# wood lathe



## Bandikam (May 18, 2017)

I purchased a used wood lathe for turning some spindles for my furniture projects. I am trying to turn a 12 inch x 1 1/2 inch piece of stock and I have roughed out of square to round but the thing seems to run out so bad it just vibrates when ever I offer it any of the cutting tools. It's not loose in the tail stock as I cannot feel any looseness when I try moving it by hand. The way it is I cannot cut any details into it, like beads for instance. Anyone have experience with this problem?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Check to see if headstock shaft is bent and running out of round. No bigger than the turning is there shouldn't be any vibration once the wood is round.


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## Bandikam (May 18, 2017)

Thank you. I suspected just something like that. It seems I made a bad purchase. I would like to have a good lathe but since I probably won't be using it very much I need to find a used one as new ones are quite expensive.Than again I may run into problems with a used one as I did with the one I have.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

try to find the source of the vibration. it may be a bad belt, bent pulley, bad bearing(s) ...


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## bornleader (Mar 18, 2014)

It could be the lathe is not level. Check the bed for level by bring two points together from the head stock and tailstock - the two points should meet perfectly. Putting a level on the bed and adjusting the feet for level north/south and east/west. 

Tell us bout your lathe - brand, model anything else pertinent. If you can turn round without vibration - your lathe should be good to go. 

Dave
One good turn deserves another


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

Are your tools sharp? Even new lathe tools need to be honed before use, sounds like you are getting chatter if there are no problems with the lathe


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## miket68 (Jun 16, 2017)

Being a machinist I was used to turning steel at 90 surface feet per minute, not 1,560 surface feet per minute of wood.

I sharpened my tools and cranked the RPM way up and my turning chatter and roughness went away just like that.
I kind of felt like a dummy when I figured that out. LOL I was thinking I just suck at wood turning.


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## CholeBur (Dec 31, 2020)

I didn't have that problem, but the vibration shouldn't be like that. Once I wanted to remove a wall in the house to make one big hall. Since we have a two-story house, I decided to make a beautiful railing for the stairs. I had a very old wood lathe, and I could hardly make anything good. Then I found this store https://mitersawjudge.com/best-wood-lathe-reviews-and-buying-guide/ , where there was a large variety of these machines, and ordered one of the latest models. The result is very beautiful and safe for children, no sharp corners  But in the future, we will call the masters, because I spent a lot of time.


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## holtzdreher (Jul 20, 2016)

you say it vibrate when you put a cutting tool to it. Sharpness of tools, having the tool rest too far away from the wood, 

Is it one of those double tube lathes? could be the tool rest is bouncing up and down because there is insufficient support for the banjo. There's a number of possibilities. Picture might help.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

this is a three year old thread - I think he resolved his issues


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