stage of turning a cylinder easier.

For more information, see the Woodturning Lathe notes in the theory tab.

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