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Turning on the lathe is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable parts of woodworking. Every time I turn I ask myself, “Why don’t I do this more often??” I still don’t have an answer to that. But recently, I had the opportunity to turn a cool item for a charity event. My friend Shawn was creating unique auctions for a Muscular Dystrophy charity event. One of those auctions was for a vampire slaying kit, which of course required a stake. Unconventional? Made of wood? For charity? I’m in!!!
While making the video, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to review some turning basics as well as introduce you to the tools I use most frequently. These include the Ellsworth gouge, the roughing gouge, the skew chisel, and the diamond parting tool. If you are interesting in picking any of these up, I included affiliate links below for these tools. Remember, buying through us helps support the show.
And keep in mind, although I am turning a vampire stake here, the tools and techniques are the same that you would use to turn a spindle in a regular woodworking project.
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Ellsworth Signature Gouge The most versatile 5/8″ bowl gouge on the market — with the edge and balance needed for the finest projects! Ellsworth Signature Gouge |
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Robert Sorby Roughing-Out Gouge Recommended for the initial turning of uneven or square stock to round… Robert Sorby Roughing-Out Gouge |
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Robert Sorby Oval Skew Chisel A delicately balanced tool essential to the spindle turners kit… Robert Sorby Oval Skew Chisel |
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Robert Sorby Parting Tools A selection of fine Robert Sorby parting tools… Robert Sorby Parting Tools |
58 Responses to “127 – To Kill a Vampire”
Hey Marc!
I have an old Walker Turner lathe that my uncle left to me along with a set of Craftsman lathe tools. They are as dull as dirt. What is the best way to put a decent edge on them? And is it worth it to invest in an “expensive” set of tools?
Hey Jim. I hope some of our resident turners can chime in on the tool quality. But in general, turning tools are just like chisels and plane blades. Not all steel is created equal. So the cheaper tooling is usually made from cheaper steel, and you’ll wind up losing an edge faster. Or it just may not take as sharp of an edge to begin with. When I bought my tools, I starting buying one at a time as needed, and I was sure to buy a decent quality right off the bat. So I don’t have much experience with sharpening/using really inexpensive turning tools. Again, hopefully someone will chime in.
Now for sharpening, I like a system that’s fast and repeatable. So I use the Wolverine system by Oneway. With the Varigrind attachment, I can sharpen bowl gouges and my Ellsworth gouge in second with perfectly repeatable results. I can’t say its the best though because its the only way I have ever done it. But I can tell you its one of the fastest methods. But again, definitely not the cheapest.
Well, I’ve got a bench grinder and a water stone. I guess that’ll have to do for now. :)
This reply is actually from Wilbur who is having trouble posting comments on the site. I am posting this on his behalf:
If you have a bench grinder, something like the Wolverine jig would be ideal for you. If it seems pricey, the repeatability of the edges you’ll get using that system will be well worth the investment. A number of my turning friends use the Wolverine system, and not a single one thinks they wasted money doing so.
As far as your tools, if the Craftsman tools are about the same age as your Walker Turner lathe, there’s a very good chance that they are high carbon steel tools. Those tools can get very sharp, but there is a chance you can blue the steel on a grinder. One way to avoid this is to use a light touch while sharpening. The other way is to get high speed steel tools instead.
I completely agree with getting a few high quality tools rather than a “set” that may not be all that useful. For bowls, I can do just about the whole thing with an 1/2″ Ellsworth gouge and a skew chisel to make the tenon on the foot of the bowl. For spindle turning, I do almost everything with a 1-1/4″ wide skew chisel and a 3/8″ spindle gouge. A parting tool is nice if I need to duplicate parts. So that’s three tools altogether: skew chisel, spindle gouge, and bowl gouge, and a parting tool for duplicating spindle parts. A round profile scraper and a square profile scraper are nice, but if someone stole them from me I could do without them.
I too have a Oneway Wolverine grinding jig used on an 8 inch grinder with SG wheels. A far less expensive and every bit as precise approach is the “home brew” jig designed by furniture maker and teacher Mario Rodriguez. All you need is some scrap hardwood, some box store hardware and a piece of pipe. I think the plans were recently published in American Woodworker. I’ve used Mario’s jig at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop and it is superb
WOW! Marc really does use the lathe. Great video. Only one problem, I will need to see more lathe in the future. I do like finishing on the lathe. While it is spinning the shellac or whatever heats up and dries very quickly. I bet you could make pens from scraps of your famous projects, throw a TWW label on them and they would sell like hotcakes.
