Rikon 70-100 Wood Lathe and Black Acacia vessel continued
I was previously gushing about how fond I am of my little Rikon 70-100 wood lathe. The thing is pretty cool and I have picked additional tools and accessories to make it better suited for the small parts I was making. Well, with a lull in the parts I have been trying to grow my skills by turning whatever I can lay my hands on.
I am still working on the chunk of Black Acacia from my previous post. I was having a rough time of it trying to hollow it out at work on the big lathe. I think this is because they don't have a lot of hollowing tools and what they do have are dull. I will make a couple hours of it sharpening up their tools as I am sure that I dulled a couple as well. Regardless, I called it a day after ripping the piece off the faceplate.
I had some freelance work to do, so that gave the piece a rest for a couple days. I was back at it though at home. I was glad to see it fit with even a little room to spare over the tool rest. I had to mount my own faceplate though and mine has four holes instead of three like the previous one. I had to round the piece up a bit and I was getting a lot of shaking, even at the lowest speed. Even after rounding the piece, it continued to go out of round, I was chasing smoke. It just wouldn't go round. I sat looking at it all for a bit when I realized the headstock was loose, rocking back and forth on the 4 allen screws which hold it to the rail. This was new, guess it makes sense that things might loosen with time, but I am glad I noticed before something sheared off.
After that, headway was made and I got the thing mostly hollowed. I am going to have to class it a rough hollow though cause this wood just loves to tear up. A combination of not using the right tool, depth of the piece, my novice level skills and how much water is in the wood still.
I am still working on the chunk of Black Acacia from my previous post. I was having a rough time of it trying to hollow it out at work on the big lathe. I think this is because they don't have a lot of hollowing tools and what they do have are dull. I will make a couple hours of it sharpening up their tools as I am sure that I dulled a couple as well. Regardless, I called it a day after ripping the piece off the faceplate.
I had some freelance work to do, so that gave the piece a rest for a couple days. I was back at it though at home. I was glad to see it fit with even a little room to spare over the tool rest. I had to mount my own faceplate though and mine has four holes instead of three like the previous one. I had to round the piece up a bit and I was getting a lot of shaking, even at the lowest speed. Even after rounding the piece, it continued to go out of round, I was chasing smoke. It just wouldn't go round. I sat looking at it all for a bit when I realized the headstock was loose, rocking back and forth on the 4 allen screws which hold it to the rail. This was new, guess it makes sense that things might loosen with time, but I am glad I noticed before something sheared off.
After that, headway was made and I got the thing mostly hollowed. I am going to have to class it a rough hollow though cause this wood just loves to tear up. A combination of not using the right tool, depth of the piece, my novice level skills and how much water is in the wood still.
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| Biggest piece to date on the lathe |
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