Shop Smith Restoration.

[Worth1]

It does look like a duck call.
I cheated and hooked the vacuum cleaner up to my metal lathe and faced off three scrap end items with a parting tool turned at a 45, worked like a champ.
Since I have spent a lot of time grinding knives for wood working machinery I have somewhat of an edge on folks that have never done this stiff before.
I can also grind and sharpen the cutting tools free hand where I have seen a lot of folks need to use a jig or holding fixture.
My next step is to put some round tool steel in the lathe and bore it out on the inside to the right size and then cut or grind off one side and sharpen the outside.
I might have to heat treat it to get it to hold an edge.
Here is the old file I used to cut this stuff with it is enough to make a wood turner cringe.
Worth

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[loulac]

Originally Posted by Worth1

If I ever got around to selling any of this stuff to be sure it will all have a have rubbed oil finish.Worth

Not a bad idea. let me add that with furniture wax (coming from bees, not chemistry) you will get nice results too.

My father was the artist and created the work, I prepared the tools according to his directions and polished the finished product (very fine sand paper, steelwool, woolcloth).

I'm quite interested in the result you can get from a wood I don't know. Plenty of woodturners here like working on US imported walnut wood.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by loulac

Not a bad idea. let me add that with furniture wax (coming from bees, not chemistry) you will get nice results too.

My father was the artist and created the work, I prepared the tools according to his directions and polished the finished product (very fine sand paper, steelwool, woolcloth).

I'm quite interested in the result you can get from a wood I don't know. Plenty of woodturners here like working on US imported walnut wood.

I like to use pure tung oil not the tung oil finish we see here.
You can drink pure tung oil but you will get fat.
I do have some bees wax somewhere and have made concoctions with it.
When I was little my father bought me two knives and a stone.
He would test how well I was doing by shaving his whiskers.
Soon in school I was the knife guy and even the teachers would hand me their knives to sharpen.


The mesquite wood, it is also known as Texas iron wood and is as hard as a rock.
On the Janka scale it is 2345 only 4 down from the Brazilian walnut/Ipe which is at 3684 the hardest.
American walnut is at 1010.
Worth

[Worth1]

From looking at Youtube videos on wood turning it seems like the British have a heads up over the USA when it comes to the art at least from the point of view speaking English.

For many years it has baffled me how they made table and chair legs with the offset feet AKA cabriole leg on a lathe.
Even wiki has it wrong and the only way I have seen it done is with a band saw and a ton of work.
This English guy did it all on the lathe better than anyone I have seen.

Worth

[loulac]

Originally Posted by Worth1

From looking at Youtube videos on wood turning it seems like the British have a heads up over the USA when it comes to the art at least from the point of view speaking English.Worth

You are perfectly right, I bought books written by a British expert who was happy to explain his different techniques, I translated them into French, my father thought they were a great help. He was a farmer , son of a carpenter and enjoyed making candle sticks ( sometimes 4 feet high), soup bowls etc. There are very old homes in my birthplace, plus several castles and their owners insisted on buying what I called "country art" to decorate the mantelpieces of old fireplaces or big pieces of furniture.

Unfortunately I cant remember the name of that writer, why not ask for his name on a British blog I'll now wait for some pictures of yours, your beginnings are quite promising, beware of knots they can make the tool fly away...

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by loulac

You are perfectly right, I bought books written by a British expert who was happy to explain his different techniques, I translated them into French, my father thought they were a great help. He was a farmer , son of a carpenter and enjoyed making candle sticks ( sometimes 4 feet high), soup bowls etc. There are very old homes in my birthplace, plus several castles and their owners insisted on buying what I called "country art" to decorate the mantelpieces of old fireplaces or big pieces of furniture.

Unfortunately I cant remember the name of that writer, why not ask for his name on a British blog I'll now wait for some pictures of yours, your beginnings are quite promising, beware of knots they can make the tool fly away...

I tried to find the one British guy again and cant find him.
If I find him again I will post it here.
He talked about the offset foot and using the ghosting as a guide to cut to as you turn.
This is something I may never have figured out on my own for the making of these feet.
It seems the folks in Europe have a more carefree attitude about this sort of thing.
Like what ever works or something it is hard to explain.

In the replacing handles section I made a brass hammer yesterday.

The knots I have had come flying out of the molder I ran and hit me between the eyes.

By the way thank you for your kind words coming from an expert like you means a lot.

[Worth1]

Here he is from the beginning and the other link is where in the video he makes the leg.

Allan Batty he passed away just this last month.
https://youtu.be/KfeLAHQSbqk

https://youtu.be/KfeLAHQSbqk?t=2109

[loulac]

I really enjoyed watching the videos but I must insist on the fact that what looks simple in fact is not, before reaching that level lots of practice is necessary.
Some elements struck me : the importance of correctly sharpened tools (not a problem for you). There are only shavings, sawdust only with sandpaper.
Getting two chairlegs identical requires constant control with calipers, no easy task.
You have also noticed the importance of angles, of logic, I'll repeat myself, a manual is an intellectual who can use his hands.

