Spur Drive Options and Review

I know what youre thinking.  Really?  A review about a spur drive?  Come on, you are seriously low on content pal.  Actually no, Id like to pass along some information thats kinda the point of my blog.  A month of Sundays ago, I was on the prowl for a #3 MT spur drive.  There are lots of options and I finally found the one I wanted.  Hooked yet?

First off, in the land of wood lathes, a #3 MT is almost an anomaly.  Not many companies offer this size, so just finding one option is a touch daunting.

I wanted a spur drive so that I could reposition a piece for optimal grain characteristics during the roughing out phase of creating a bowl or hollow form.  Also, for plates, its nice to have the option of not having to grab the drill to attach a face plate or screw chuck.

So, lets see who the candidates were.

The first option that I found was the Sorby Stebcentre at Grizzly.  In hind sight, maybe I should have gone with this item for simplicity, but my concern was mainly from what Ive read about these being used for bowls.  From my research, these stebcentres are great, but are intended for endgrain work and not driving a bowl.  This does make sense to me due to the design of the teeth on this drive.  So, maybe it would have worked just as well as what Im using now, but I passed on this one due to information Id read from other users of stebcentres.  Regardless, this center has a spring loaded center which allows one to load and unload pieces from the lathe while the machine is running.  The piece simply stops turning as you reduce the pressure against the drive.  These are about $70 through Grizzly.  With this being the first item that I found, I simple wanted to keep looking.

Second we have a slightly different approach with drives that Best Wood Tools offers.  After finding the previous option, I was stuck for a while until stumbling across Best Wood Tools option of a thread on drive.  There reasoning for a threaded drive instead of the traditional MT is that (and Im paraphrasing) "with a taper, the drive can/will slip under heavy loads."  Now I understand what youre getting at, but Im not convinced.  If slippage was that much of a concern, I dont think the MT would be the standard for drill presses, metal lathes, or the wide variety of other machines that have used taper fits since the dawn of time.  Personally Ive never had a MT drive slip in any spindle (even a #1 MT), but if you want a fool proof, never gonna slip on the spindle approach, then a threaded drive will certainly do the trick.

The downside of having a 1 1/2 x 8 spindle on your lathe is that you either have to use a spindle adapter or search and search for tooling to fit your lathe.  This would have been the path I took without a doubt until I saw the price of the bad boys.  Ouch!  Before I get too carried away, let me tell you a bit about Best Wood Tools approach.  First, they make their drives modular.  This means you can buy the spindle adapter with a drive insert, and then just buy the different drive inserts as you need them.  These drives are indeed Texas sized.  The body of the drive is 2" in diameter and the drive area measures 1 1/2" across.  Thats some serious real estate.  They sure look like a great product, and I get that theyre made by a relatively small shop, but I couldnt shell out $100 for my spur drive and then another $50 for additional inserts if I needed them.

And third is the Axminster Jumbo Spur Drive.  This spur drive comes in either #2 MT or #3 MT.  Im not sure what type of steel it is made of.  I had originally thought it may have been electropolished or chrome plated because the drive is quite shinny.  Who doesnt like shiny?  I mean, come on people.  Anyways, the drive has begun to tarnish a bit on the drive teeth after turning a slew of wet woods.  I didnt notice any tarnishing until I turned some wet oak, which rusted my lathe bed too!  I will say that the metal seems to be quite soft.  Id prefer this than for it to be hardened and damage the taper in my spindle, but the back has taken dents quite readily from seating the drive.  I also knocked the drive out of the spindle one day too vigorously, which caused it to fall onto the lathe bed and dented the drive teeth rather deeply.  However, even with all of this said, Im still rather happy with the drive center and for £17 ($28.61) you really cant beat the price.  Even after shipping across the pond, I came out ahead price wise.

Before I decided on the spur drive from Axminster, I called Serious Toolworks Inc.  To say that they build a hefty lathe would be an understatement.  Ive not had the pleasure of test driving one of these beasts but would jump at the opportunity.  I do in fact like be heavy manly tools if you cant tell.  When I contacted Serious Toolworks they were in the middle or relocating and Scott told me that it would be a while before he would be able to send out a spur drive.  

The good news is that if youre in the same boat as I am, there are options for your #3 MT or 1 1/2x8 spindles.  Happy hunting!

I was not compensated for this review.  I ordered the product and paid for it myself.  The views expressed are mine alone.

Read more

A Dying Chainsaws Last Words

If you have an older chainsaw, youve probably heard it say this before:  "Help, Help!  cough, umpfh, vrooooommmmm!  cough, sputter, death."   Ill walk you through the steps of bringing a Stihl 026 chainsaw back to life.

Maybe I shouldnt lead off with this, but my Husquvarna 55 has never given me trouble...  Just sayin. 

