Meet the Expert
Bitten by the woodturning bug at age 9, Joe Cruz has been creating useful art on the lathe ever since.
Be Aware of Lathe Safety
Long hair, jewelry and baggy clothes can all spell disaster when you’re working on a lathe. Keep your sleeves buttoned at the cuffs, take off any hanging jewelry and always tie back long hair. Always use eye protection or a face shield, and wear a dust mask to protect your lungs. A turning jacket is nice to have but not necessary.
Choose the Right Tools
When I started turning, the only tool options were “traditional” high-speed steel ones like spindle gouges, bowl gouges, skews and scrapers. Today, the novice turner has a better choice: carbide tools.
Easy Wood Tools and Hunter Tool’s carbide tools flattened the learning curve so you can get to turning faster without purchasing (and learning to use) expensive sharpening equipment.
Woods to Use for Spindle Turning
Domestic hardwoods like cherry, maple and walnut are easy to turn and readily available. Exotic hardwoods like purpleheart, padauk and cocobolo produce beautiful turnings, but they’ll dull your tools faster and the dust may irritate your lungs and eyes.
PRO TIP: Shopping For Materials
Often you can find wood to turn in your scrap bin, but the tools and machinery are best found at specialty woodworking outlets like Rockler and Woodcraft.
Parts of a Lathe
Set the Tool Rest
Carbide tools can be safely used with the tool rest three inches from the stock, but I prefer it a little closer. Adjust the banjo so the tool rest sits about an inch away from the turning blank. Set the height of the tool rest so the carbide cutter is dead center on the turning blank.
Spindle Turning Speeds
Use this chart to help you set the spindle speed of your lathe:
| Roughing | Shaping | Sanding | |
| Up to 2″ | 800 | 1,300 | 3,000 |
| 2″-4″ | 650 | 1,100 | 2,500 |
| 4″-6″ | 500 | 900 | 1,700 |
| 6″ | 350 | 700 | 1,000 |
Mark the Center
On one end of your turning blank, draw two lines, corner to corner. Set your drive center on the intersection of these two lines and strike it with a hammer. Repeat this process on the other end. This creates impressions that will help you center the blank on the lathe.
Article source here: How to Make an Elegant Rolling Pin to Use and Display
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