# New Lathe Day (For A New Guy )



## adirondak5 (Aug 15, 2016)

Hi all , my lathe got here this afternoon , after a long search I went with a Rikon 70 - 220 VSR . Woodcraft has a decent sale on them right now so I jumped on it . I also had a few questions I emailed Rikon customer support about regarding reversible chucks and compatability and my emails (multiple) were answered within 30 minutes which left a good impression.
 I was a little worried as I've read all the horror stories of shipping damage with big brown and when it finally arrived this afternoon and I looked at the box I was even more worried . Although it was still a reasonable rectangular shape the box had seen better days , it had tears and just looked beat .










After opening the box I felt better , the lathe itself is incased inside form fitting Styrofoam and the was what appears to be 1/8 plywood at both ends of box . So far all looks good , everything is in the box , paperwork , wrenches , centers , knockout bar , face plate , tool holder , banjo , tool rest , tail stock , and lathe









I was impressed with the size of the lathe itself and worried about carrying it down the basement entry , I removed the tail-stock and the banjo and  it was manageable , got it down on the workbench , where I also realized that I am going to have to build a stand for it , its a tad to high sitting on the workbench . I then cleaned the grease off everything and gave it a good look over .
 The ways are machined very nicely , the tail stock and the banjo slide along it nicely , the finish is nicely done . Its got some weight to it , the cam locks on the banjo and tail stock operate nicely , the centers line up pretty good right outta the box .





Plugged it in and hit the start button with the belt in the mid position (550 - 1650 rpm) at the low end I got 560 on the digital readout , high end 1800





It was quiet and smooth through the speed changes . 
First impressions , seems like a very well built machine , I am pleased with what I see to this point . More to come when I figure out the stand for this lathe


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## liljohn1368 (Aug 15, 2016)

Nice looking lathe.


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## Edgar (Aug 15, 2016)

Congrats on the new lathe!
Looks really nice.


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## stonepecker (Aug 15, 2016)

Congrats on the new lathe.
BEFORE you build a stand.......check out the stands posted within the forums.
I personally placed my lathe on tables, and counter tops and got out my ruler.  When I built mine, I knew the correct height I needed.  Coffee tables, were to low.  prebuilt cabinets were to high.  To enjoy turning that lathe needs to be just right for you.
Also, I use PAM for a bed lube to make everything slide easy.  

Enjoy your lathe........you will have hours of fun.  She looks like a beauty.


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## Rockytime (Aug 15, 2016)

Congrats on the new lathe. Very nice lathe. New machinery is sooo exciting.


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## Herb G (Aug 16, 2016)

Congrats on the new lathe. I would not use Pam on it...ever.
I would use Slip-It instead.


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## adirondak5 (Aug 16, 2016)

liljohn1368 said:


> Nice looking lathe.






Edgar said:


> Congrats on the new lathe!
> Looks really nice.



Thanks fellas 




stonepecker said:


> Congrats on the new lathe.
> BEFORE you build a stand.......check out the stands posted within the forums.
> I personally placed my lathe on tables, and counter tops and got out my ruler.  When I built mine, I knew the correct height I needed.  Coffee tables, were to low.  prebuilt cabinets were to high.  To enjoy turning that lathe needs to be just right for you.
> Also, I use PAM for a bed lube to make everything slide easy.
> ...



Thanks , I will enjoy the lathe . I have already been looking through the forum posts and pictures of home made lathe stands . There are a few that look good and should be fairly easy to build , height will be a major design feature when I get it built . Thanks for the tip on lubing , I was planning on just wiping the ways down with 3 & 1 oil every so often , I've used that to wipe the hiwinn rails on my cnc and it works good 



Rockytime said:


> Congrats on the new lathe. Very nice lathe. New machinery is sooo exciting.



Thanks , yes , very exciting 




Herb G said:


> Congrats on the new lathe. I would not use Pam on it...ever.
> I would use Slip-It instead.



Thanks Herb ,  I checked into the Slip-It , I see they have a silicone free version , I may give it a try . I do finish work with nitrocellulose lacquer on some of my other projects , so I try to keep any silicone products as far away from the shop as possible .


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## eharri446 (Aug 16, 2016)

Herb,

What is the issue with lacquer and silicone?

I had never heard of anything like that before.


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## JimB (Aug 16, 2016)

Congratulations! You will have countless hours of fun!


