Once again, in my quest to understand this instrument and it construction, I prevail upon the collective wisdom of this wonderful site.
I am looking into lathes. I keep getting drawn back to the Shopsmith all in one machine. What drew me to it initially is the horizontal boring feature. But the more I look at it, the more I realize it is a very well built, in fact, top quality machine. It seems to have all the features one would use in the construction of pipes. Usually when one buys a multi-function anything, it is not quite up to snuff on anything. That doesn’t appear to be the case here.
So tell me, folks, what am I missing? Or am I right in my assessment?
Yes! Something similar, except mine has an extended bed. The great thing about them is the attachments like vices and milling machines, very handy for the pipemaker.
I have seen many Shopsmith demo’s and tried one and can say they are one hell of a useful tool, as I’m sure your aware they have a huge number of attachments and uses, including a fabulous bandsaw attachment and the variable speed system is great.
My own views reflect from starting out life as a professional hand turner before taking the plunge into pipes, if you are starting out making pipes or simply wood turning for the first time, the best asthetics/results are definately gained doing them in free hand.
Pipe making does entail a certain amount of metalwork which I also think has the edge when done by hand, a metal lathe comes in handy for the engineering parts like threading and precission parts like valve bodies, but for freedom of expression and those flowing curves, free hand has a definate advantage over a fixed tool post.
Take a look at any modern piece of turned furniture and compare it with an antique piece that was made by hand.
As far as the shopsmith goes, if I could afford one I would have one tomorrow, but you can be rest assured it is definately not a jack of all trades and master of none, it is a very well made machine and up to any job in pipe making today.
I’m thinking the serious pipemaking student would want something more permanent, solid, not prone to viberating (stable mounts and lower center of gravity), not needing to change operations several times a day.
It seems like the accuracy and details needed for pipemaking would require a higher level of sophistication, depending on the desired result.
http://www.cornband.org/bagpipes/tools.html
Shown is a solid metal lathe for slow turning both boring and external rough shaping. Also shown is a small wood lathe for high speed sanding, polishing, finsh operations
[ This Message was edited by: Lorenzo on 2003-02-27 21:25 ]
How come I can’t find any web sites that show these same kind of close-up details of machinery, reamers, and processes in making uilleann pipes?
Kevin Scott wrote the following a couple of years ago on another web site (Yahoo Groups): “when I looked into buying my lathe it was recommended to me that I do the following. It is important that you see the attachments and chucks that are available and how they are configured. The drive shaft on the motor or head stock is of importance as it can be various diameters with different threads. Some chuck makers will also make face plates to fit different drive shafts. A very common configuration is a one inch diameter shaft with eight threads per inch, 1"X8TPI. Obviously if you use the metric system this will be different. However, the inside rate of taper in the shaft and at the tail stock is measured differently. These are called Morris Taper. This taper will dictate the kind of attachments that will fit into your drive or tail stock. A Morris taper #2 is a very common taper. The machine you choose should be able to fit chucks and attachments easily. Aside from those things you should see that the drive is powerful enough to work the wood you will be turning. The bed should be very strong with no flex in it. The legs should be sturdy and not easily rocked about. Here in the USA the Delta lathe is the most commonly available that will do everything you would want for pipe turning. Jet makes a copy of this machine for slightly less money. There are larger and more expensive machines available as well. There are also the machine lathes.”
EDIT NOTE: Actually I see Martin Preshaw’s site shows some new photos of the building process.
A few years ago I got a Taig Micro Lathe “mini-me” to play around with, get a feel for turning and whatnot. It has a whopping 9" between centers.
I am seriously thinking about a cue stick lathe which uses many Taig parts.. except of course for the 48" bed, 1 3/8" through spindle, twin chucks, taper bar and 1 axis Frog cnc system. Thats how I am going to go about it anyway..
For those of you who are using metal turning lathes for working wood: what shape and grade of carbide/tool steel are you using, and have you changed the tool post so that the bit mounts at a different vertical angle (tip of tool up or down more than for turning metal)? Also, what speeds are you using for the various operations (boring, reaming, turning)?
I brought this thread about lathes back up so those interested in the current discussion could see pictures on the previous page–lathes used by Brendan Ring and Martin Preshaw. There’s another thread I’ll bring up in which Quinn describes his use of metal vs. wood lathes.
I have a Shopsmith and have owned it for about 20 years with lots of years making cabinets, furniture with turned legs, turned lamps, etc.
I would not hesitate to use my Shopsmith as a complimentary tool to a metal lathe for the case of pipemaking. I think making Uilleann pipes is not so much science as it is art. I could probably turn out all the wood parts on the Shopsmith. Doing the switchover for the various operations is sometimes time consuming but if you plan out what can be done all at one time this would minimize your switchovers. The Shopsmith lends itself to the guy who is not doing mass production and is not going to be in a hurry. The machine is excellent for the homeowner that likes to do it himself/herself.
I personally would not attempt to make Uillean pipes on a Shopsmith because of the lack of metal turning capability. I would howver attempt to make Highland Drones as this can be easilty done. I am not sure you could get accurate ream/boring with the horizontal boring setup but then again I have never tried it out to do this sort of very precise work.
IMO, I would rather have stand-alone units for the various tasks. If you are restricted because of space, then the Shopsmith could probably do the job but it would be less than perfect.
