I didnt have my guide positioned right sadly and it grabbed my roughing gouge. Smh.

First things I have ever turned, want to make a few for Xmas presents for family. I know these are far from perfect, my plan is turn a ton of them over the next few weeks and hopefully learn from each one I make. Any feedback or tips from you seasoned turners for making stoppers or see anything I did wrong?

Curious what causes these fine cracks? Something I am doing? The other side is the piece is crack free.

This is air dried ash, I cut out the pith and sealed the end grain when I processed it, probably 3 years ago now.

Thanks for any info!

https://preview.redd.it/vd1u12mikb4e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ac7c8e1b24abada006a243fb1b267d292a2c37cc

Just turned my first 3 stoppers, also the first things I’ve ever turned. What do you guys use for a finish on stoppers? I put a light coat of tung oil on one and it looked ok but I want more shine to it.

I was given a used WEN 4231 lathe a few months ago. Recently I have had trouble keeping the wood secure. Taking everything apart and cleaning, I noticed the wheel (same as pictured above) can rotate freely from the threaded center (on the left of the picture) - shouldn’t the wheel be fixed to the center in order to move the quill? Does this mean it is stripped?

Hey I’m an intermediate woodworker and I was looking to upgrade my lathe I’m thinking because I do larger bowls I need to get more than 1 hp. Most of the issues is the quality of the spindle and being able to handle larger material.

I currently have this Rockler lathe and was wondering what you guys had to say about suggestions I’ve been looking at either: Laguna revo 12|16 Harvey T40 Nova Neptune

Mostly just trying to work out something that is stronger than my current lathe because it struggles when doing larger pieces and I get severe vibrations without the tail stock and with it. Also can’t get on the lower end of rpms which is difficult with large stock.

If you guys have any input on my situation please feel free to let me know

I was gifted a bunch of peach wood. It’s been cut about six months so it still has some dry time. I am thinking a couple of bowls, a few pens, and a couple of lamps. I’ve never worked with peach but if it’s anything like cherry and apple it will be good.

I'm a complete beginner and want to make a few bowls for my family as gifts. I'm going for a simple design, keeping the outside square and only want to follow out the inside of the bowls. I had a look on amazon and found several different tools and would appreciate help choosing which ones to get. It is very important to me that they arrive asap because I only have limited time to acces a workshop with lathe. These are the ones I found that would arrive on Tuesday:

https://amzn.eu/d/0TL5vu4 https://amzn.eu/d/5G9Yida https://amzn.eu/d/4BjEc9b

These ones would arrive on Thursday which is not ideal but still doable:

https://amzn.eu/d/esumdOE https://amzn.eu/d/2g94C96

Are carbide tools a good choice considering I am a complete beginner? I found online they might be better to start with. Are any of these worth getting? I probably won't use them ever again, just for this one project.

Good Morning!

*Skip to second paragraph to skip backstory*

****Editing as questions are answered*****

I grew up on a farm and while I was never what you would call an 'experienced' wood worker, I have used all sort of tools ( including a full size lathe) while growing up. My dad and I were putting together a woodshop again and the progress halted a few years ago when he passed. We are a creative family; we all play instruments, draw, paint, cook- essentially if we can do it ourselves we will. It is myself, my wife and our son (17) who are all interested in diving in to woodworking. I have a good collection of equipment ( Drill presses, table saws, band saws, sanders along with a mix of hand power tools) and we want to add a lathe back to the mix. We would started looking at something small to start with pens and all feel that we will quickly want to move on to larger things so the intention is to 'buy once, cry once' ( to an extent- I still have a budget!! :D) Still, we want to start and learn on smaller projects before moving up.

• I want to make sure that I am covering my bases for what is needed to get rolling with pen turning and was hoping that the community here could offer some guidance. There are other posts like mine, but the ones I have found offer a lot of great advice but don't hold the answers I am looking for.

Lathes that we are considering:

(Please feel free to add comments about any of the below)

Fox w1836 12x15

Wen 34035 14x30

Grizzly T25920 12x18

 I know that I need:

Ready to turn blanks ( each blank makes one pen)

 Pen hardware set ( some come with bits, should I get a set of them to have?)

 Finish Kit ( Polish, sandpaper, oil, etc)

 PPE: Good Faceshield, no gloves, no long sleeves.

 Where I start to get lost : 

For the mandrels- How do I know if I need a #1 or #2 morse taper?  (Edit: The lathes I am looking at all use a #2. This is determined by the lathe you buy, from what I have been told the most common is the #2. )

What about a chuck? I saw that a universal chuck was recommended from one of the forums but I am not sure if they are universal or I need to order one specifically for the lathe I am buying?

( This is what was recommended, I would assume universal is, well, universal but I want to ask)

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/CSC3500SE.html

How do I determine if I need the live center/Ring Center/Universal Center? Is that something that comes with the Lathe? Brand specific?

Which tailstock/headstock accessories will I need? 

I haven’t used a lathe since spending time in my dads workshop. Ive turned table legs and larger items but I am lost when it comes to the terminology and what tools we will need. It has been many days since then!

Again, thank you for taking the time to answer the questions!!!