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## adirondak5 (Aug 16, 2016)

eharri446 said:


> Herb,
> 
> What is the issue with lacquer and silicone?
> 
> I had never heard of anything like that before.



Silicone contamination will cause all kinds of problems with lacquer finishes , fisheye being the most common term .  I've been lucky , have never had any problems with it , but I am pretty vigilant about any silicone products being near my shop . Once you get it on the wood its near impossible to get it off . Google fisheye in lacquer finishes , there are lots of pictures , generally it causes the lacquer to move away from the silicone contamination leaving dimples/pockmarks .  My other passion is guitar building , some finishes I have 4 to 5 hours of wet sanding on just the body before buffing , fisheye is something to avoid at all costs if you want a finish like this when working with lacquer 









JimB said:


> Congratulations! You will have countless hours of fun!



Thanks Jim , I am sure I will enjoy it immensely , just getting setup and researching here on the forum has been a blast


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## tomtedesco (Aug 16, 2016)

To quote a song "This could be the start of something big".  Thanks for the pic's and good luck.


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## Ligget (Aug 16, 2016)

Congrats on the new lathe, hope you both have many years of turning together!


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## Bob in SF (Aug 16, 2016)

Looks great - have fun!


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## MDWine (Aug 16, 2016)

Your experience with RIKON has been far better than mine.
I am not at all impressed with either company or product... glad it worked out for you though!!


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## adirondak5 (Aug 16, 2016)

tomtedesco said:


> To quote a song "This could be the start of something big".  Thanks for the pic's and good luck.



Thanks Tom 



Ligget said:


> Congrats on the new lathe, hope you both have many years of turning together!



Thank you Ligget



Bob in SF said:


> Looks great - have fun!



Thanks Bob




MDWine said:


> Your experience with RIKON has been far better than mine.
> I am not at all impressed with either company or product... glad it worked out for you though!!



I'm glad its working out too Michael , thanks 
I do know what you mean though in a general sense , I was almost going to purchase another brand which I won't name but after a terse chat online with their customer service they'll never get a dime from me even though they have a good product . I've got many different brand tools and all have their good and bad , luckily I've seen mostly good .


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## adirondak5 (Aug 16, 2016)

And the parts keep comming in . When I email Rikon support when researching the 70-220 vsr I got all my responses within 30 minutes , and they were friendly personable responses . My question for them was compatable reversible chucks , specifically the Nova g3 . The concern I had was with an adapter I was not sure if the grub screw would be on the shaft threads or behind it and I searched online but couldn't find that specific answer . They recommended the Record Power SC3 1x8 and assured me the grub screw would seat behind the threads on the shaft . After researching the SC3 its basically a clone of the Nova g3 , the only difference i could find is the jaw slides appear to be heavier . The Nova jaws will also fit the Record Power SC3 . And it has a 5 year warranty just like the lathe . So thats what I ended up getting and like Rod at customer support said , the grub screw seats behind the threads . It came with 50mm jaws , jaw screws , grub screw and leather grub screw cap , chuck key and allen keys , 2" face plate and a nice case to store it all in . I've got a set of Nova pen jaws on the way too.


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## adirondak5 (Aug 16, 2016)

Pen Jaws showed up :biggrin: ,






 Before I installed them on the chuck and go get the supplies for the stand I just want to try and turn something between the centers , I have some stabilized flame maple I did up a few months ago , I use some stabilized wood for knobs and control covers for some of my guitar builds so I am all set with a vacuum chamber and pump . This was a piece about 5" long and maybe .75 square . I used a gouge and a skew to turn it down , just wanted to get a feel for it . I then sanded it through the grits to 400 and then applied EEE , followed by Mylands High Build Friction Polish . I was pretty much just playing with the finish but it actually finished halfway decent . Lots more to learn .






 A few things I found out , my chisels while new and sharp are not sharp enough , they did a decent job but could be better , I'll need to address that . Another issue is the tool rest needs to be polished , it was a little rough sliding tools across , that should be an easy fix . Last the stock tool rest is 8" width , I think I am going to need something a bit narrower , I already chatted with Rick Herrell (thanks to info found on the forum) and have a narrower rest being made . Other than those observations by a newbie that really doesn't know a heck of a lot about this I was very happy with the performance of the lathe , it was smooth , solid , and the variable speed works great .  Tomorrow I'll get on the stand , I put the lathe on a workmate just to see how comfortable it would be sitting on a 30" high platform and that looks like it will be a good height for me .


