I am trying to figure out how to turn a 49″ spindle on a 35″ lathe. Michael Robbins contemporary desk has a rear spindle that is longer than my lathe and I can’t imagine that too many people have lathes that are 50+”. Do I turn it at 1/2 the length and try to joint two halves in the middle? Shape it with a spoke shave?
There must be a technique that those much better than me have figured out.
Thanks.
Pat
Replies
Yes- plan turning two separate spindles and then joining them in the middle with a round mortise and tenon joint. Best to drill out the mortise first on the tailstock and then fit the tenon. Measure the lengths carefully and I even did a dry run on some short scraps. On the final assembly, I sanded the joint smooth.
Joining the two pieces as shown would look contrived and ruin the piece- in my opinion.
Highlighting the joint at center with a small v groove would be less offensive, but still somewhat out of place given the other elements.
If you have a local turning club, maybe contact them for help, someone there may let you use their lathe for a small fee or as a favor.
Depending on how your lathe is mounted, you may be able to cobble together a bed section of wood and steel plate to get your tailstock where it needs to be.
What type of spindle profile is needed, straight, plain or ornate?
I second Max’s suggestion of making some sort of extension. It doesn’t have to be pretty or last forever to get the job done. Just get the tail stock at the right height and distance and secure it however you have to.
The difference between your bed length and the one you want to turn is too much for a handmade extension, in my opinion. I wouldn't wast time on it.
If the end product you want can be done without a lathe, that would be quickest. If it needs to be turned, do it in pieces. Use a bead or fillet to disguise the point where the two parts are joined. No one will ever know.
But it's really hard to give better advice without knowing what your design is.
Michael Robbins contemporary desk
FWW Sept/Oct 2018 page 34
https://www.finewoodworking.com/issue/2018/07/270-sep-oct-2018
You could shape it and get it close with a spokeshave. Finish shaping it with sandpaper or a sanding belt turned inside out.
You could make a simple steadyrest to replace the tail stock on your lathe.
I can envision a simple sort of "router lathe" made of MDF or plywood to hold the stock between centers and a pattern to follow to create the curved taper.
Here you go Dave:
I designed and built this years ago to cut stop flutes in columns for mantles. I would put a carbide self guiding laminate trim bit in the router and a pencil below in place of the tracing pin. This would trace the outline of the column in the 1/4 inch stock to layout the template. The template was cut and remounted in the jig, the router was fitted with a bullnose bit, and the tracing pin would follow the template to cut the flutes.
Alternately this could be used to follow a precut template as the piece was slowly rotated.
I don't think this is a practical solution for just the one stretcher needed in this piece. But thought you might find it interesting.
The drawings are a bit sketchy but it wasn't done for public consumption.
That's interesting. It's a lot fancier that I was thinking for the OP.
These are all great and give me something to work from. I really appreciate your help.
Pat
Lots of ideas here. My take is this. Plan A - find a longer bed lathe. Woodworker club, woodworker school, check at a woodworker retail outlet (like Woodcraft) for help. Some retail outlets have shops where they do demos or know someone who has a lathe. Plan B - Do it in two pieces from a single stock, then line up the grain when you glue it. Don't do the bead or groove to hide the joint, it will not match with the rest of your desk. A joint line will be subtle and not noticed, especially if you place the desk against a wall.
If you had a lathe that could do 20'eventually you will have a situation where you need to turn something that is 22'. Joining pieces is perfectly fine to do and is done all the time. Your lathe is the length that it is. So A ) save up for a bigger lathe B) Don't do projects beyond your tools capacity. .. or C) Make do with what you have. Or is it make what you have do what you want to do....
If I were to turn this on my small 1221vs, I’d turn the biggest spindle I could with tenons on both ends between centers. I’d then mount blanks using a chuck and drill a mortise using a Jacob’s chuck in the tail stock before turning to size and adding a tenon to the headstock side. The two mortised pieces would split the difference on either end of the longer middle piece. In my head these off center joints would look better than a joint in the middle. Never done anything like that, but I think that’s what I’d attempt. I agree with aboves make what ya have work attitude.
Another thing I’d consider is adding some cross pieces to the frame of the desk and exchange the single long back stretcher for two angled stretchers that join to the added cross pieces in the frame.
I have not used this method although I turn a lot of wood but this how I would try it. I would shape a round section on the blank about 30 inches from the lathe head and would secure the blank in a four jaw chuck and use a steady rest at the 30 inches round section, turn the first 30 inches and then turn the piece around and turn the other end.
A 49" spindle would be a nightmare to turn on any lathe. Unless it's a real chunky monkey, it's going to whip about.
I have done this turning the posts for a shed balcony. I turned the posts in four parts and joined them. Total size was 8'.
I placed the joins where there would be a natural step so they would show much less.
The challenge with all big pieces is getting the mortise centred.
For the smooth legs the OP is making, there are no decorative elements to hide the end-to-end joints. If I were making these legs without an adequate lathe, I would just handplane them. Make good layout lines, make an octagon, continue making smaller facets, then sand. For those that aren't very good turners, a jackplane might even be faster, with less sanding.
May I suggest another option? I understand there is a woodturner located in Georgia(?) that has the capacity to turn up to 120 inches. His name in Nick Cook. I believe he can be found on YouTube and maybe the AAW.
Router box, then clean up with hand tools, don't overthink it.
JMHO
Here’s a pic of the op’s project showing the rear 49” spindle with through end tenons that are wedged in the leg mortises. Rear spindle was turned in two parts on a 35” lathe and the glue line is practically invisible.
You folks are all wonderful. When I get to the point of figuring out whether I should plane it or join two pieces, I will let you know.
But you can know that I appreciate your collective help.
pat
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