We are excited to announce our Intermediate Complex Turning class: Before You Make the Cut: Foundations of Accurate Set-Ups
This is a 5 day intermediate course that will be held September 8-12 at our beautiful, new, workshop in Saltsburg, PA.
When a student in our Intro Class or a guest at an Open Shop steps up to one of our complex turning lathes, it can be easy for them to forget that the operation they are trying takes considerable effort to set up. It is no stretch to say that on many complex turning operations, the setup is at least half the work. And when you are setting up for a pattern that will require over a hundred cuts and hours of careful work, you want to be even more confident that your setup will give you the result you expect. There is a lot more to it than threading a chuck onto the spindle and putting in a piece of wood, and the accuracy of a setup will make or break a project. The goal is always predictable and repeatable results.
The class will center around three standard apparatuses: the elliptical chuck, the eccentric chuck, and the curvilinear slide rest. We may host classes in the future on other common accessories like the spiral apparatus and reciprocator, but we feel that these three cover the broadest interest and will provide lessons that can be applied to any other tool in the complex turning toolbox.
Each student will go from bare lathe to ready to make chips with each of these apparatuses and then use their setup to complete a pattern in order to see how each decision in setup and the degree of care taken in executing these decisions affect the final result.
The patterns will also require precise adjustments of the apparatus between cuts in order to develop a confident understanding of the tool and an appreciation for its range of capabilities.
To be clear, this is not an advanced class delving into the most complex setups or a box making class where students can expect to go home with something like the boxes shown below—neither of those things can be covered in a five-day class. This a foundational lesson in accurate complex turning that will focus on processes, not finished projects.
Both the elliptical chuck and eccentric chuck change the relationship between your work piece and the spindle axis of the lathe. To achieve passable results, the turner must have a strong understanding of this relationship and the changes being made. This is only possible with the establishment of a starting point or “zero.” Students will learn how to properly find this starting point with the use of dial indicators to accurately “dial in” the chuck and the work piece.
While sometimes painstaking, this level of accuracy from the outset is absolutely essential for producing a precise pattern and is often the real work of complex turning. One has to know where they started to understand how they got to where they are.
If time allows, we will also explore how these two chucks can be combined, or stacked, to great effect.
The curvilinear slide is unique among the common apparatus in that it offers the use of a template. Understanding the relationship between this template, the cutting head, and the work piece is crucial in getting the results you want.
The curvilinear is also unique in that, on certain machines, it allows for a degree of mechanical automation. We will go through this setup where applicable and how to utilize its abilities effectively
This class will only be open to students who have either taken our “Introduction to Complex Turning” or who have reached sufficient experience on their own to meet that requirement. We will not be covering basic principles, and this curriculum will not be particularly helpful or enjoyable without this prerequisite understanding.
Again, the class will be held at our workshop in Saltsburg, PA, September 8-12.
The class will run Monday-Friday 9am-6pm, with some bonus shop time to finish up on Saturday morning for those still in town.
Cost: $1750 – This will include materials and lunches.
Students should bring with them a pencil and notebook, a pocket calculator, and a small pocket flashlight or penlight. Safety glasses are required but a pair will be provided if you do not bring your own.
Register for the class by emailing Jackie Manning at Jackie@plumier.org
Space is extremely limited, so if you are interested, register ASAP.