How To Turn Spindles On A Wood Lathe

Prepare a spindle of appropriate length.

How to turn spindles on a wood lathe. Start at one end and remove the corners Photo 10a. This is referred to as spindle turning and is the type of woodturning that is done to create long ornate table legs and other long wood turnings. When turning spindles I like to cut a crosshatch into the ends of the turning blank so the workpiece centers quickly and seats solidly on the lathe.

Conclusion You can often limp through turning one long spindle using a skew and the hand wrapped around the work trick. Widen the groove to prevent the tool from grabbing. If the finished spindle will retain a square segment youll need to first turn a pommel the transition from square to round.

Once the rest of the spindle is turned simply move the steady a bit 6 is usually enough and turn the oversizeburned spot to size. Most spindles start out as square blanks. This made easy work of the blankslike sharping a large pencil.

The roughing gouge is a very versatile gouge but it must be used. The aluminum fingers must be free to move up and down. Keep working your way along the spindle removing the corners from a square portion of the blank toward a rounded portion.

Now place your pattern spindle on the lathe. Adjust the height of the tool rest to match the tool you are using. Use the square-end tool to turn a ¼-inch groove in the back of the blank leaving a ⅜ outer rim of wood.

Most woodturning projects on the lathe are started by using a roughing gouge to create the basic shape whether a spindle bowl bottle stopper or nearly any other woodturning project. See more ideas about wood turning wood turning projects turn ons. Turn out the middle with a small gouge leaving a flat-bottomed recess ¼ deep.