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Owning few lathe tools and possessing a miniscule amount of knowledge about woodturning results in an inevitable learning experience.
I turned two spindles at a time on my mini-lathe. The first spindle took several hours to complete but the second one was turned in about 45 minutes. It did take a while to figure out how to use the tools... and how not to use them. Lesson one: lathe tools will let you know when you've mish
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The first set of spindles were turned facing one another, with the
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Therefore, the second set was turned with the handles (the fat part) positioned back to back.
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The spindles on the orginal table are missing, so I mimicked the shape of the handles on a friend's antique turning saw. I did, however, know the location of the pegs from photos that I had taken at the Landis Valley Museum.
I used inside calipers to measure the size of the hole and outside calipers to check the size of the peg that would fit into the hole. Lesson three: don't regret having purchased an expensive set of calipers years ago, even though
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5 coats of blonde shellac were applied to the completed spindles while they were still secured, and spinning, on the lathe.
A learning experience it was, but this was perhaps the most important lesson of all: signing up for a wo
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