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The home made Laser Guided Lathe Tool described here is made up of a Stabilizer Bar mounted in place of the tailstock, a handle made of solid iron rods welded in a rectangle called a D-Handle, 3 Boring Bars (straight, 45° and curved). The D-handle has an adjustable arm holding a Laser Pen for tracking on the outside of the turning where the inside cutting action is. Nothing else is needed to perform deep hollowing with a lathe.
 The heart of the tool is the Laser Pen. This Laser Pen that is used is not designed for the job it is given here but it is inexpensive and does the job. Some failures can happen probably due to the shock the light experiences during turning. They have lasted through many uses but do not have a guarantee. Replacement can be ordered direct from z-bolt.com. Note: how the batteries are loaded in the laser pen, positive end of the 2 AAA batteries goes in first. It is a good idea to have extra batteries on hand. The laser pen light is turned on by twisting the washer headed screw clockwise. This presses on the laser pen light spring loaded button for the on position. Twist counter-clockwise for off. To adjust the laser light arm loosen both the hand lever screws on the adjustable arm. Place the left hand close under the tool tip and with the right hand turn on the laser light and move the light shown on your left hand to the desired distance from the tool tip. With the right hand tighten the hand lever screw on the vertical post first and then the horizontal arm hand lever screw. Note the laser light spot should not have moved from the original set position. Use about ¼" spacing between the tool tip and the laser light spot for a ¼" vessel wall thickness. For better accuracy it is suggested the lens from the laser pen light is removed and replace it with black electrician's tape with a small hole punched in the tape. This makes a very fine spot of the laser light for more accurate distance settings of the tool tip/laser light spot. From time to time re-check the position of the tool tip/laser light spot. CRITICAL is the position the laser light spot is set in relation to the cutting tip. That position must be in line with the cutting action. Not setting the laser light spot in line with the cutting direction may result in cutting through the side of a vase. Each boring bar tip has a 10% cobalt high speed steel cutter in the end. These cutters are extremely hard and should seldom need sharpening. They are used in metal lathes where abuse wears them. Their use in wood should last a long time. They can be take them out of the tool tips for re-sharpening with grinding wheel or use a diamond hand sharpener. It is worth experimenting with grinding different cutting shapes. These cutters are available from ENCO or any machine shop supply. The curved tip has two cutting tip mounting holes. One for getting around corners and the other set at 90° to the shaft for cutting under the lip of a vessel. A favorite tip is the straight with the cutter set at 45° to the shaft and used most of the time by some turners. The straight tool tip is used to cut the inside bottom of a vessel. The tool tip hand lever should be checked for tightness from time to time during turning. The center of the space between the Stabilizer Bars must be at the same height from the lathe bed as the center of the headstock. The Stabilizer Bars need to be set so the D-Handle can slide smoothly between the bars. Adjusting nuts are at each end of the Stabilizer. Set too loose the D-Handle will rattle as the tool tip is doing its job at the other end. CAUTION - Keep the Stabilizer at a safe close distance from the tool rest so that the D-handle will not fall out of the Torque Stabilizer during use, this could be a serious hazard! Raise and lower the tool rest as needed. It should be set so the cutting tip does its job at the largest diameter on the side of the hole in the vessel. When smoothing the inside bottom of the vessel you may have to move the tool rest up or down to get cutting right on center. Use a flash light to see the correct tool tip placement. |