Has anyone ever tried to use a stobe light?

[Toney Robertson]

I was turning a square bowl/plater and thought if you had an adjustable strobe light and could get it timed right then you could visually freeze the piece and would not have to turn the "ghost".

Dumb idea?

Toney

[Curt Fuller]

I've never though of that but it probably would work. If you could rig up an old engine timing light to some kind of pickup on the lathe spindle it should also work. And I almost threw out an old craftsman timing light when I was cleaning the garage the other day.

[Jim Creech]

I have used a strobe in the past on shipboard work to calibrate the RPM's of a shaft. Needless to say, the piece of equipment we were using was very "High End" with a digital readout. The "sensor" on the shaft was just a piece of reflective tape. The down side of this is that when using a strobe, the work piece appears to be stationary and one can easily forget that it is in motion. Your idea is a good one, just don't forget that you are dealing with moving parts!

[Toney Robertson]

I have used a strobe in the past on shipboard work to calibrate the RPM's of a shaft. Needless to say, the piece of equipment we were using was very "High End" with a digital readout. The "sensor" on the shaft was just a piece of reflective tape. The down side of this is that when using a strobe, the work piece appears to be stationary and one can easily forget that it is in motion. Your idea is a good one, just don't forget that you are dealing with moving parts!

Jim,

Your right, that would be disastrous to forget that the wood was moving but it would sure be nice if it helped you to see where that edge was at all times.

I found one on ebay that was only like $60.00 and was variable from 1-15 flashes per second which would handle up to 900 rpms for a square bowl (if I am thinking correctly this early in the morning).

I might try it.

Toney

[Reed Gray]

This was a demonstration at our local club once. The turner was doing a small square bowl, and used a strobe light. It took a little fussing with the light to get it in sinc with the turning speed, but worked very well so you could see the corners of the bowl. There are a lot of different strobe lights out there, and I do know that not all of them will work.
robo hippy

[Steve Campbell]

I guess my biggest concern would be that besides the wood appearing to be stationary. I don't think you would be able to see the bowl gouge move evenly. It would take a lot of practice to get a nice smooth cut.

Steve

[Frank Drew]

Michael Mode, a very accomplished turner in Pennsylvania, detailed just this technique in FWW years ago. I'll see if I can pull up the exact issue #.

Addendum: FWW, No. 73, Nov./Dec. 1988, p. 71.

[curtis rosche]

wouldnt that make it harder to see? thus making it easier to catch the tool? or when its on forget that its on and accidentaly touch the spinning object that looks stationary?

[robert hainstock]

A zero to 900 flash PS strobe would certainly work on most any sensible turning rpm. You would just see more and more corners (Harmonics) at higher speed, but they would'nt move. If I used a strobe for this purpose, I would adjust it for a slight turning of the virtual image to remind me in continuous fog to watch the tool placement.
Bob