Haha now that’s a neat idea. How about I send you the scraps and pay you to make them for me? :) I’ve seen your work so I know its good. :)
Boy, I thought the lathe was just in your shop to prop up sheets of plywood. Glad to see a video on this. I have been doing mostly pens, nice quick evening project.
Don’t worry, its going back to holding sheet goods very soon. :) Actually I did a little rearranging and things are much more organized now.
And you know, that is one of the most attractive things about turning: immediate gratification.
Nice video. I’ve been missing them. My 7 yr old daughter loves them, too. I’ll play this for her tonight.
Hey if a 7 yr. old likes it, I must be doing something right!
My 5 year old daughter likes them too :)
Excellent video Marc. I love the silent parts with the background music, as it reminds me of why I can’t wait to get into the shop after a long day of work.
Mark,
I’ve never seen you use the Lathe before but only you could put decorative edge on such a primal tool. Good job and keep on doing more Lathe work. Bill had a good idea with the pens as well.
So since we couldn’t see your face while turning, how do we really know that it was you ?? could have been Nicole (the short shots of the hands and arms showed they were covered in sawdust.)
you never heard of a turning double ?
I am still skeptical….
LOL I promise that was all Marc :)
You not the only sceptic, as we quite clearly watched mark take his ring off and the hand doing the turning was most defiantly wearing a ring!!
Makes you wonder what else he’s been faking?
Hard to tell if you are joking or not. Emoticons people! They really help. :)
Yes it turns out Marc isn’t really a woodworker, it’s just a cover act – in truth he is in fact… The Stig! :-) (non-uk residents may not get that joke, which is probably most of you!)
I didn’t get it, but that’s what Wikipedia is for right? Now I get it! haha!
So, Marc is a tamed racing drive who’s eyelids open sideways?
I did wonder after I had posted my comment if it might be taken the wrong way, but can promise I had a smile on my face even if I failed to put one in the post, so unless I have uncovered a conspiracy to hood wink the public soon to be called the Wispergate scandal (I wont all the credit if its true) then it was all said in jest. :)
I’m thankful to have Cerritos College teaching wood turning!!
I know this was about turning a spindle shape, but those who like to turn bowls may find the following blog of interest.
http://blog.woodworkingtooltip.....owl-gouge/
Hey Marc, been looking forward to this one for a while and it didn’t disappoint. But I do wonder if there is room for a sequel in a fast-paced Tarantino-esque style? Perhaps entitled “From Dust till Sawn”.
I’m sorry. I’ll get my coat……….. ;-)
would hate to run into the sharp end of that thing. It could also make a nice toothpick or tent stake:)
Hey I noticed the ring went back on. I always take mine off when turning. If for no other reason than my fingers swell a bit.
Marc,
We really don’t need those “Glittery teeny-boper” vampires…you are right.. my daughter is 13 and suddenly got to cool for them….I am thankful each day for that. I would not waste such a lovley stake on them…
Marc,
The stake was perfect! Thanks again for making it.
I know nothing about woodworking but I enjoyed this video a lot. When I didn’t know a particular word you used I just pretended you were swearing. :)
Absolutely breath staking
I have a question about finish, which one would you recommend for ease of cleaning after staking, I mean, blood is hard ot get out of the little cracks and stuff. Would you use a pore filler for a smoother finish? If you used Shellac without the Poly coating, if the Vampire had been feeding off of Hobos would the Alchohol in his blood degrade the finish? Would Danish oil be the best for that blonde guy on TrueBlood? Would a plasticy coating cause the wood stake not to work as well, I mean, would a plastic stake work? Of course not. These are the things that keep me up at night…..
Oh so many things to consider!!!
Spoiler alert! You remembered to take your ring off at the beginning of the video but it shows up again later :)
On a more serious note; in your professional opinion, do you think a poly top coat on a smooth wood surface will provide enough grip during the staking action for sufficient penetration? Perhaps a leather wrap on the handle would render the weapon more effective.
