Looking for advice.

One thing no one has suggested yet........ buy a brand new sharp carbide router bit. I have found that a dull bit can cause what you are describing.

Kim

whammo57 said:

One thing no one has suggested yet........ buy a brand new sharp carbide router bit. I have found that a dull bit can cause what you are describing.

Kim

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this was my issue. Once I bought a new bit, smooth sailing. you have get several sizes for cheap at any major hardware store. I'm an amateur as well and have learned best from trial and error. Just ask the huge fire pit in my back yard that is full of practice dowels.

With the router in vertical postion on the older type of Deluxe where the low speed is around 350 it can have a hard time keeping up. The Straight 3/4" bit ground correctly on the end will usually keep up at that speed in the horizontal position. Adding a second motor that hooks up like the wrap motor does to slow the speed down is the best option if you want to continue using the router in the vertical position. Your wrap motor will not hold up very long if you try to put a speed control on it and use it for tapering. But you could do a test run with the wrap motor and dimmer switch and see if that does the trick. If it does then get a heavier duty second motor.

Also, some shaft wood is more flexible than others and is more prone to grooving.

There is a magical ratio between cutter speed:feed rate:spindle rpms. Each machine configuration will have a unique "sweet spot."

The only other thing I can think of is the center height of the cutter but I imagine you not using a wing cutter so it shouldn't matter as much.

Call the seller

Call the seller maybe the problem was his as well. Not the flooring. Level table then lathe. Align everything. Use sharp bits! Too much pressure against the shaft!


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JUSTABANGER 2 said:

I bought a used Hightower Deluxe. I'm just starting to try and turn down a couple of old shafts to practice on and check out what kind of tapper the bar is set at. The thing is I'm getting some pretty nasty chatter marks in the shafts I've tried taking smaller cuts but it doesn't seem to make any difference. At first I thought the old maple flooring was to limber or had to much flex so I switched to and old flat laminate I had laying around it did the same to it. Any thought guys? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Hi,

Every piece of advise that has been stated here is spot on and each one is very important.

Set up your feed to run a 6 minutes per 30" pass wether you are hogging or taking a .003 finish pass.
By doing this you will find there is less shock to the wood.

I have found that you should slow your lathe speed down as the diameter gets smaller also.

Make no mistake, getting shafts to come out perfect before sanding is something that will take you some time and effort. In the end it is worth the time and effort.

Rick

Here is a chart that I use when cutting shafts on my machine. Get a laser RPM Tach for 25.00 and start experimenting until you get the best results for your set up. I went through 4 other machines until I found what I think is the perfect result. Be paient!