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## adirondak5 (Aug 16, 2016)

Well , couldn't leave it alone so before I went to pick up supplies for the lathe stand I sharpened up the gouge and the skew just a touch with one of my plane sharpening stones , it didn't take much to get a pretty good edge . Then I figured I have one more piece of that stabilized flame maple big enough for a blank so I cut it to length and drilled it on the lathe , CA glued the brass tube inside it , let it dry and then trimmed it on the lathe . So far so good , set up the mandrel and the  blank with the proper bushings and started roughing , the gouge worked much better with a sharper edge , so did the skew . I was so engrossed I didn't get any pictures until I was all done . Nothing fancy , its a Gatsby kit in gun metal  from PSI . I finished the blank off same as before except I used  sanding sealer on this one and micro mesh . About 6 coats of Mylands friction polish and a few coats of carnuba . Like I said nothing fancy but it looks nice , gave it to the wife , got a big smootch :biggrin: First one down :smile-big:









Tomorrow I'll get back to the stand for the lathe


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## Fish30114 (Aug 16, 2016)

shoot brother that's a super nice first pen. You seem to have a good grasp on things--I really like that lathe, I ended up with something a little bigger and more costly, but I turned on one of those lathes at a seminar at our Woodcraft store--it was really good. I like your piece of wood you used, and I think it looks great--Good on ya!!

congrats on diving in full force!!


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## adirondak5 (Aug 17, 2016)

Fish30114 said:


> shoot brother that's a super nice first pen. You seem to have a good grasp on things--I really like that lathe, I ended up with something a little bigger and more costly, but I turned on one of those lathes at a seminar at our Woodcraft store--it was really good. I like your piece of wood you used, and I think it looks great--Good on ya!!
> 
> congrats on diving in full force!!



Thanks Fish . I've been reading and studying the forum and youtube , both have been extremely helpful , learning something new has always been enjoyable .
 So far I am quite happy with the lathe . The wood was some scraps left over from a nice piece of flame maple I happened on at Lowes , I stabilized some smaller pieces for other purposes and had this left over .


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## tomtedesco (Aug 17, 2016)

Really like the wood and finish.


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## adirondak5 (Aug 17, 2016)

tomtedesco said:


> Really like the wood and finish.



Thanks Tom , it was a nicely figured piece , one of my all time favorite woods , soft maple , especially when its got some figure to it 

I looked through the forum at all the home built lathe stands I could find and figured out what I want to build , it was a big help seeing all the examples .
I went and got my supplies this morning , I needed another 52" of 2x4 this afternoon so ran to the store and grabbed it and finished up the stand . I used 4 - 2 x 4 x 8 , and one 2' x 2' piece of 3/4 plywood , and a box of screws , about $40 . I also glued all joints with TiteBond. I was going to fishplate the outside of the legs and base with a triangular piece of plywood but I don't think it needs it . I'll get it down to the shop in a while and see how it works out .


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## adirondak5 (Aug 17, 2016)

Got the stand down in the shop , the lathe is bolted down to it , fits fine , height just right for me , solid , no side to side or back and forth movement at all . Just gotta move a shelf and slide my work bench about a foot and it'll be done . I have a little bit of plywood left that I'll make a tool rack and mount on the center cross support when I get the shop reorganized .


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## adirondak5 (Aug 19, 2016)

Getting organized a bit more , made a few sleds while cleaning up the shop , one for cutting pen blanks to length , keeps fingers away from blade





Another for Celtic Knots 





I then made  2  celtic knot blanks with some maple and some thin ebony , one just for practice and to test my jig/sled , and one for an actual pen if all works
Here's one blank





Here's the other , I turned it between centers , this was the practice blank , sanded to 400 , the used EEE , then micro mesh to 12000 , then sealer , and finally friction polish 









Pretty happy with the way it turned out


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## adirondak5 (Aug 19, 2016)

Got the other blank turned and finished , used it for a Sierra chrome/gunmetal .
It came out nice I think , I had a spot or two of ebony contamination on the maple that I couldn't get out but this is my pen so I'll live with it . Finish was pretty much the same as my first one , sanded to 600 g , EEE , micro mesh to 12000 , sealer followed by friction polish . Looks like my jig for the celtic knot is working out like it should so overall its been a good day .


