Putting Oneway 1640 through its paces

My new lathe has been a round for a few weeks and it is a dream to use. I have been turning a few small projects just to get used to the controls and also to get it properly positioned in the space I have. I have also upgraded my sharpening setup to an 8" slow-speed grinder with a 180 grit CBN wheel from D-way. I wish I had done this a long time ago, these high tech (and expensive) wheels are optimized for HSS and one pass over the wheel and back to the lathe. I have an 8" white wheel from LV which is for re-shaping on the other side of the grinder.

Here's a few of the things I have spun out on the new lathe, which is just such an amazing piece of machinery:

I wanted a Longworth chuck for my last lathe and just never got around to making one; I had the Oneway jumbo jaws which did the trick when I needed to reverse a piece for finishing. This one is 16" in diameter and epoxied to one of the 3" faceplates my buddy Joey made for me.

The longworth came in handy for the first bowl I turned on the new baby - Apple about 9" diameter.

The first bowl from the new machine, this is a piece of Apple Dad picked up for me 15 years ago.

This was actually the first project turned, it will be a lamp once the hardware arrives.
The base is some of the same apple as above and the shade is pine.

My Walnut and maple handwheel

Oneway Handwheel hub.

The reverse side.

 One of the few things I did not like about the Oneway was the exposed thread on the outboard side of the headstock. I put a faceplate on the end to give me something to turn the spindle manually, but I did not want to tie up a faceplate for this. Obviously Oneway knows this is an issue so they make an aluminum handwheel hub so the owner can turn their own handwheel for their lathe. I have been using the new handwheel for a few days and its is the perfect size for my hand and is much safer than the faceplate.

Bacote

 I had picked up a few wine stopper kits at WIA last year from Craft Supplies and was looking for a quick project for the lathe and pulled these down. Yes I know that using this lathe to turn these small projects is like using a 12 gauge to kill a squirrel (yes I have); but I was on a roll - if I make them again I will use my bench top lathe - I promise!

 I have a few offcuts from tool handles that are on the shelf next to the lathe for small projects. I used the first two pieces I grabbed - bacote and cocobolo.

Cocobolo

The shapes for these things are everything under the sun, I did a few image searches and headed downstairs to make my own interpretation. These are apparently for re-capping a bottle of leftover wine; but I have never heard of that phenomenon - leftover wine? huh.







Back to the shop!!

Dressing Mirror holds a secret

After finishing the bedroom set for my oldest son I wanted to do something special for his girlfriend. We have known her since she was born and has always been a part of our family. Now that she is graduating from university and they are making a home together, we could not be more happy for them.

I wanted to make something personal that was just for her; they did not want a mirror for the dresser so we decided I would build a dressing mirror. Now everyone knows what this is, but I had a very difficult time finding examples online, let alone plans to build one – so a design from scratch was in order. Of course this started with a model to make sure the scale worked with the dresser:

The overall dimensions were designed around the mirror as I found a sample mirror from a local retailer that’s 12”x12” and nicely bevelled so the size was set.

Now as most woodworkers know, making something small does not mean it is less work; in fact, I have found the opposite to be the case. While this is just a box, mistakes are magnified as you scale the size down. here's a few pics documenting the build process.

It is important that the top and bottom panels be exactly the same size, here I am using my
Bill Carter tenon saw plane to clean up to the saw marks on the end grain.

The 3 vertical panels in the piece have 3/16" high tenons to fit into stopped grooves
in the top and bottom. This is the router jig I built to cut these grooves in the top and bottom.

 The mirror is supported by LV Mirror clips, which work nicely however they are not much to look at. To semi-hide them I put a lip on the front of the vertical supports to hide part of the hardware, to reduce the ugly factor. Once the exact spacing of the vertical members was determined it was time to fasten them to the top.

Lots a layout for a very tense cut. The vertical supports have a 1/4" deep tenon that is
let into a mortise in the top and screwed from below. This needed to be done before
the box could be glued up.

Can never have too many clamps...

Gluing some custom feet on the box and this part is complete.

I wanted to incorporate something unique and cool into this, and what’s cooler than a secret compartment. This was to be a simple unfinished box that fit behind the drawers and concealed as well as possible. These boxes slide into the drawer opening and a rare earth magnet holds them in place in the back. These are a piston fit for the voids so they look like they belong if one goes looking for them. Here’s a look inside:

A peek inside the box "showing" the hidden compartments. The piece you see at the bottom
is a "tongue" to pull out the hidden drawer and the drawer sides slide alongside this piece.

Time to cut the dovetails for the drawers, using my trusty David Barron guide on
my Moxon vise.

The mirror frame is to be a bridle joint and the table saw sled is the perfect way to cut these
accurately. My blade is a flat tooth rip which makes perfect grooves every-time.

The mirror frame in glue-up, the beveled glass is quite heavy, so I wanted a joint that
 would carry the weight and last forever.

The drawers are to hold jewelry and the drawer itself has walnut dividers and yellow leather base. Each drawer has a removable tray made from purpleheart and lined with black leather for rings and other bobbles. The overall width of the base is 22” which provides an incredible amount of storage in this amount of space.