Alright, some history.  The 026 was given to me.  Yes, pretty cool, right?  It was in a box...  In pieces...  With enough oil impregnated swarf packed into each nook and cranny to make a dozen toxic candles.  The first step was clear.  CLEAN!!!  Tooth picks, nylon brushes, and a steady supply of compressed air were the tools needed for this project.  After replacing the spark plug and putting some fresh gas in the tank, she was purring like a kitten.

Fast forward about a year and things arent so dandy.  Once the saw would turn over, it would immediately die.  Nothing is more frustrating.

So whats the problem?  Well, I had a hunch that the carburetor needed to be rebuilt, so I tore it apart and what do ya know.  The diaphragm was torn...  This is obviously an issue.  Lets hope it runs like a top when I get it back together.

I found my carburetor rebuild kit on ebay for less than $10.  If you try getting these parts from your local chainsaw shop...  Well lets just say you shouldnt even bother calling because it will be at least 3 times more expensive.

Rebuilding a carb is pretty straight forward.  Keep track of the way things come apart.  Catch the spring that wants to go airborne from the needle valve.  Give everything a good soak of carb cleaner and then reassemble.  Easy, right?  Well, just in case you like pictures as much as I do, youre in for a treat.

Wheres the Carburetor? 

The pictures should get you to the point of finding the carburetor, but just in case...  Turn the little black knob on the back of the air filter cover.  You will uncover an air filter!  Look!  Two screws...  gee what should I do?  Ok ok, sorry.  Its been a long day and Im a bit punchy.  Grab a large flat head screwdriver and remove the screws.  The air filter will pull right off.  Ta-da!  Grab a 5/16" wrench and remove the two nuts.  Lefty loosey...

Now flip the master control lever, a.k.a. choke lever to full choke (all the way down).  You should now be able to pull the carburetor out.  Mine was in there somethin fierce, so you just gotta tug a bit.  I would not recommend using a screwdriver to pry out the carb.  

There are two barbs that come off of the carburetor.  One goes to the gas line (which will be attached) the other goes to the impulse line (which will have to be pulled out. I also highlighted it for you).  At this point the throttle control wire will also be connected to the butterfly control arm.  Just pull the gas tube off and then you will be able to manipulate the throttle wire in such a manner that it too will disconnect.

Time for a Rebuild!

This process will be easier if you go ahead and give the carburetor a cursory cleaning before you start disassembly.  Just wiping it down with paper towels and blowing off the loose dust should be good enough.  

I start by removing the plate that covers the diaphram and pretty quickly see that it is well used.  I remove the gaskets and lay them out in the order they were disassembled.  Flip er over and remove the other cover by loosening a single philips head screw.  You will uncover a gasket and screen on this side.  Again, lay them out in the order that they were disassembled.

There are still a few items to get to before we start replacing gaskets.  The needle valve and fuel screen need to be cleaned or replaced.  A word of caution.  You remember that spring I mentioned earlier?  Youre about to find it so dont go all A.D.D. and pay attention.  There is a rocker that is held in place with a philips head screw.  Place your thumb over the side of the rocker that is closest to the center of the carb.  Once youve removed the screw, that spring wants to hide under the pile of dust in your shop where you will never find it again.  Slowly lift your thumb and collect the rocker arm, spring, screw, and needle.  A magnetic tray is a great place for these to live until youre ready for them.

Now flip er over and take a look at the little mesh screen.  Before you yank this thing out, make sure that you have a new one in your rebuild kit.  If not, either dont remove it or be extra careful.  A small metal pick works well to remove this screen.  If you dont have one, a small flat head screw driver works well also. 

With all of the gaskets and such removed, youre ready for the carb cleaner.  Soak this thing down and let the cleaner drain through all the passages and you should be good.  Make sure to spray every nook and cranny.  I did this step one morning before heading off to work.  That evening I got into replacing the components.  Id let the carb sit at least 30 minutes to allow everything to dry off before reassembling.

Start with putting the screen back in (if you took it out).  A pencil eraser works quite well to push the screen into place.  The screen will (at least mine was) be creased a bit.  Put the screen in place similarly to a coffee filter.  Those of you that are Keurig only folks are just screwed unless you remember what a coffee filter is...  I personally like the old fashioned percolator but thats a bit off topic now, isnt it?

Ready to put the needle valve back together?  I hope so.  Start off by placing the small coil spring in its home.  Put the needle in the rocker arm as shown.  Place the rocker arm and needle back on the carburetor.  If you cant remember the correct orientation, the dimple in the rocker arm goes over the coil spring.  Keep your thumb, finger, and friends thumb on the assembly while you walk across the shop to get the screwdriver youll need to run the philips head screw back in place.

