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Hello everyone! I have a quick question and apologize in advance if this has already been covered...I just ordered my first lathe, a Jet JML-10 14. I'm going to be purchasing a jaw chuck soon, but in the meantime could I still use the lathe to turn pipe bowls and general shaping using the spindle and tail stock? Thanks!

No.

ok thanks for the reply!

Well, you probably could turn the bowl, but then you'd have to freehand drill, which kinda defeats the purpose. You're much better off waiting for the chuck. It will be much safer that way too.

Thank you lathe experts.

Of course you can use the machine to cut bowls - there are many methods of mounting which do not include 2-jaw chucks but pipemakers don't know about them because... they use 2 jaw chucks.

That machine should come with a face plate which spins onto the spindle, you can attach a piece of plywood to it and glue a block on that, or you can screw though something like that into an area of the block that will be wasted.

You can cut the chamber with a parting tool or buy a jacobs chuck to fit in the tailstock.

If you're just starting off on a lathe, and especially if you're glueing the block like Sas says, round over the corners of your block before you put it on. And wear protective gear. (A face shield isn't a bad idea) I've had a few blocks come off the lathe with my 2-jaw chuck. I can't imagine how many more I would have lost if they had been attached with glue instead of chuck jaws.


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I've also glued pieces onto a waste block over the years. If you are going to use CA glue or wood glue you are going to need a well fitting joint. If you don't have turning experience, I suspect your chuck will arrive before you get to that level of ability. I have also used hot melt glue on bowl blanks up to 12" in diameter, and have seen it used on much larger pieces. For big bowls like that the glue gets melted in an electric frying pan and the piece is dipped. You might be able to make it work with a good sized glue gun for a little piece of briar, and hot melt is slightly more forgiving if your mating surfaces are not as true as they could be. I prefer solid wood for a waste block whenever possible. If you use plywood (and you can) you are trusting the glue bond of the first layer of ply from the factory. Not all plywood is equal.

Whatever you use, if you go this route, keep the tailstock center up against your work for as long as possible. It is no fun being bonked in the head, even with a small piece of wood.

ETA: If you decide to try hot melt glue in an electric frying pan, I need to add that this is a ONE WAY trip for that pan. In other words, don't sneak the pan out of the kitchen thinking you will get it back unnoticed.

LittleBill wrote: It is no fun being bonked in the head, even with a small piece of wood.

Crushed-to-splinters briar blocks really add up at $25 a pop, eh, Bill?

LatakiaLover wrote:

LittleBill wrote: It is no fun being bonked in the head, even with a small piece of wood.

Crushed-to-splinters briar blocks really add up at $25 a pop, eh, Bill?

Actually George, I believe I have you to thank for this particular picture. So thank you.

Just put my big boy pants on and bought a chuck....the lathe should be here thursday so I added 2 day shipping. Thanks foe advice everyone. I look forward to learning much more from you all. One more question for the night (yeah right) what kind of wood would you experts recommend that practice on since briar is 25+$ a pop. Something that I might be able to pick up at like lowes or hd?

drake8302 wrote:Just put my big boy pants on and bought a chuck....the lathe should be here thursday so I added 2 day shipping. Thanks foe advice everyone. I look forward to learning much more from you all. One more question for the night (yeah right) what kind of wood would you experts recommend that practice on since briar is 25+$ a pop. Something that I might be able to pick up at like lowes or hd?

You can try a hardwood like Maple, Cherry, or Pear. They have hard enough grain and will make smokeable pipes to boot. I started off drilling 2x4's for practice, but those won't really turn well since the grain is so soft.

You can get blocks much cheaper than $25 per block. $5-$10 blocks can be found if you dont mind micro sized blocks. I would recommend starting with these blocks because you are going to be trashing quite a few in the beginning.

drake8302 wrote:Just put my big boy pants on and bought a chuck....the lathe should be here thursday so I added 2 day shipping. Thanks foe advice everyone. I look forward to learning much more from you all. One more question for the night (yeah right) what kind of wood would you experts recommend that practice on since briar is 25+$ a pop. Something that I might be able to pick up at like lowes or hd?

I doubt you will find anything suitable at a home center type store, and if you did, it won't be a lot cheaper than briar - only lower quality at a higher price. The good news is you can feed a wood lathe with firewood. Wet stuff turns real easy, but is going to warp and crack depending on what you do with it. If you can grab some well seasoned firewood, you can cut yourself briar sized blocks and start practicing for almost no cost at all.

I saw some small blocks online from a guy named vermont freehand for around 6.50...has anyone ever bought blocks from him?

LittleBill wrote:If you can grab some well seasoned firewood, you can cut yourself briar sized blocks and start practicing for almost no cost at all.

drake8302 wrote:I saw some small blocks online from a guy named vermont freehand for around 6.50...has anyone ever bought blocks from him?

He is A member of the forum and a stellar guy to deal with. I would advise buying blocks 10 to 20 at A time. Buying 3 blocks, paying shipping, buying 4 more and paying shipping again doesnt make sense.

Good deal. I need to look him up.

LatakiaLover wrote:

LittleBill wrote:If you can grab some well seasoned firewood, you can cut yourself briar sized blocks and start practicing for almost no cost at all.

Holy CRAP!

Solomon_pipes wrote:

drake8302 wrote:I saw some small blocks online from a guy named vermont freehand for around 6.50...has anyone ever bought blocks from him?

He is A member of the forum and a stellar guy to deal with. I would advise buying blocks 10 to 20 at A time. Buying 3 blocks, paying shipping, buying 4 more and paying shipping again doesnt make sense.

+1 Steve is great to deal with and has most everything you could want in stock. Always good to deal with.



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