Headwind attempt

[Garno]

Well always late to the party, here is my go at a headwind.

First thing you will notice is that It is not a fountain pen the blank sort of exploded on the lathe, strange as I still had a couple of mm left. Nice bit of purple heart gone to wood heaven :pray::pray::pray:

Nice bit of Spalted Oak (I think I got it from [MENTION=120]Neil[/MENTION] Mr Lawton or [MENTION=626]flexi[/MENTION])

I ended up hammering the tube into the blank with a rubber mallet and no glue, seemed to of worked out OK.

 

[silver]

Its turned out good, finish looks OK as well. Well Done.

However, you shouldn't be "hammering" the tubes in to place.

If they don't fit then drill the hole a little bigger. if you don't have the correct drills then wait until you do.

You might have got away with it this time but maybe not next time.

Thought we had explained the basics to you before mate!

 

[Garno]

Its turned out good, finish looks OK as well. Well Done.

However, you shouldn't be "hammering" the tubes in to place.

If they don't fit then drill the hole a little bigger. if you don't have the correct drills then wait until you do.

You might have got away with it this time but maybe not next time.

Thought we had explained the basics to you before mate!

I only did it out of frustration due to losing the Purple Heart blank for no reason.

Who was it who had the catchphrase "I could crush a grape"? Well I know how he feels, stupid exploding blank ...............

 

[flexi]

Gary is not known for his patients

As above, you have been lucky... Put the hammer down

It's a lovely piece of wood so defo Neil's, and the results are really good...
Well done mate

 

[Phil Dart]

Turned out OK Gary, in spite of all the odds. Looks great in fact.

Have you actually measured that drill bit yet?

(just asking)

 

[alpha1]

Looking good well done.

 

[Garno]

Turned out OK Gary, in spite of all the odds. Looks great in fact.

Have you actually measured that drill bit yet?

(just asking)

I'm no longer convinced it's the drill bits Phil, I think it is too much play with the tailstock that is causing the problems.

I noticed today that there is a lot of movement with the Jacobs chuck when it is in the tailstock also the tailstock itself needs a bit of effort for me to get it to be centred, what I mean is when I present the drill bit to the blank it is in the lap of the gods if it is central. The lathe itself needs to be upgraded and I will do that at the end of the month (borrowing a little to pay for it) Axminster Craft AC305WL Woodturning Lathe - 230V : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science Exciting times ahead

 

[Garno]

Gary is not known for his patients

Darn tootin

 

[Bill Mooney]

Looks good Gary was but it’s all been said.

 

[Neil Lawton]

Gary is not known for his patients

As above, you have been lucky... Put the hammer down

It's a lovely piece of wood so defo Neil's, and the results are really good...
Well done mate

Patience... if he was known for his Patients he would be in prison by now!

Ignore the La -de -Da drill sizes the companies give as most of the tubes are still made on stuff the Victorians sold to the Chinese. Just offer up the shaft size of the drill bit to the tube and that is the size you need.

 

[wm460]

Great looking pen Gary.

I drill my wood blanks and leave them over night, then next day check if the tube will fit in the blank, if not run the drill bit through the blank again.

It is surprising how much the timber will move.
If I can find the photos I will show you.

The lathe itself needs to be upgraded

I had that problem with the first proper lathe i had, mine was the headstock moved, I cracked the shiites and bought my Vicky, problem solved.

 

[Garno]

I had that problem with the first proper lathe i had, mine was the headstock moved, I cracked the shiites and bought my Vicky, problem solved.

The lathe I have was second hand from eBay and was just meant as a tester sort of thing, really to see if I actually like turning.

I always knew it would have to be upgraded but just was not expecting it to be so soon

 

[wm460]

The lathe I have was second hand from eBay and was just meant as a tester sort of thing, really to see if I actually like turning.

I always knew it would have to be upgraded but just was not expecting it to be so soon

Keep it for when you wet sand resin blanks or convert it to a sander.

 

[Garno]

Definitely will be keeping it, I was thinking about putting buffing wheels on it, or maybe make a ledge so I can present the ends of the blank at 90 degrees to square them off with a sanding disc on the headstock. :wink:

 

[TonyMilner]

I'm no longer convinced it's the drill bits Phil, I think it is too much play with the tailstock that is causing the problems.

I noticed today that there is a lot of movement with the Jacobs chuck when it is in the tailstock also the tailstock itself needs a bit of effort for me to get it to be centred, what I mean is when I present the drill bit to the blank it is in the lap of the gods if it is central. The lathe itself needs to be upgraded and I will do that at the end of the month (borrowing a little to pay for it) Axminster Craft AC305WL Woodturning Lathe - 230V : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science Exciting times ahead

From looking a youtube videos you & I are not alone in having 'play' when drilling on the lathe, turning the chuck by hand while slowly advancing the tailstock seems to help once centered proceed with care to drill as normal . Anyway - shiny new lathe woo hoo! enjoy

 

[Geoff Kent]

I drilled a couple of blanks for Headwinds a couple of days ago using an 11/32 drill bit.The tube was a very tight fit despite double checking with a vernier.Moving up a drill size to 23/64 soon sorted things out.Never hammer tubes in,you run the risk of distorting the tube/splitting the blank.