I have been really hard on myself lately wondering when something will finally give, when something will finally pop and turn into something amazing, so i have been pushing myself extra hard trying to take risks.
I have been fascinated by engines for the past few years and the more I look into motorcycle engines in particular, I see things that most "normal" 23 year-old people probably overlook. On the old motorcycles that I like, the old air-heads, the cylinders are all cast. It makes me think, if manufacturers can do it, why can't I? I mean, don't get me wrong, I fully understand that engine design takes serious engineering, but over the few years I have acquired many skills and tools that would facilitate casting an engine head.
Below showcases my FIRST attempt to make a form that I could press into sand to sand cast, because why not? Right? You have to remember I'm a dreamer.
I found this chunk of apple wood on our wood pile and began turning.
When I flipped the switch, the vibrations of the wood being off balance caused the whole lathe to shake. This is very unsettling as I was taught to hold my hand and chisel on the tool rest just mere millimeters from the violently spinning stock. It took me years to develop the confidence to turn things that are so out-of-round.
It wasn't long before the wood was perfectly centered and the vibrations disappeared. I did a modified facing operation, just to make sure the ends were perfectly parallel.
Once I was satisfied with the profile of the workpiece, I parted off the wood with a modified lawn mower blade cut off tool.
I remounted the wood and was beginning to bore a hole through the whole workpiece, before tragedy happened...
It wasn't long into using the Nova self-centering chuck that the wood came loose, broke the fins, hit my hand and ricochet up to hit my face. Don't mind me who is just being melodramatic, but it is worth saying that turning on a lathe is one of the most, if not the MOST, dangerous tool in the shop. I have heard plenty of horror stories of unsuspecting craftspeople that get pulled into the spinning jaws. It also is a reminder to always check, and double check your chuck jaws.
The more and more that I analyze my mistakes, I realize that it is very obvious that the fins broke so easily. Wood has a definite grain to it and in the photo above you can see the grain is vertical which makes the fins very brittle. I would be willing to bet that the fins would be stronger if the grain ran horizontally.
Until next time old friend, I will be back.
Remember, failure is part of learning. Each failure gets me closer and closer to success.
Stay tuned!
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