Two questions: which tool and safety

[Frederick Skelly]

Good evening folks,

1. Can someone please tell me which lathe tool I should use to cut a shallow rabbet on the end of a tool handle? I need to do this to properly fit a ferrule.

2. I'm reading my way through Rowley's Woodturning Foundations book. But I'm not really clear on whether safety goggles are sufficient or if I should be wearing a shield? At this point I'm just turning a spindle between centers. If I should be wearing a shield, can you please recommend one to me?

Thanks for teaching me!
Fred

[Dave Kelley]

I use a parting tool and calipers for sizing the ferrule.

I use a mask.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Roger Chandler]

Ditto on the parting tool and caliper. Simple to do!

[Stan Calow]

I always use a face shield. Your face is important. Not only can you get whacked in the face by an flying piece of wood or a tool handle, but flying shavings won't accumulate in your mustache. Its easier to see whats going on all over the lathe with a big window than with narrow goggle focus.

[David Bassett]

Good evening folks,

1. Can someone please tell me which lathe tool I should use to cut a shallow rabbet on the end of a tool handle? I need to do this to properly fit a ferrule.

Too many options & too many opinions to give a "right way". I use a (diamond) parting tool with a caliper to check diameter. I've seen many rough slightly oversize and then use a skew, or even a spindle gouge with a light shearing cut, to smooth & precisely size a tenon. (Or, I'm told, more correctly a spigot since it's round.)

How "pretty" do you want this?

2. I'm reading my way through Rowley's Woodturning Foundations book. But I'm not really clear on whether safety goggles are sufficient or if I should be wearing a shield? At this point I'm just turning a spindle between centers. If I should be wearing a shield, can you please recommend one to me?

Thanks for teaching me!
Fred

Also too many situations for one answer. Certainly a good face shield won't hurt. For smallish balanced spindles with sound wood at reasonable RPM I only use safety glasses. My reasoning is they are well supported and unlikely to come apart. If I'm uncertain, first thing I'll do is turn down the RPM. (Don't know if you have variable RPM or use belt changes to change in steps.) Lower RPM may compromise cut quality, but it reduces forces on the wood and if I'm nervous.... I don't regularly do bowls, but with their larger diameter and often "artistic" (spalted, live-edge, or checked) wood I approach them much more cautiously.

If you get to a point you're planning on wood coming apart, or even expecting it might, search for Lynne Yamaguchi and turning safety. She's a professional turner who did extensive research on head protection while turning after a bad (horrible!) injury. Her advice was sobering. (And yet I still turn small spindles with only safety glasses. Especially short stocky spindles like tool handles.)

[John K Jordan]

I agree with David. I don't wear a full face shield for small spindle turning. I do with face turning whenever the diameter is over about 3 inches.

If fitting a ferrule I too use calipers and a parting too. For something like a handle I generally hold the work in a chuck, rough it round, drill the hole, then use tailstock support to finish turn the handle and size the tenon. I set the calipers to a bit oversize, size a grove or two, then use the parting tool (or a bedan or skew) to get the tenon size closer. If I'm imagining correctly what you are doing, the surface doesn't have to be perfect.

JKJ

[Reed Gray]

Most parting tools are rather narrow, so if you have one, there is a 'sizing' tool, which is pretty much like a wide parting tool, maybe 1/4 inch or so. A bedan tool is similar but is tapered, so wider at the top, and narrower at the bottom. A skew can be used as well, if you know how to do a peeling cut. Some have taken box/open end wrenches of the proper size, sharpen one end/side of the wrench and apply that to the wood so it acts as a caliper and a peeling cut tool. It can be done with a standard gouge, but is a bit more difficult.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

Most parting tools are rather narrow, so if you have one, there is a 'sizing' tool, which is pretty much like a wide parting tool, maybe 1/4 inch or so. A bedan tool is similar but is tapered, so wider at the top, and narrower at the bottom. A skew can be used as well, if you know how to do a peeling cut. Some have taken box/open end wrenches of the proper size, sharpen one end/side of the wrench and apply that to the wood so it acts as a caliper and a peeling cut tool. It can be done with a standard gouge, but is a bit more difficult.

That's good advice.

I keep one 1/2" skew sharpened straight across (no "skew" to the edge). It's perfect for pealing a wide tenon. I also use the 1/4" wide "sizing" tool you mention, with flat sides. However, if I want a very clean shoulder I have to be careful about clearance on the upper edge. I have one fairly wide diamond parting tool which is better for this since it's wider at the cutting edge. Actually, I keep two of these - one ground straight across like a normal parting tool and the other ground at an angle like a tiny skew. This is perfect for cleaning up right next to a shoulder AND for cutting a tenon for grabbing with the chuck.

I have never been a big fan of the wrench method although it is certainly fast. I like to use a cheap caliper like this, held in my left hand for sizing (left arm resting on the headstock to keep steady) while cutting a groove with the parting tool until the caliper slips over. (I size it a tiny bit bigger than the final diameter) For sizing I round over and polish the points like the one at the top of the picture. I have found these calipers as cheap as $4 on Amazon so I keep a drawer full. It's nice to have several preset to key diameters when duplicating a spindle.

calipers.jpg

BTW, when I learned to use the bedan it was with the bevel up. Then I saw others using it with the bevel down. It appears that the French (Escoulen) use it bevel up but most 'maricans use it the other way. Which is "right"? Whatever works! Bevel-up might be a bit easier to control for some cuts (those that require rotating the tool, e.g. making beads) since the cutting edge is in the same plane as the support on the tool rest and a bit better supported.

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

Thank you folks! I appreciate your help. I'm really looking forward fo turning my first "round" project - a handle - over the weekend. Rowley's book has me pumped up! And I'll go find a face shield tonight.
Best regards,
Fred

[John K Jordan]

Thank you folks! I appreciate your help. I'm really looking forward fo turning my first "round" project - a handle - over the weekend. Rowley's book has me pumped up! And I'll go find a face shield tonight.
Best regards,
Fred

Fredrick, Kieth Rowley's book is excellent. Notice his recommendation to learn spindle turning before going to bowls. Some people have more trouble learning fine tool control when they skip this step. Ain't nuttin like a sharp skew chisel, I say.

I learned turning primarily from three books, Rowley's, "Fundamentals of Woodturning" by Mike Darlow, and "Turning Wood" by Richard Raffan. Darlow's is my favorite but some people find it too technical. For me, the more the better.

Another book which helped my woodturning is "Understanding Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley.

(You might guess I'm a book nut. The office area in my shop has turned into a library...)

JKJ

[Reed Gray]

Skew is a four letter word.....

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

Skew is a four letter word.....

Yes, as is love, and hope, and good, and life. And wood.

JKJ

[Doug Ladendorf]

Yes, as is love, and hope, and good, and life. And wood.

JKJ

Amen!

(Hey, that was too!)