Wood-crafting has never been as easy as it is now. With so many alternatives available, every craftsman can select a suitable wood lathe and create beautiful craft items.
Operating a wood lathe is not so difficult and with practice, you can perfect this art. But operating it without proper knowledge may lead to ineffective, inefficient and even damaging outcomes.
So, to provide you complete information on how to use a wood lathe, we would first share all the necessary information about the machine including the safety measures to be taken while operating a lathe.
And after understanding those concepts we will take you through the step-by-step method to use a lathe in making a basic object from the wood-piece.
So, let us start with the most important step in operating a wood-lathe-
Table of Contents
Woodworking Safety Measures
The first and foremost step while operating any machine with moving or rotating parts or while working with sharp-edged tools is to follow all the safety measures related to the operation.
To follow the safety measures we need to know the precautions to be taken before, during, and after the operation.
So, before going forward with how to work on a lathe we would give a brief about the safety measures to be taken while operating the wood lathe.
1. Pre-Operation
- Keep your lathe maintained at all times. Ensure the tightening of all fittings, safety covers, etc.
- Keep the machine neat & clean even when idle. Avoid keeping any unnecessary items on the lathe.
- Ensure there is no loose wiring and also check for any damaged insulation of electrical wires.
- Ensure that the surrounding area of the lathe is neat, clean & tidy.
- Store tools properly labeled at their identified locations in a tidy manner.
- Ensure proper sharpness of the tool before starting to use them.
- Ensure adequate illumination in the work area.
2. During Operation
- Select good quality wood stock. It should not have cracks or loose knots that can come off while turning.
- Use eye protection goggles to protect from chips or other unexpected flying objects.
- Do not wear loose clothes, threads or chains, etc. that might entangle with the machine moving parts.
- Locate the emergency switch and ensure that it is operating properly.
- Take precautions while using sharp-edged tools like chisels, knives or scissors, etc.
- Stop the lathe for changing the spindle speed, making any settings on the machine or for measuring the work-piece.
- Ensure that there is no unnecessary object kept on the lathe before and during the lathe operation.
- Do not bend over the lathe’s moving parts.
- Do not use damaged tools like chisels or files without handles.
- Never try to remove chips by hand. Use proper brushes for the purpose.
Apart from the above safety measurements, there can be some precautions required on specific wood lathe machines.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to read the manual provided with your wood lathe machine thoroughly before proceeding to work on the machine and follow all the instructions to operate the lathe including the safety requirements.
Wood Lathe Machine Terminology
It is important to get acquainted with the machine you are going to work on. This will help you make proper use of the machine.
The following are some of the commonly used terms related to the best lathe for wood machines.
1. HP or Horse Power
It is related to the power of the motor indicating the torque that it can develop. You can decide to select a light or heavy work-piece depending on the horsepower of the motor fitted with the lathe.
2. RPM
Most of the lathes run at variable, adjustable speeds. The speed of the motor is measured in terms of RPM i.e. Revolution Per Minute.
3. Bed Length
It is the center-to-center distance between headstock and tailstock. This depicts the maximum length of the work-piece length that can be turned on a lathe. This can vary between a mini and midi lathe machine.
4. Overbed Swing
It is the maximum permissible diameter of the work-piece for turning on a lathe.
Tools
There are different types of tools used for turning. Some of them are given below for you to select for your specific purpose.
1. Scrapers
Scrapers, as the name suggests is used to scrape material from the wood. These chisels are either beveled or flat.
2. Gouges
Gouges are cutting edges that have a special shape depending upon their use. They are of many different types like Spoon gouge, Fishtail Gouge, U-shaped Gouge, and V-shaped Gouge. They are used to carve bowl, V-shapes or for knurling.
3. Spoon Cutters
They are named after their spoon shape cutting edge. They find their use in giving shape to the bowls etc.
4. Parting Tools
These tools are used to cut work-pieces into parts. It has a thin vee-tip.