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## Old Codger (Aug 19, 2016)

Congratulations Herb on your new Rikon lathe!!!  My first lathe was a 12" X 20" VS Rikon and I still have it and love it too!  Great lathe for turning smaller projects and pens, but I switched to Jet since Rikon at the time, didn't have a VSR lathe in the size I wanted.  I loved Rikon's C/S and like Jet, they are hard to beat, including more 'high end lathes'!!!  Enjoy new beauty and have fun with it...safe turning to you always!!!


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## adirondak5 (Aug 19, 2016)

Old Codger said:


> Congratulations Herb on your new Rikon lathe!!!  My first lathe was a 12" X 20" VS Rikon and I still have it and love it too!  Great lathe for turning smaller projects and pens, but I switched to Jet since Rikon at the time, didn't have a VSR lathe in the size I wanted.  I loved Rikon's C/S and like Jet, they are hard to beat, including more 'high end lathes'!!!  Enjoy new beauty and have fun with it...safe turning to you always!!!



Thanks much Old Codger . So far I am really liking The lathe , having fun , and learning a lot


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## MDWine (Aug 22, 2016)

Man, you're on a roll!


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## adirondak5 (Aug 22, 2016)

MDWine said:


> Man, you're on a roll!



Yea , this is fun Michael . I turned a few tool handles for 2 carbide  tools that are in the mail and I'll epoxy them into the handles when they arrive. Sapele , just finished with sealer and paste wax , made the ferrules out of 3/4" copper sweat couplings .


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## adirondak5 (Aug 24, 2016)

Made a simple wall rack for the turning tools , a lot nicer than having them under the bench or rolling around on the bench .


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## adirondak5 (Sep 15, 2016)

I noticed yesterday , well , actually I've noticed for a while now my legs ached a bit after standing on the concrete floor in the shop , more so when standing at the lathe or bandsaw or cnc for an extended time , so I stopped in Harbor Freight this morn and picked up a 4 pack of those anti fatigue floor mats , got 2 in ront of the lathe , I'll probably put the other 2 by the bandsaw or cnc . Well see in a few days if anything improves with these down on the floor . 





Now , you know I couldn't get outta there with just spending $9.99 , so I grabbed a pressure pot while there , I've been meaning to get into casting for a while for my guitar work , knobs and such but now pen blanks also . I took some of the fittings off the top , the cheap relief valve and 90* for the regulator , they were pretty hard coming off with whatever sealent they used , I'll get better quality fittings and install them , then I went and got a 14" pipe wrench out of the shed to remove the paint tube which I've heard is hard to remove , the paint tube was in  hand tight with just teflon tape on it , so that was easy . I bent the top handle so it will store under my work bench . I'll get it together sometime down the road . I downloaded the Harbor Freight super coupon for the 20% off in store on the pressure pot .


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## adirondak5 (Sep 17, 2016)

After a few sessions at the lathe with the anti fatigue matts on the floor I would have to say they do make a noticeable difference to me , legs and back feels much better than when standing on bare concrete . For $9.99 they were a good investment .


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## adirondak5 (Sep 26, 2016)

I was placing an order for some items at Arizona Silhouette a week or so back and saw a special they were running on a 27/64 Colt drill bit for 40% off . I've been using my old Harbor Freight drill bits with no problems but a 27/64 Colt bit for $13. and change seemed like it was worth checking out so I grabbed one . Now I've only drilled 3 blanks with it so far but what a difference . I might end up with a few more of these bits .


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## adirondak5 (Oct 7, 2016)

Got my pressure pot all plumbed up . I used teflon tape and joint compound on all joints . First test at 50 psi and 24hrs later its at approx 30 psi . I think the slow pressure loss is most likely at the lid gasket , I'll get some faucet lube and dab it on the gasket and see if that helps but I'm not too worried about it . I also built a rack for the pot from Curtis's plans , thanks Curtis . I even made a block mold from hdpe , again , thanks to Turn Tex & Curtis for info on this .


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## jimmyz (Oct 7, 2016)

Glad to hear you like the lathe. My old Delta is making noises in the headstock area, so I think the bearings are going. Can't get parts for most of the old Delta stuff.  I had pretty much decided the lathe you bought is the one I am going to get.  Glad you confirmed my decision!


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## adirondak5 (Oct 7, 2016)

jimmyz said:


> Glad to hear you like the lathe. My old Delta is making noises in the headstock area, so I think the bearings are going. Can't get parts for most of the old Delta stuff.  I had pretty much decided the lathe you bought is the one I am going to get.  Glad you confirmed my decision!