Leather would definitely help! Great idea. :)
When I hung out on USENET in rec.woodworking, people used to joke about “pointy sticks”. “Where can I get plans for pointy sticks?” “What’s the best wood to use for pointy sticks?” “How should I finish my pointy stick?” Usually done with caveman style grunts. Should I use this $100 card scraper or $250 spoke shave to make a pointy stick?
I occasionally considered doing a “How to make a pointy stick” video – but now you’ve beaten me to it!
Life is too weird.
Funny, I too used to hang out at rec.woodworking. I learned a lot there.
I thought only Oak stakes could stop a vamp.
Well, that video was pretty much perfect, Marc. It was a finely tuned combination of information, demonstration and jocularity. And the project is perfectly timed for those upcoming Halloween gifts.
I’m thinking it would be way cool to build a nice, hardwood box where one would find inside a red velvet interior, hardwood cross, hardwood spike, necklace of garlic, mirror and fancy bottle of Holy water. Ooh, even better if the box was coffin-shaped!
Hey Marc.
This is my first posting on your site. Thanks for putting out so much good information and making it entertaining too. I really like your videos.
I haven’t done any wood turning yet as I am just starting to get serious about woodworking. But I have been a machinist for many years and wanted to pass along a quick safety point. When you were mounting your stock onto your lathe you left your chuck key in your chuck while you were doing another operation, setting up the tail stock. If you had forgotten to remove it, or accidentaly turned on the motor you might have had to do some ducking. Basic rule used in machine shops is to never take your hand off the chuck key while it is in the chuck.
Keep the great info and videos coming.
Marc,
This really was a fun post! The comments are awesome as well!
fantastic. totally fantastic. great work marc,
Destined to become a cult classic.
Maybe next time you can make a custom stock for your favorite zombie killing gun.
The best part of this video was your comment about the vampires in the beginning. Coworkers gave me strange looks due to my laughing.
Marc:
As always great job and please keep the comedy coming.
I for one find Sorby to be a quality steel tool. Not to long ago, Rockler had a representative from Sorby do a demonstration and he was very informative.
They also have a web page that discloses proper use for their tools, as does the Ellsworth gouge (DVD).
Turning is very enjoyable, yet many make it more difficult than need be. Your explanation was simplistic and very enjoyable.
It would be great if you had more turning instruction.
I realize time is of the essence, but I sharpen my gouges on the water stone (Jet) and so far am pleased with the results.
Have a great weekend/holiday.
As someone who neither owns a lathe nor has ever used a lathe (or even seen one in action), I must say that was pretty neat. Excellent video.
im gonna make a few, i have a few vampires i need to get rid of.
One time one of my friends had made another one of those things you rest your chisel on (i dont know specific names) out of a 2X4 and a bolt. We then both worked on making a baseball bat on my lathe. It bogged down a little if we both pushed hard, but it seemed fine and we got done a lot quicker. But, I’m glad you finally made a lathe video but my stinkin slow internet still hasnt got it downloaded, so I’m sure its good from what I’ve heard and seen a little bit on the website.
Jason,
The thing you rest your tools on is called a tool rest, and needs to be made out of metal for safety. And if you use sharp tools and present them in the correct manor, they will cut easily. Your tool rest and “two person” method scares me. I have been turning for 12 years, and teaching for 3…please read below…
Step 1 – Adjust the height of the METAL tool rest. Hold the tool where it is comfortable resting it on the tool rest. See where the cutting edge touches the wood. The goal is to have it touch the wood along the axis of the lathe( ie draw a mental line between the headstock and the tailstock and make sure the tool’s cutting edge is very near this point — about 80% of your tools cut safely this way). Marc did a lot of scraping vs cutting but his tool location was spot on.
Steps 2, 3 and 4 — basically you need to use the ABC method, Anchor, Bevel, Cut:
Anchor — put the tool to the tool rest and have the cutting edge much higher than needed to cut by having the handle lower than needed.
Bevel – hand turn the lathe as Marc did rubbing the tool on the wood lift the handle until the cutting edge starts to remove some wood
Cut – the cutting of the tool cant dig into the wood if the bevel (the flat area behind the cutting edge) is touching the wood.
