I need to turn a few wooded spindles about 3 inch dia. It's not worth buying a woodworking lathe just for this odd job.and I have a tool rest and some wood turning tools that came with my ML7. I metioned using the lath for this jpb to a more competent model engineer and he thought it was bad for the lathe to be used for wood turning.
Is this so - if so why?
Can't think of any good reason why you shouldn't do it, the lathe is built for metal, the shavings are not corrosive or abrasive, the forces involved are far less than on an equivalent piece of metal, go and do it :-))
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:
Whilst I totally agree with Peter on the forces and non abrasive shavings issues and have indeed turned wood on my ML7R their are a couple of points to note. Some wood shavings are acidic and will mark the bed and other bare metal so sweep up regularly especially at the end of each day of turning. Secondly, the fine wood dust gets everywhere and will wick up the lubrication from the slides, feedscrews etc. You will find everything will tighten up after the wood jobs and you must lubricate and possibly strip one of two areas for a thorough clean befroe returning to metalworking mode. This can be time consuming and so I try and bulk up all my woodturning into batches.
Good luck
Bob
Thank you both for the advice. Job done - but you wern't kidding about the mess to clean up, took longer than the turning1
HS
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.