Hi all, I’m wondering if anyone has seen any Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals on turning tools? Gouges, scrapers, carbides, anything. I recently got a midi lathe and have been borrowing tools from a friend, but I’d like to start building my own collection. So far I haven’t seen anything on Craft Supplies USA, Rockler, PSI, or Woodcraft. TIA!

I just found out my university has a workshop with a lathe so I decided to turn some very simple bowls. I turned a few things about two years ago but nothing since so I am a complete beginner. I ordered some blanks. The design I'm going for is basically keeping the outside of the bowl square and just hollowing out the interior ( like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1672711716/schmuckschale-schlusselschale-holzschale ). The issue I ran into is that I just realized, when I had a look at the tools I don't think I saw any bowl gauges. Is this going to be doable with spindle tools? Or should I buy my own bowl gauge? I don't really want to because they are not cheap, I don't have a lathe at home only in my university workshop and I'm leaving uni in two weeks so I would only use it on this one project. Any advice is really appreciated.

EDIT: Alright based on the advice, I'm considering buying some bowl gauges. I had a look on Amazon as suggested and found a few. The isue for me with this is that I need them to arrive quick. Ideally on Tuesday could you guys help me choose which ones to get? These are the ones Amazon says will be delivered by Tuesday:

https://amzn.eu/d/0TL5vu4 https://amzn.eu/d/5G9Yida https://amzn.eu/d/4BjEc9b

These two would be delivered on Thursday which is not ideal but still an option:

https://amzn.eu/d/esumdOE https://amzn.eu/d/2g94C96

I found online that carbide tools are better for beginners, would it be worth getting the carbide ones? Are any of those good at all?

Stumbled across this while browsing around. How was the barley twist made? It... swooshes, rather than follow a straight cut.

Full credit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1240099457/turned-wood-christmas-tree-hanging-ball

Hi all! Absolute beginner, back again! So I think I'm squared away on the lathe and the basic tools (spindle only). But I'm torn on a scroll chuck. I'm told a Nova G3 is a good chuck for my Rikon 12x16 lathe. And Rockler's has them on sale. But there are two versions, and I can't even tell them apart.

https://www.rockler.com/nova-48290-pro-tek-g3-chuck-with-2-jaws-insert-version

https://www.rockler.com/nova-48291-pro-tek-g3-chuck-with-2-jaws-1x-8-tpi-direct-thread

What's the difference, and which should I get?

And should I just wait, given that I don't have any bowl gouges or scrapers yet?

I used to do wood turning in high school and it was one of my favorite classes. I've been debating buying the harbor freight central machinery 10x18 lathe for months, and my girl friend is offering to pay for half of it for my birthday (she's the best!) At the moment i will have to work on our side porch and bring the lathe inside once im finished, so the small size appeals to me. Basically I'm just wanting to make pens and spoons, probably nothing much bigger. Does anyone have experience with this lathe and any tips tricks or any other specific tools I'll need. TIA! *edit as I was reading the turning wiki I noticed a rockler 10-18 mini lathe discounted to the same price as the hf lathe. Would that be a better option?

My grandfather has given me his lathe, a revo 18/36. Catch is getting it home across the country

Has anyone shipped one of these without damaging it? How did you do it?

It has the stand as well.

I was thinking having it palatized and then find the cheapest ltl to bring it to me. I don't have a time line so I can wait.

Any suggestions?

Or anyone moving from Tucson Arizona to the metro Detroit area that wants to add it to your load?

I'm buying myself a Christmas gift and am struggling on deciding which lathe. I saw this Rikon at Woodcraft on sale with the Rikon Z3 chuck included. It appears to be a slightly different model than the 70-150, which is $799 at the same store right now.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/rikon-12-x-16-1-2-vsr-midi-lathe-with-chuck#product-details

The other one I'm considering is the Jet 1612, Amazon has it for $649 right now.

I was tempted to get the new Bauer from Harbor Freight but the no warranty unless you buy one, and even then it's 2 year max, gives me pause. I believe both Jet and Rikon have 5 year. And I hear great things about Rikon's customer service.

I would like to be in the sub $800 for the lathe then budget for chisels etc separately. I have been looking locally on Marketplace and CL for months and it's all either older Harbor Freight models or Shop Smiths. So I've mostly resigned to the fact that I'll need to buy new to get what will be more robust and better suited for long term use (aka, not needing to upgrade really fast after learning the hobby).

Is there anything else in the range I should consider? Is the Z3 jaw worth even considering as a benefit? I see it sold at $159 separately so it seems on the surface to be a nice bonus.

I was asking for advice here a while ago between the Rikon 14x20 and the craftex equivalent. Really happy with my purchase! Huge upgrade over my 8x13 lathe. Considering getting the extension in a while, having extra space to move around would be nice.

Boring out vases like this would be a real challenge with the old lathe, it’s incredibly impressive how much easier it is with the big lathe.

I have some normal 5” acrylic pen blanks that I need to cut into two 2.5” pieces. What’s going to be my best tool/method to do that. I have access to a bandsaw, miter saw, and SawStop table saw.

Are coming along nicely, they have a little bit more material this go around. .Final ring glue up is drying now, and then it will be time to see if the gods of turning will smile down upon me.