I highly respect people who can use their brain as well as their hands but I'm far from being an expert. Start with simple jobs you'll be fine.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by loulac

I really enjoyed watching the videos but I must insist on the fact that what looks simple in fact is not, before reaching that level lots of practice is necessary.
Some elements struck me : the importance of correctly sharpened tools (not a problem for you). There are only shavings, sawdust only with sandpaper.
Getting two chairlegs identical requires constant control with calipers, no easy task.
You have also noticed the importance of angles, of logic, I'll repeat myself, a manual is an intellectual who can use his hands.

I highly respect people who can use their brain as well as their hands but I'm far from being an expert. Start with simple jobs you'll be fine.

That guy could probably make it look easy if he was using a sharp rock.
One thing about the shop smith.
Due to its multi use ability it isn't like a regular wood lathe and it is driving me nuts.
One I need to make a spindle adapter for it so I can use standard chucks and plates on the head stock.
The other is I need to make some sort of quill for the tail stock that screws in and out like a regular lathe would have.
On a regular wood lathe the tool post moves in and out in a different way.

I did make a new round nose scraper from an old air chisel that works great.

Worth

[dmforcier]

Sounds like you need to eBay it and get a real one.

You might be surprised what people will pay for old tools made from real US steel.

(A friend of mine conned me out of an old Stanley folding rule for $6, then sold it on eBay for $106. Arrgghh!)

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Sounds like you need to eBay it and get a real one.

You might be surprised what people will pay for old tools made from real US steel.

(A friend of mine conned me out of an old Stanley folding rule for $6, then sold it on eBay for $106. Arrgghh!)

With my metal lathe drill press grinders and welder I can make everything I need.
Worth.

[loulac]

Originally Posted by Worth1

One I need to make a spindle adapter for it so I can use standard chucks and plates on the head stock.
The other is I need to make some sort of quill for the tail stock that screws in and out like a regular lathe would have.Worth

This is the right way to go. I must say I don't understand at all how the head stock was made. I suggest machining it or have it made by a professionnal (precision 1/100 mm) to give it standard fittings : in Europe M 33x3.5 threading for the chuck, N°2 Morse cones if the parts are hollow so that the cone can be ejected from the back.

You don't have to do all the work now, you'll get bored during the rainy months of winter.

By the way a trick that may be useful : when you start working make some fine sawdust. If a knot goes away mix it with white vinyl wood adhesive to make some paste and fill the hole, the result will be perfect.

I suggest you start on "easy" pieces of wood to get familiar with the different techniques.

Enjoy improving the lathe. As long as you think before you act you are safe.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by loulac

This is the right way to go. I must say I don't understand at all how the head stock was made. I suggest machining it or have it made by a professionnal (precision 1/100 mm) to give it standard fittings : in Europe M 33x3.5 threading for the chuck, N°2 Morse cones if the parts are hollow so that the cone can be ejected from the back.

You don't have to do all the work now, you'll get bored during the rainy months of winter.

By the way a trick that may be useful : when you start working make some fine sawdust. If a knot goes away mix it with white vinyl wood adhesive to make some paste and fill the hole, the result will be perfect.

I suggest you start on "easy" pieces of wood to get familiar with the different techniques.

Enjoy improving the lathe. As long as you think before you act you are safe.

I appreciate your input.
What I am going to do is convert the sizes of the spindle on the head stock to metric to help give you a better idea of what I have.

It is 30mm long and 16mm in diameter.
The fractional size is 1 3/16 long and 5/8 in diameter.
It had a slope cut into it so a set screw locks what ever you put on it down and it cant slide off or spin.
I will insert a pictuer here.
This will be easy to make I just need to do some research to see what threads I need on the other end that is the most standard size.
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The quill screw and barrel need to be 10 threads per inch so each rotation of the handle will move it 1/10th or 0.100 of an inch.
Here is a picture of an old Yates Lathe from the late 1930's with tubing for ways.
It looks very familiar and a lot like the Shopsmith made 10 years later.
This is where the guy that made the Shopsmith got his idea.

More later.

[Worth1]

Did the looking and I am going with the one inch 8 threads per inch, there is a smaller one and a bigger one.
The taper I am going to use is an MT-3 and and adapter to MT-2 from MT-3.
This way I can swap around all of my tapers from the drill press and both lathes.
Worth

[Worth1]

Here it is one Spindle adapter for 1 inch by 8 Treads per inch, fits like a glove.
Made it long so I can cut a MT-2 taper in the end of it.
A big nut and washer goes on the back side if I need it to lock down a chuck.
Worth
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