5. Other Tools
There are many other tools like Veiner, Skew Chisel or Corner Chisel, Carving Knives, Fluter, Bench Knives, Coping Saw, Mallets, and Sloyd Knife, etc.
Essential Parts of a Lathe Machine
Now, before finally discussing how to use a lathe, let us know about some of the important parts of a wood lathe and their functions.
1. Headstock
A fixed part usually on the left end of the lathe, the headstock is the component that consists of a motor, belts, pulleys, and spindles.
Headstock spindle, spur center, and faceplate assembly are fitted on the headstock.
The headstock is responsible to drive the lathe through a motor.
2. Tailstock
The tailstock is located at the other end of the lathe facing the headstock. It is not fixed with the lathe but spins freely. Tailstock spindle, cup center, hand wheel, etc. are mounted with the tailstock.
The work-piece is clamped between the headstock and the tailstock of a wood lathe.
3. Tool-rest
Tool-rest is the part that supports the wood chisel. It is an adjustable arm fitted with a guide bar. It is adjusted to cover the working length of the work-piece and is normally kept at a gap of ¾” from the stock surface.
The proper gap should be maintained to avoid the rotating work-piece from striking the tool rest but not so much so that it affects the working of the wood chisel.
How to Use a Wood Lathe
Now, as we have got acquainted with the basic information about the lathe, it is time to learn how to work on it. It’s especially important for beginner-level wood lathe users.
To start with, we can take one of the basic wood-turning projects i.e. to make a cylindrical shape from an uneven piece of wood.
The work-piece can be of balsam or, yellow-pine wood free from any loose knots, with straight grains. A few tight knots are good-to-go with.
Note: A loose knot can pose a safety threat in case it gets removed from the wood-piece while turning.
Do not have too long a work-piece. Let it be between 1.5 to 2.0 feet. And make it a square base before bringing it for turning.
Let us assume that we have a basic benchtop lathe, and using it we will make a small project through the step by step method.
1. Start With The Setup
- Put a mark on the centers on either side of the work-piece.
- Unlock the tailstock, if locked. Slide it to push the cup center to one of the ends of the stock.
- Rotate the handwheel to tighten the spindle to push the work-piece in the spur center.
- Swing the tool rest towards the work-piece so that they are longitudinally parallel to each other with a gap of around ¾”. This will optimize effective control during turning at the same time ensuring that the work-piece doesn’t rub or strike with the tool rest.
- Check and ensure that there is enough gap between the two by turning the stock manually.
- Take out the chisel from the chisel box. Use a rough gouge in the beginning. Hold the chisel properly to have the best control over it.
- Select the lowest speed through the selector switch fitted on the control panel of the machine.
2. Operate The Machine
- Switch on the machine. The work-piece starts moving with the slowest speed. Place the chisel on the tool rest and move it slowly towards the work-piece to touch it.
- Put a little pressure on the stock. With this, the tool would start chipping off the wood. Check for the size of the chips and try to get under a quarter of an inch.
- Move longitudinally while turning and continue across the length of the stock. Adjust the angle of the tool, if needed, to stay clear of the chips coming off the stock.
- Try to apply the same pressure across the length for a uniform turning to get the cylindrical shape.
- Be slow and more observant during your first few operations. Check for any abnormalities in the process.
- Keep measuring the dimensions regularly to avoid overcutting.
- For the finishing of the job remember the formula of high-speed-slow-movement. This means run the lathe at high speed while moving your hands across the length slowly.
This is how you can make a small project from a wood-piece using a wood lathe.
Final Words
In this article, we started first by sharing the safety measures to be taken while working on a wood-lathe. Further, we explained different terms related to the wood lathe machines.
We then provided information about some of the important tools used for turning.
Next, we explained the functions of major parts of a wood lathe.
And finally, through a small project, we explained the step-by-step method of using a wood lathe.
We hope this article helped you to learn how to use a wood lathe effectively while keeping in mind its important safety requirements. And to know which lathe would be the perfect one for you, click this link.
