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I have a wonderful old Delta wood lathe that I've been using along with a woodcraft wood buffing system for my guitar buffing duties. It's work pretty well thus far, except for the fact that the arbor is threaded such that it has to be used on the inboard side of the lathe. Because of this, as well as the smallish diameter of the buff, I'm constantly having to be especially careful not to bonk the guitar against the head of the lathe. I know it's just a matter of time before that happens.

What I really want is to be able to use a long shaft that would thread onto the 1" reverse-threaded hub on the outboard side of the lathe. Anybody know if such a thing exists, or would a machinist be my best route?

Ken

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Hi Ken,
This may not be much help but heres a link to the closest thing that may help you out. Then again a machinist may be your only option.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store ... ries?Args=

There are other places to get adapters but this is somewhere for your to start. I do the same thing you do except I have a Powermatic 3520 and can slide the head all the way down to the end of the tailstock end to give a little more room for buffing. I also have an extention that goes from 1-1/4 -8 to 1-8 that is about 4 or 5 inches long that also helps. I can buff an OM pretty easily if I pay close attention and not bang it on anything.

Jeff

Hi Ken,

Do you have a 3 or 4 jaw chuck? Just put it on the outfeed and insert any size of arbor into it.

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Dean

Thanks for the replies, fellas.

Jeff, that's a great lead, though I don't think an adapter will do the trick, as the reverse threads are the big stumbling block. There's some nice stuff on that site, though.

Dean -- I thought about a four jaw chuck, but unfortunately, I don't have one... Used to, at my old job, as well as a metal lathe, mill, cnc router, etc.
I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be putting that much lateral force on something not mechanically fastened to a 1600 rpm motor.

I did have a thought, though. If I could reverse the direction on the motor, then I could use my existing arbor, as it uses a morse taper to attach to the lathe shaft. I'd then just need to pull the lathe away from the wall and stand on the opposite side, but at least then I could use the outboard side.

I also have a call in to a machinist right down the road. As long as it's under a couple hundred bucks, it'll probably be the way to go. I like the fact that I can adjust the speed, and use an existing piece of equipment. Will update once I hear from the machinist.

Ken

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Ken, I tried using my lathe for buffing guitars. I used a long threaded rod with one end in the chuck and the other tightly held with a rotary center. It worked, kind of. The big issue, that caused me to give up trying this method, was that there simply isn't enough space around the wheel to safely buff a guitar. There's a very good chance you'll kill your guitar with this set up.

In the end I shelled out the cash for a Shop Fox arbour and some buffing wheels for it. I used an old motor I lying around and put it all together using cheap plywood. It's much easier to use and much safer.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

I understand your fear. But you better not be buffing at 1600 rpm! You will melt the finish right off the guitar.

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Dean

Thanks Dave for your insights.

I spoke with a machinist today, whose shop is within walking distance of my house. I told him what I needed, and he gave me an estimate of $150 for a 12" long shaft that starts out 1 1/2" in diameter, with an inch of 1" 8 tpi left-hand inside threads, then tapers down to 1 1/8" for about eight inches, then shoulders down to 1", with 4 inches of 12 tpi left hand threads on the end. He's also including two 3/16" x 3" dia. "washers" with a 1" hole to go on either side of the buff.

That seems like it should nicely accommodate the stewmac 14" buffs, and hopefully give me plenty of room away from the lathe head, without the risk of mechanical failure from the excessive side load of something like a four jaw chuck. This is significantly cheaper than the buffing system that stew mac offers, as I should be able to get the shaft and two buffs for under $200. The lathe also gives me the added bonus of variable speed.

I'm meeting him tomorrow morning to go over the drawing. Anybody see anything they'd change? 16" instead of 12"?

Ken

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Mmmm, 1600 may be a bit too fast for the 14" buffs, but from what I gather, many work in the 1100 to 1600 rpm range. I think the key is to keep the work moving so as to not build up heat in one area.

K

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com