Yes , the lathe has been great , when I do need to change the belt on the pulley it takes about 20 seconds .  Its been smooth , plenty of power and VS works great . And when I was still looking around Rikon Support was fast to answer any questions I had . I am very happy with it .


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## adirondak5 (Oct 8, 2016)

Got tired of sifting through a bag of bushings to find the little bag with the bushings needed , so I picked this storage cabinet up at Lowes and mounted it to the wall . I labeled the smaller drawers for my bushings and the larger drawers hold tubes , pen kits , parts , etc . A lot easier than working out of bags and boxes .


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## Ambidex (Oct 8, 2016)

I also have had nothing but excellent experiences with Rikon..their service, reply time, and polite helpfulness was amazing the couple of times I've dealt with them.


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## TattooedTurner (Oct 8, 2016)

You took the ball and ran for a 110 yard TD! Nice job all the way around. I just got the same lathe last week & finished my first pen on it today, so far I'm very happy with it. I did spring for the stand but I could've and should've made my own like you did. I'm going to steal your idea for organizing my kits, supplies, & tools so they're not scattered about the drawers in my workbench and all over shelves. Thanks for sharing all your ideas.


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## adirondak5 (Oct 9, 2016)

Ambidex said:


> I also have had nothing but excellent experiences with Rikon..their service, reply time, and polite helpfulness was amazing the couple of times I've dealt with them.



Yes , its very refreshing to get fast , pleasant responses from some of these companies support staff , makes a difference IMO




TattooedTurner said:


> You took the ball and ran for a 110 yard TD! Nice job all the way around. I just got the same lathe last week & finished my first pen on it today, so far I'm very happy with it. I did spring for the stand but I could've and should've made my own like you did. I'm going to steal your idea for organizing my kits, supplies, & tools so they're not scattered about the drawers in my workbench and all over shelves. Thanks for sharing all your ideas.



Thanks TT . Congrats on the lathe . I came pretty close to ordering the stand but decided to try and build one , its not the greatest but it is solid and doesn't take up a lot of space , and I built it in about 4 hours so I had no wait time . I got the cabinet at Lowes and now thinking in retrospect they had one a bit larger that I should have gotten . But I have room in this one for all the bushings I'll ever need and my most used parts and kits so it will work fine . Its nice to have your tools and parts organized so you don't spend as much time looking for them as using them  Now if I could just find an auto cleaning work bench I'd be all set :biggrin:


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## TattooedTurner (Oct 9, 2016)

adirondak5 said:


> Thanks TT . Congrats on the lathe . I came pretty close to ordering the stand but decided to try and build one , its not the greatest but it is solid and doesn't take up a lot of space , and I built it in about 4 hours so I had no wait time . I got the cabinet at Lowes and now thinking in retrospect they had one a bit larger that I should have gotten . But I have room in this one for all the bushings I'll ever need and my most used parts and kits so it will work fine . Its nice to have your tools and parts organized so you don't spend as much time looking for them as using them  Now if I could just find an auto cleaning work bench I'd be all set :biggrin:



I lucked out, they had one at the store an hour away so I didn't have to wait. It has feet that adjust for an unlevel surface, but even bolted tightly together it's not nearly as stable as my other lathe sitting on a bench. It's not bad, but I have a feeling yours is better.


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## adirondak5 (Oct 9, 2016)

TattooedTurner said:


> I lucked out, they had one at the store an hour away so I didn't have to wait. It has feet that adjust for an unlevel surface, but even bolted tightly together it's not nearly as stable as my other lathe sitting on a bench. It's not bad, but I have a feeling yours is better.



I wouldn't say my home made stand is better , but I can say its rock solid and very stable . It was kind of fun to build it and I can't complain about the cost savings . But sometimes as was almost the case with me , you just want to get done and get set up . When I needed a stand for my CNC I could have built one for probably half of what I spent on buying a steel stand , but it was so much easier to just bolt  together the steel stand and be done with it in a few hours rather than run to Home Despot and take a day or 2 or 3 building it .


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## adirondak5 (Oct 26, 2016)

Made a sanding disc for the lathe today , just glued up plywood screwd onto a faceplate . I'll use stickyback sandpaper on it . I've been using pen mills to trim/square up my blanks and they have been working out ok but I am not thrilled with that system . I've got one of Rick Herrell's offset jigs on the way , seems like it should work well for my needs .


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## adirondak5 (Nov 1, 2016)

I epoxied a .062" piece of garolite onto my sanding disc face for the sticky back sand paper and also got the jig from Rick Herrell , works great .


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