5. Setting up the workshop

Position and height of lathes for satisfactory working - Natural and artificial lighting - Power requirements

I wonder how many times you have picked up some magazine or other and seen on the cover, in glorious Technicolor, a young husband merrily working away with a small machine, in their newly furnished kitchen. Possibly he is turning legs for a stool, bits of which are lying on the floor. Standing near by is his wife, all proud smiles.

Well, it may be just like that, but I am sure that my wife would be far from smiles if I used the kitchen for turning.

Woodturning is a fascinating hobby, but I would not go as far as to recommend the kitchen for the operation, if you wish to keep your home life peaceful. I know of no other woodcraft which makes such a mess so quickly, with chips and shavings in all directions.

Setting up a workshop usually takes a long time and it is not easy to plan beforehand to suit everybody's needs and circumstances. All I can hope to do, is to pass on the knowledge I have acquired from messing about for some years. I believe it is every handyman's ambition to have a workshop of his own some day, so here goes.

I am going to assume you have decided to buy one of the larger types of lathes of approximately 48 in. overall length, to take up turning quite seriously. With this type of lathe, we shall probably have floor standard lamps in mind and these have to have a hole bored through their entire length, using a 24 in. auger, which will be passed through the tail-stock or similar attachment. To use the auger, we shall require nearly 2 ft. for elbow room. Coming to the other end of the lathe, the headstock end, we shall also probably want to do some bowl turning, so again we want another 2 ft. for elbow room. All these distances added together will give you the actual length of working space required, which is about 10 ft. If you are going to use a smaller lathe, such as a drill-powered one, then the length of work­shop space will be about 6 ft., but whatever you use allow for long hole boring and elbow room on the right of the lathe.

Woodturning can be quite well carried on in a narrow passage, as it is really the length of the workshop which matters. A very nice shed for turning would be one about 10 ft. long by 6 ft. to 8 ft. wide, with a 2 ft. wide bench running the whole length of one of the longest sides. Make this bench as strong as possible, preferably with 11/2 in. thick boards to form the top. You may think this is rather extrava­gant, having a bench of this length, but until you have actually done some turning, it is difficult to realize just how many bits and pieces you get around you. Fix the bench firmly to the walls and floor, so that it is perfectly rigid, and any vibration in turning operations (and believe me, you will get plenty), will not shake the whole bench and fitments to pieces.

The height of the bench cannot definitely be laid down, as this depends on the height of the lathe itself, and on the height of the person using it. However, the combined height of bench and lathe should be arranged so that the headstock is level with your elbow. If the bench is too low, you can soon develop mysterious pains in your back, which will make turning a real misery. Bearing in mind that you may stand for a considerable time at the bench, a nice comfort­able working position is to be aimed at.

We cannot always choose the exact position for a shed to be built, but we must have plenty of light. I prefer to have a window in front of the lathe facing away from the sun, if possible. A northern facing window is ideal. You may think that this is all wrong, but working with the sun streaming into your face in the summer is most unpleasant, and, furthermore, it plays havoc with any partly turned articles which may be lying on the bench.

In front of you and just below the window, arrange some simple clips, or nails will do, to hold your various turning tools, and above the window, put a nice long shelf to keep your different turning attachments, such as faceplates, drills and chucks. To your right and left above the bench, have more shelves on which to keep partly turned articles, screws and miscellaneous odds and ends. Underneath the bench, it is a good idea to have still more shelves on which to keep your wood of various types and sizes, all together.

You are probably wondering by now, what about the wall behind you, when you are standing at the bench. Now although you have probably seen magazine pictures with this wall covered with bits and pieces, on many shelves, it is not such a good idea, because when you are merrily turning away, all the chips and shavings you make, will shower behind you and any shelves that are there will soon be under a good thick layer of dust and chips. This is one of the reasons why I do not think the kitchen is such a good place for woodturning!

This gives you some idea of a satisfactory workshop set up for turning. Of course, it may be possible to improve on it, but after some years of turning and rearranging my own workshop, this is the pattern I have found to be most practi­cal. You may fancy a larger workshop, but where turning is done, it is a case of the bigger the shed, the bigger the mess.

At this point, it is interesting to take note of one very important finding of the time and motion study experts. That is, for maximum efficiency, a machine operator, dentist or any other person, in any occupation, engaged in working in a confined space, must have everything arranged around him so that he is able to work in a 5 ft. cube. If this is done, then everything he requires is ready at his finger tips and what is stranger still, most things get put back in their proper places without even thinking about it. Try this yourself when setting up your workshop and see how it works. Better still, try it on your wife in the kitchen. It will save her feet no end!

Artificial lighting will, of course, be needed, and although a fluorescent tube is very nice for general lighting, I much prefer two separate lights, above and at either end of the lathe. One big disadvantage of having a fluorescent tube over the lathe, is that it does not cast any shadows and in turning, you will find that shadows cast on the work, will help you to see any rough spots quite easily. Hence my preference for normal lighting with metal shades.

The lathe motor switch is best fitted just under the bench, below the headstock. Here, it will be fairly free of the dust and chips which must be kept out of the switch. It should be of the push on/push off type, with an overload trip device which disconnects the mains supply, should the motor be accidentally stopped or overloaded. The 1/2h.p. motor will consume 6-8 amps when started and 3-4 amps when run­ning. This means that a normal 13 amp power point can be used with complete safety. Tumbler switches are not advised for starting the lathe, as these do get particles of wood in the working parts and cause sparking. You will find it advan­tageous to have a double-throw fused switch on your power supply to the workshop, so that if accidents do happen, the whole electric appliance in the shed can be isolated, thus preventing the whole household from being plunged into darkness.

If your lathe is driven by an electric drill, a separate motor switch is not required, as this is incorporated in the drill itself. All that will be necessary is a three-pin switch plug mounted in a fairly dust free position.

One final point about your workshop is heating. This is a must, because to obtain satisfactory results when polishing, a reasonable room temperature is required. French polish and cellulose do very queer things if the room is cold or damp, as I have found to my cost. I will go into the peculiarities of finishing in a later chapter.

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