Preparing a Piece of Wood For Turning - Spindles

There are two main types of woodturning, spindle and faceplate. Each requires a different approach to wood preparation for mounting on a lathe. Spindles may fall into two different categories but the approaches are similar.

Spindle turning refers to wood that is positioned with the grain parallel to the lathe bed. This gives a strength to the wood that is in the direction of the grain and is suitable for handles, stair newel posts, chair rungs and the like. Such spindles may be categorized as needing or not needing flat sided sections such as squares or rectangles.

Those that need flat sections require extra preparation before mounting on the wood lathe. An excellent example is a table leg. The upper part is usually left flat in the form of a square or rectangle so as to be joined to the aprons of the table with a joint such as a mortice and tenon. In this case the wood should be be dried, and cut to either the square or rectangle needed.

For this, the wood will need to be either purchased dried to a reasonable amount for the area. It should then rest in the shop for a couple of weeks to adjust to the shop humidity. A table saw and jointer may be needed to ensure the wood is square and cut to the appropriate length. The flat section should be marked off before mounting on the lathe and it is usually easier to mark for any mortice and tenon areas at this time as well.

Care is required to mark for the lathe centers at the point where the center of the leg will be, not necessarily at the center of the wood. This is especially obvious when a rectangle is left at the top of the leg, not a square. These points should be dimpled with an awl to ensure the lathe centers enter exactly on point. Some people cut slots for the spur center to mate with but this is not necessary.

If there is no need for a flat section, all that is necessary is to estimate the centers of the spindle blank and mount it to the lathe. A simple method is to center the spindle on the spur center and hit it on with a mallet. There is some concern on the part of some turners that this will hurt the bearings on the lathe. In the case that this were true, the lathe is too light for turning and should be replaced. When the tail center is brought up, centered on the spindle and tightened in place, there will be more pressure constantly on the bearings than would occur with a couple of mallet swats.

This spindle wood may be dry or green depending on the desired results. Keep in mind that green wood may oval when drying and if the grain is not extremely straight will likely warp. Rough turning and then letting the spindle dry before final turning is a good technique to employ.

Spindles are easy to mount between centers. It is the oldest way to turn wood and as you do so you are entering into a centuries old tradition.

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