Wood on a metal lathe?

[xman_charl]

Shop I use to work at, We would thread a broken broom stick for our our floor sweepers.

Charl

 

[GaryK]

while sawdust sledge is unsightly, it is better than ground steel and won't harm your ways in any ways.

I say go 4 it

While saw dust won't hurt your exposed metal, it will attract moisture and rust the metal under it. Clean it off when you are done.

I used to turn wood all the time with my atlas.

Gary

 

[Tom Griffin]

Wood is a load of fun to turn on a metal lathe. Grind your tools with lots of rake and relief and run the rpm all the way up. Hardwoods turn way better than soft woods, but they are all fun. The only downside is that it makes one hell of a mess, but that just gives you an excuse to do a super clean-up on your lathe.

Here are some cherry and stainless drawer pulls that I made on the metal lathe, mill and belt sander and also part of a bagpipe drone (the ferrules are Corian).

Tom

 

[Terrywerm]

Machining parts from wood works great, and as mentioned, hardwood works better than soft. I've made many prototype parts, jigs, etc from wood. The mess can be a pain to clean up, but it's not too bad. The only problem I've had with wood parts is that they don't heat treat worth a darn! :lmao:

 

[jeffm]

Machining parts from wood works great, and as mentioned, hardwood works better than soft. I've made many prototype parts, jigs, etc from wood. The mess can be a pain to clean up, but it's not too bad. The only problem I've had with wood parts is that they don't heat treat worth a darn! :lmao:

S'funny... I think I read that the native Americans heat treated their spears...

Jeff
Vietnam vet - Patriot Guard rider
sent from my Android phone

 

[Bill Gruby]

while sawdust sledge is unsightly, it is better than ground steel and won't harm your ways in any ways.

I say go 4 it

If not thoroughly cleaned at the end of the day, every day the sledge will do damage. It will soak up the oil on the ways and cause unneeded wear. Then there is the oil contained naturally in the wood, it can cause corrosion. ------ "Billy G"

 

[bob vaughan]

Simple question - can one do satisfactory work on wood on a metal lathe?

A lot will depend on what work you're satisfied with. For turning spindles, bowls, and other wooden ornamentation, the metal isn't right. For doing things to wood that a metal lathe does to metal, yes, with the previous mentioned consequences.

For detailing tenons, I've used it quite often.

Here's an example for some stool leg tenons I did.







9 second video starting the cut

http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/rmvaughan/scraping/?action=view&current=MLturning1_9sec.flv

4 second video middle of the cut

http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/rmvaughan/scraping/?action=view&current=MLturning2_4sec.flv

5 second video nearing the end of the cut

http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/rmvaughan/scraping/?action=view&current=MLturning3_5sec.flv

 

[Mastermind]

I use a lathe to work on blind cylinders.......many times I turn wooden mandrels on my lathe for the jugs be spun on....