Laser rpm tachometer - wow!
Hi,
I just purchased a hand held Laser Beam RPM Tach and right out the the box it has made a very significant impact on the quality control of my products.
I tested some lead screw feeds and lathe RPM on both my shaft and butt saw machines and within 1/2 hour my finish cut were coming of the machine with a shine as the saw blades were actually burnishing the wood. Unbelievable! The Juma and Black Phenolic butt caps, joint collars, and pre installed ferrules on my shafts also looked like they were sanded right off the machine.
I was getting what I thought was as perfect of an end product beyond my expectations. My goal was to get no swirl lines, chatter, or facets on my saw finishes. My extrapolation of the rpm and linear travel gave me an end product that I thought was as good as it gets. The only sanding I had to do was to clean up some hair like grain raise.
Now with the Laser device I can dial in the numbers to 1 RPM accuracy using my trimmer pots on the DC motor controllers.
I will be doing some very exacting calculations this week and will chart and post optimum speeds and feeds for:
Hogging initial tapers
Intermediate taper sizing
Final taper sizing
Because the piece in the lathe changes in dia. as you go towards final cut, the speed of the rotational linear geometry changes, thus the need for slight rpm and feed changes for perfection.
If you are looking to improve the tapering finish of your items, you have to go off for the $ 30.00 and buy one of the units.
I have also experimented with RPM speeds on my wood lathe while applying my epoxy substrate coats and have eliminated almost all of my slight swirl lines. This reduced my sanding time in half because the swirls represented the high spots that had to be leveled.
Stand by for some more info and pics coming soon.
Rick G
Hi,
I just purchased a hand held Laser Beam RPM Tach and right out the the box it has made a very significant impact on the quality control of my products.
I tested some lead screw feeds and lathe RPM on both my shaft and butt saw machines and within 1/2 hour my finish cut were coming of the machine with a shine as the saw blades were actually burnishing the wood. Unbelievable! The Juma and Black Phenolic butt caps, joint collars, and pre installed ferrules on my shafts also looked like they were sanded right off the machine.
I was getting what I thought was as perfect of an end product beyond my expectations. My goal was to get no swirl lines, chatter, or facets on my saw finishes. My extrapolation of the rpm and linear travel gave me an end product that I thought was as good as it gets. The only sanding I had to do was to clean up some hair like grain raise.
Now with the Laser device I can dial in the numbers to 1 RPM accuracy using my trimmer pots on the DC motor controllers.
I will be doing some very exacting calculations this week and will chart and post optimum speeds and feeds for:
Hogging initial tapers
Intermediate taper sizing
Final taper sizing
Because the piece in the lathe changes in dia. as you go towards final cut, the speed of the rotational linear geometry changes, thus the need for slight rpm and feed changes for perfection.
If you are looking to improve the tapering finish of your items, you have to go off for the $ 30.00 and buy one of the units.
I have also experimented with RPM speeds on my wood lathe while applying my epoxy substrate coats and have eliminated almost all of my slight swirl lines. This reduced my sanding time in half because the swirls represented the high spots that had to be leveled.
Stand by for some more info and pics coming soon.
Rick G
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