When I did demonstrations I always took my own lathe and other equipment with me because then I knew I would have exactly what I needed and that everything fitted together and was geared to whatever I was going to demonstrate.
Amongst the items I took with me were a home-made vacuum chuck system and a home-made ball turning jig. These items usually generated some interest because, on the whole, woodturners are an inventive lot and love to make something which would otherwise have been expensive to buy.
After a demonstration I would often receive emails asking for more information on how I built or used these systems, and so I’ve decided to publish the information here so that it is readily available to whoever wants it.
In the table below are several articles which I wrote for Woodworker & Woodturner magazine and which were first published there. The versions published here are my originals, before the magazine edited them to fit their pages and, in several instances introduced errors into them. Any errors here are all mine!
As a result of these articles I was invited to write a review of a commercial vacuum chuck system manufactured by the Air-Press Company Ltd. It turned out to be a fine piece of kit but, I thought, rather expensive. I couldn’t help but compare it with my own version and have included those comparisons here too.
To open these articles in a new window, click on the icon in the left-hand column.
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