Pen and/bowl turning

[doughpat]

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide whether a ShopSmith is going to suit me, or if a dedicated wood lathe is in order.

In particular, I'd like to be able to turn pens and bowls. I am a beginner...have turned a few spindles just for fun, but would like to make a few gifts for family.

I've seen Youtube videos showing some kind of attachment/accessory ("Mandril"?) for turning pens, but i've never seen a bowl done (i.e. holding the piece only from the driven side).

[ChrisNeilan]

Disclaimer- i have two dedicated lathes and three Shopsmiths. I usually stick to the lathes for turning, but occasionally use a Shopsmith. My Powerpro and 10er are decent as lathes. They both can turn very slow. The Mark V, not so much. Good for spindles, too fast for safe turning on larger out of balance bowls. A speed reducer would help.

[Hobbyman2]

Harbor freight has a decent mini lathe for pens, not good for large diameter bowls .

Same with JET or other big name tools.

[wa2crk]

There is really no obstacle to using the Shopsmith as a pen lathe. Smaller items generally are turned at a higher speed so the 700RPM at the low end is OK. Larger items do present a problem with balance. Sometimes a larger bowl can be rough balanced using the bandsaw. The smaller lathes such as the Delta, Rikon and the Jet can be problematic with larger unbalanced bowls or any unbalanced turnings.
I have turned a lot of pens on the Shopsmith as well as my Delta 46-460. I do have the Power Pro headstock and with the speed reducer I can slow the work to about 35 RPM for finishing.
There is no perfect answer so look at some other woodworking forums to try to get a better feeling. If you do get a traditional lathe that will be all you get, but with a SS you get the lathe and a lot of other functions. E-Bay has a lot of listings for SS accessories and whole machines.
Bill V

[terrydowning]

moderately well balanced bowl blanks 6-8 inches can be turned without a speed reducer. Larger than that or poorly balanced I do reccomend a speed reducer. I had the opportunity to borrow a speed reducer and loved it for large bowls.

For pens, the SS is a great lathe. I use the Mandrel from Penn State Industries specifically for the the SS arbor. I also "Turn Between Centers" (TBC) using a 60 degree live center and a home made 60 degree drive center.

WARNING: Turning can be addictive and hard on the wallet! There are tons of gadgets tools, and accessories available some nice to have, some really great to have and a few need to have. You have been warned.

Just remember to be safe about everything. Always a full face shield! Study and learn as much as you can. While there is some great video content for turning on the Internet don't rely on that as your only source of learning.

Try to find a local turning club or mentor to guide you through your early attempts at turning.

Done safely Woodworking in general and wood turning specifically is a great hobby. Without safety it is a very expensive trip to the ER.

[masonsailor2]

If you have the money and space a high end dedicated lathe, band saw, table saw, disc sander and drill press are very nice. You will need all those tools to effectively turn bowls, especially segmented bowls. You will be spending easily $10-15,000 for that level of quality. The SS will give you all those tools and more at a much more reasonable cost and far less space. As far as the quality of the tool very few will match the level of the SS, especially the Power Pro SS. There are very few limitations with a SS. No matter which direction you go find a local turning club and avail yourself of their resources. Turning is a learning process and and they will make it fun instead of frustrating. Turning is very creative and loads of fun. The woodworker is most often the limitation not the machinery.
Paul

[ChrisNeilan]

If you have the money and space a high end dedicated lathe, band saw, table saw, disc sander and drill press are very nice. You will need all those tools to effectively turn bowls, especially segmented bowls. You will be spending easily $10-15,000 for that level of quality. The SS will give you all those tools and more at a much more reasonable cost and far less space. As far as the quality of the tool very few will match the level of the SS, especially the Power Pro SS. There are very few limitations with a SS. No matter which direction you go find a local turning club and avail yourself of their resources. Turning is a learning process and and they will make it fun instead of frustrating. Turning is very creative and loads of fun. The woodworker is most often the limitation not the machinery.
Paul

I agree. My last vessel was a segmented vase with 481 segments. All wood prep was done on a Shopsmith except for the actual turning. That I did on my Powermatic. Mainly because I could. That left the Shopsmiths in table saw mode most of the time. A real time saver.
If I were to use the Shopsmith (PowerPro) as a lathe, which is my plan when I become a snowbird) I would invest in the Universal Tool Rest- The stock one I just don't like. http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... olrest.htm