Looking to purchase a wood lathe for turning yo-yos

General Yo-Yo
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Ok I think I’m getting the idea now. The scroll chuck isn’t needed to center because the first step is you drill the axle hole in your blank, then place the live center inside it. Once you begin shaving the edges, you will define the center further.

The confusing part for me, and this may be just because I’m visualizing it all and don’t have it in front of me, but how do you go about centering the yoyo half on the block once you flip it over to work on the outside face? I saw @RC_yo-yo had a pretty good method where he had an axle sticking out of the block he had the half mounted to. Wondering how precise that method is though.

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What I was doing definitely wasn’t the best.

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I think it was fine. You know what you’re doing.

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Exactly what @RC_yo-yo does. Drill a hole on your chuck the same diameter as the hole on your yoyo half and mount it that way. You should have a small piece of double sided tape either side on the flat face of the chuck to help secure the half in place.

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This is great, thank you so much for all the help. I have a very solid idea now of the basic starting setup and stuff I’ll need.

Have you ever used a hole saw for drilling out blank pucks on a drill press?

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@Glenacius_K @vegabomb Figured I’d run this past you guys before ordering. I called my local Rocklers and they both suggested purchasing the lathe online as they are not sure the next time they’ll physically have them in store. Added a couple of the tailstock components (MT2) on as well while I was at it.

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The carbide tools I’ll go get in person or find elsewhere online.

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Looks good.

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I’ve seen that posted here a few times. Seems to work well.

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Drilling with a holesaw can work fine, but you will need a drill press with a fair bit of power.

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@GnarlyCharlie that list is good. I’d add these two items though.

https://www.rockler.com/carbide-mini-turning-tool-3-piece-set

That set is on sale for half price.

If you don’t have a face shield this is the exact one I use.

https://www.rockler.com/uvex-bionic-face-shield-with-anti-fog-coating

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Good call on the face shield.

You should also add a respirator to that list @GnarlyCharlie .

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I have a pretty cheap 5-speed 3070 rpm Harbor Freight drill press. No idea what the HP is on it though.

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Awesome, thanks! I’ll add those in. I saw the tools but thought they may be too small. Looking at the specs now and they are larger than I thought.

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For the time being I’ll be doing all my work outside. Still have a bunch of N95’s left over from building my walnut credenza. That fine walnut sawdust is a lung killer.

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For clarity that set does have the smaller cutter size on them. The full size heads are only on the full size tools. Getting this set though at the price is too good of a deal to pass.

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I’m thinking the one I’ll be using the most is the square end. Do you think 3/8” end is large enough?

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It’s doable but truthfully I use and prefer the larger head.

Also, if you go to the Rockler store they can place an order for the lathe to come into the store for pickup. That’ll save you $60.00 shipping for the lathe. All of the other items you are ordering are normally stocked in store so you could grab them as well.

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I signed up for their text offers in exchange for free shipping. I would prefer to get it shipped to a shop though.

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Do the larger heads mainly save time, or does it noticeably help with consistency when turning?

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Unfortunately the free shipping won’t apply to the lathe. It has an additional $60.00 fee for shipping. Like I said though… the store can order it in though and you could pick it up to avoid the fee.

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