I promise thats the hardest part of this whole post.  Moving on to gaskets.  Basically you just line up the holes and lay them down in the opposite order that you removed them.  Follow along with the pictures if you dont remember.  Also, I did actually put all four screws back, just not for this picture...  Not sure why.

Now for the other side.  Its the same song and dance.  Replace the gaskets parts in the reverse order of disassembly, and if you dont remember...  Well, thats what the pictures are for.

Alright!  The carb is back together.  Now just slam that bad boy on the saw and let er rip!  First on the list is to reconnect the gas line.  The gas line is the longer of the two tubes.  It hooks up the the black barb.  Now is also the time to reattach the throttle wire.  Any words I used to describe its orientation would be futile, so hopefully the picture will get you there.

Once these are attached, youre ready to place the carb on the threaded studs.  The chrome barb will line up with and self insert into the impulse line.  Run the nuts up snug and that parts done.

The last step before slapping the covers back on is to reattach the throttle wire to the trigger.  The throttle mechanism is a two part system which requires you to be gripping the handle to rev the motor.  There is a spring that wants to poke your eye out.  Push it down into the handle and place the remaining throttle component on top of the spring.  There will be a little indention that will hold this spring in place.  Once thats done, reinstall the handle cover and youre done.

As long as you didnt turn any of the adjustment screws on the carburetor in the process, you should be good to go.  

Still to come will be an almost complete rebuild of this saw.  Unfortunately my troubles did not end with the carburetor rebuild.  The saw was dreadfully low on compression and would not run.  Ill discuss the complete project in my next post along with a few tips and how to adjust the carb to factory "safe" settings.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave any questions or comments.

Read more

Official Wood Shop Mike Guacamole

What?!  A post about food?  What do guacamole and wood working have in common?  Admittedly, not much at all, but weve all gotta eat and this is a tasty treat thats pretty good for you too!  






Without realizing that it was the eve of Cinco de Mayo I had a craving for guacamole so while at the grocery store, my wife and I picked up the essentials.

• 4 hass avocados
• 2 limes
• 1/4 yellow onion
• 1 jalapeno (I wanted my lady to be able to eat some, so only 1 pepper)
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 clove of garlic (1/2 tsp minced garlic)
• salt to taste  

Start with the most fun step.  Cutting up those avocados!  Place the avocado on the cutting board and "roll" the knife around the fruit until you reach the beginning incision.  Grasp each half and twist the two end apart like youre opening up an Oreo.  yummmm  Oreos...  Ok now the dangerous part!  If you have no coordination, get a spoon!  I will not pay for your hospital bill!  Hold the avocado half that the seed is embedded into and grab your knife.  Lift the knife above you head and... just kidding.  Holding the knife an inch or two above the seed, snap the blade into the seed and twist the seed loose from the avocados flesh. 

 

Once the seed is out, cross hatch the flesh with you knife and scoop out the meat into your bowl.  Oh yeah, go get a bowl for your guacamole!  

The rest of the recipe should be self explanatory, but dont think Im just gonna leave you like that.  Slice off the top of the tomato and then cube the remaining flesh.  

Brace yourself and attain whatever eye protection is needed.  Its time to tell that onion whos boss.  I only used a 1/4 onion in my recipe, but feel free to use as much as youd like.  Peel the onion and cut in half along the pith.  

Then cut the onion in a fanned patter, think bloomin onion.  I find it easiest to cut one half and then turn it around so that Im always cutting this fanned pattern from the right side (Im right handed, might be easier inversed for you lefties).  

Now you just need to make your dicing cuts and in the bowl it goes!

On to Jose Jalapeno!  Were gonna turn his butt into guacamole!  First a quick death, decapitation!  Then slice down the middle and core out the insides.  A bit gruesome huh?  

I then slice it up into thin slivers and dice the pepper as to "redistribute the wealth."  

If you cant tell, I like lime.  Use less if youre not a big lime fan.  I wouldnt cut it out all together though, as the avocado meat absorbs and diminishes the limes flavor.  Also, the citrus from the lime helps the guacamole keep a bit longer.  Anyways, roll the limes against the counter pressing firmly down on them.  This breaks up the lime and makes juicing the fruit quicker.  If you have a citrus juicer, use it.  If not, stick a fork into the lime and twist until your efforts are futile.  Also, dont stab yourself.  It will sting more than normal with lime juice all over your hand!  Just a friendly heads up.

Add a clove of garlic and however much salt you want and your good to go!  I use a fork to mash up the avocado meat and mix everything together.  Grab the chips and chow down!

I toss the avocado seeds back into the bowl.  Aside from giving you an obstacle to eat around, they also help to keep the gauc fresh a bit longer!  Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Lemme know how you like the recipe!  Also, dont be a stranger.  Lets hear your favorite guac, salsa, or other dip recipes!  

Read more