Where to start?

[elspedo]

Afternoon all,

 

We've just moved house and the previous owners have left a load of old ercol furniture most of which are just missing the spindles.

 

Rather than see them go to waste I would like to attempt to fashion something myself. I've used a lathe back in college but that's now 15 years ago and I don't have a clue where to start.

 

I need to make about 50 of spindles of varying length (biggest would probably be 18" in length). What equipment do I need to give it a go?

 

I'm not looking for anything too expensive ~£300 as i'll probably make these and attempt a few bowls and then get distracted by something else.

[Mark Bolam]

Can't help you mate, but superb honesty!

[jrose]

I'm no expert so this may be crap advice, but you could look up pole lathe turning - basically all you need for that is a few bits of wood and some string. Get some chisels and off you go I think!

[se7enthdevil]

pole lathe is not the way to go here.

 

see if you can find a cheap lathe on ebay with a handful of chisels.

 

you only need a benchtop one if the longest you have to turn is only 18".

[treequip]

Ercol spindles are a good place to start with lathe work, nothing too taxing

 

The cheapest hobby lathe and chisels will see you right

 

Other than that, maybe seek out the local wood turners group. They may be able to help and may even be willing to trade services for timber or show you how.

[treequip]

I'm no expert so this may be crap advice, but you could look up pole lathe turning - basically all you need for that is a few bits of wood and some string. Get some chisels and off you go I think!

 

Dunno about this.

 

Pretty sure there it some sort of secret pole lath brethren ranked on how much shavings your beard can hold.:laugh1:

[bluebedouin]

....

I need to make about 50 of spindles of varying length (biggest would probably be 18" in length). What equipment do I need to give it a go?

 

I'm not looking for anything too expensive ~£300 as i'll probably make these and attempt a few bowls and then get distracted by something else.

Unless you really want to make them yourself,why not contact the company & see if they can supply them?

[Lazurus]

Fleabay for a simply lathe, don't go for cheap tools though, again get second hand, you will only need a spindle gouge a parting tool and a roughing gouge to get you started, add others if you need them. Don't forget you will need a sharpening system of some sort.

[dervishcarving]

a pole lathe would be fine. just take a while and a lot of leg-work. But you could knock one together for a few quid. Basic benchtop lathe would be fine too. I use both, pole and powered lathes but i dont have a beard to collect shavings in...well, not yet

[treesrus]

you need a rounding plane to get even thickness along the length. - [ame]

[/ame]