Turning technology on a wood lathe
On a lathe the wooden part is spun and a tool gives it a cylindrical, conical or shaped surface. The blank is mounted between the headstock and tailstock centres: centre holes are drilled in both ends, the tailstock quill is advanced and locked, and a drop or two of oil is put on the tailstock centre. After mounting, the blank is turned by hand to check it spins freely without wobble. The tool rest is set close to the wood and moved closer from time to time during turning; if the gap is large, the tool is hard to hold. Rough turning is done with a gouge (6–60 mm wide), while smoothing and parting use a flat skew chisel: when smoothing, the blade cuts with up to 2/3 of its length starting from the blunt corner, and the sharp tip must not take part in the cut. Parting off is done with the sharp tip and continues until about 8–10 mm of wood remains. A lathe is used only on the teacher’s instruction and under supervision. The blank must be free of cracks and clamped firmly, goggles worn, long hair tied back; nobody touches the rest or the wood until the machine has stopped completely.
Order of work: the teacher names the turning process in 8 steps (check the blank, mark centres, mount, oil, rest, hand-turn, turn, stop); pupils put the step cards in order and write a safety condition for each. Only the teacher operates the lathe.