Sharpening –. I have been turning for 12 years, and have had a Oneway Wolverine grinding jig for 10…it was the one thing I tell my students to buy early – I wish I had owned mine for 12 years. Sharp tools are easier and safer to use. In addition, with the repeatable process you remove very little metal when putting an edge back on the tool. Turning tools cost a lot of money, why waste the metal putting multiple bevel angles on your tools. In addition, the time it takes to sharpen a tool is minimal with the jig, and I return to the grinder more often because of that – the result is a better edge on my tools, and less sanding because of that.
Suggestions for those who would like to get into turning – visit a wood turning club in your area. Many have free demos. Or sign up for a turning class to see how relaxing it is. My shop is just the opposite of Marc’s, my other tools are covered with turning blanks, pens…and my lathe is always accessible!
Many WoodCrafts are going to be sponsoring a “turn a pen for the troops” day in early Nov. A free event where you can learn and make (people assist you) a pen. These pens are then sent to the deployed troops! So show your support to those protecting our freedom.
cool.
You would have probably enjoyed useing bees wax for your finish. Way more fun to put on while on the lathe then shellac and poly
Hi, i can fully endorse the full face mask as my dad, last week, was turning a bowl from spalted beech (a bit too spalted) as the bowl, about 300mm diameter and 250mm deep split into about 8 rather large bits! one of which the face mask! also, the ellisworth gouge is a great bowl turning gouge! 3/8 or 1/2 is recommended for bowl turning
“I can’t hear you” Love it
There are a couple of reasons I’m putting this response down here, instead of behind the posts they belong to. (Mostly because they are not interconnected.)
There’s another podcast I came across (Sorry, Marc) that dealt with sharpening turning tools. Woodsmith podcast number 37, specifically. It goes into types of tools, types of metals, sharpening styles, and some of the reasons why. It also goes into some of the theory behind the sharpening methods.
One issue I have with finishing on a stake is that any finish covers the wood, and (from a “traditional” vampire hunter standpoint, not a novel or movie version) anything that prevents wood from piercing the heart of a “leech” prevents said stake from killing said “leech.” All you end up with is a pissed off bloodsucker. I don’t know about pore fillers, though, and whether or not they impede the performance of a wooden stake.
(Great thought, right? Lets hook the stake up to a variety of equipment and see what horsepower it has, how many revolutions per minute it is capable of, what it’s maximum altitude before fatal pressure loss is, what frequency it vibrates at… Nothing like taking this to the ridiculous degree.)
All joking aside, this is a very nice and quick project! it’s one of the reasons I like the lathe: you can get some play time in while doing your part to clean up society of … er… um… I mean being a productive member of society.
I happen to have this video stored for constant use on the iPod… Maybe next turning video can feature one particular tool near constantly. Not the exotics, but a “how to use your (insert name here) and produce something kewl.”
Marc,
I got some free time and finally got to watch this short video. I found it very relaxing and calming. I do woodworking as an escape and think I might watch this again and again, I like that you put the music on and just let me watch it take shape with no talking needed.
Thank You!!
B
Nice! And i like the music, ho is it?
Hello from norway!
Thank you for posting such a great video. This inspired me to make my own vampire stake. I have a friend with a surprise birthday party coming up. I purchased him a card meant for a teenage girl as it had that actor on it from the Twilight movie series. It makes some comment about cute vampires and such. I thought it would be perfect for my friend’s 30th birthday. About the same time as the card, I saw this video. I thought it would be perfect to also give him a vampire stake to compliment the card.
Now, I don’t have a lathe. This posed a problem. I also don’t have any carving tools. I do, however, have a table saw. Using some cove-cutting techniques, and some not-cool taper cutting methods (I will be building a jig for this if I ever do it again), I managed to make a halfway decent vampire stake. It did require a large amount of sanding to get it round and smooth. It also isn’t symmetrical. But so what?! It’s a vampire stake meant as a gag gift for a 30-year-old man.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Nice! My very first turning was a Harry Potter styled wand out of scrap aspen. I didn’t have much of a use for it other than just that I could make it, so it eventually became a brass tube insert tool for pen kits. It’s broken now, but I can turn a bead if I had to.
Brilliant! Yet another purchase I’m gonna have to make in the future.
Hey Marc,
Love your videos! I’d seriously consider putting some barbs on that stake. I’d be worried that the tapered shape would cause the stake to naturally work its way out of the vampire — that would not be good!