The Armour Archive

so i bought a lathe today...little cheap one to take car of some minor hobbies. anyone got any parts for one that they might want to let go on the cheap? I'm interested in some (morse 1) live centers, drive centers, drill chucks, or other lathe chucks/centers. It is a mini lathe and I'm just looking to expand on what i can do with it as a side hobby. I guess i would also be interested in chisels for it too, the chisels that came with it are harbor freight and get super dull, super quick.

I think everything I have is MT2. What thread is it? I _do_ have some faceplates floating around that I have no use for.

just about any MT1 drill chuck is going to work. Don't get stuck buying em from a dedicated lathe supplier, when you can find them cheaper at your local hardware store. HF chisels are crap. you can blue them on wood.

woodcraft is expensive, but a nice place to look at tools, before you go buy them from someone like Penn State Industries.

And beware the "magic tool" lure. Get a good skew, a good gouge, and a good parting tool, learn how to sharpen them, and learn basics that way. Sorby makes fine tools.

I highly reccomend Alan Lacer's "skew chisel" and "son of skew" dvds. he both shows, and explains, how to do amazing things with that tool.

Richard Raffan is a hoot to watch too.. but he's been a production turner for 40 years. If you are looking for "tips" he'll just frustrate you.. he removes more wood in the blink of an eye than I can in half an hour.

I went to some lumber yard, and got a couple of straight, knot free 2x4s and a clear 4x4.

I ripped the 2x4's, cut them to like, 12 inch lengths, and practiced shapes, cuts ,coves, beads, etc on them. then used the results for firewood. The 4x4 was the same, but I just used it in full thickness, working with longer, smoother cuts, roughing, and hollowing. (You can hollow without a scroll chuck.. but it's hairy, and time consuming.. and if you are going to GET a scroll chuck, spend the money to get a good one. The HF chucks are "eh".. )

well i pretty much need every type of chuck or anything else. I have used a lathe before, i just wanted one of my own to tinker around with. I have been using a friends off and on for about 4 months or so. Went over the other day to make a leather burnisher and we happened to find a lathe for sale on craigslist. it is a harbor freight brand lathe Central Machinery mini woodworking lathe model 95607. not great but it will do for what projects i will use it for. I just need all the little things that will allow me to drill/turn odd and end projects more easily.

and as far as what thread it is, i don't have a clue. :/

This? http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-x-1 ... 95607.html

3/4 inch thread on the spindle.

That's the one. But mine is not lime green. Lol

I buy most of my accessories through either woodcraft (when they are having a sale) or Penn State Industries.

Just know what your MT and thread is when you go shopping. You can get a pretty decent little scroll chuck for that lathe.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCM18X.html

you just want to count your threads.. could be 3/4-8, or 3/4-16.

Keep watching the craigslist and estate/auctions you can often find better tools with accessories and part them out on EBay.

MT1 is a lot less common than the MT2, if your looking for a lot of tail stock tooling it may be worth getting an adapter.

cheap gouges and chisels need to be sharpened all the time. Better quality steel saves time but can be a real chore if it falls off the bench.
the larger diamond bench stones make life a lot easier.