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Lathe Speed for Roughing Gouge

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Lazurus:
I don't and never have had a RPM meter on a lathe so have no idea what the actual RPM is, what I can say is I now, within reason, turn at higher speeds than when I started out. Start slow, be safe and you will soon get the "feel" of the right speed for each individual blank be it spindle or face plate turning. try and get some tuition from local turners, it can save a lot of time and frustration. Best of luck.

Lazurus:
Oh and keep your tools sharp

Les Symonds:
I am strongly in favour of NOT giving formulae for or tables of appropriate lathe speeds for various diameters of work pieces. I believe this approach to be fundamentally flawed. It is hypothetical and treats wood as though it is some sort of uniform commodity, which we all know to be untrue.
There is no predetermined safe speed for any given size of timber, rather, there are basic guidelines which must be adapted to take the nature of each individual piece of wood into account.
Les

Paul Hannaby:
I take the opposite approach because terms such as "slow", "fast", "safe", "comfortable"  etc. mean different things to different people and often rely on a degree of experience that a novice can't be expected to have. I'm confident that the method I use can be used by a turner at any level and is ultimately safer than using wooly terms to avoid the question.
I agree that wood isn't uniform and there are other factors such as balance which override any calculation on safety grounds but as long as all that is made clear, a consistent approach can be presented.

Sandy:
Hi GeordieTurner

The very first response you received, from Pete of bodrighywood, was "How long is a piece of string?" which indicates the subjectivity of your question.  You've had many good replies with several points to try and understand, take on board and absorb.

So you don't get confused or frustrated, I'd suggest you follow Paul Hannaby's good advice and formulae and stick with that quite religiously as a guide to the working lathe speed to run your lathe up to.  This will give you a line in the sand to not exceed until you gain more experience BUT, each and every time you switch on and run the lathe up to the guide speed, if you feel it's too fast, unsafe or things such as vibration start to happen that scares you then simply slow the speed back down bit.  Take your time and work slowly.  You may never feel the need to go above that guideline speed.

That's the approach I took and now feel accomplished at selecting a safe lathe speed for a particular turn at the lathe.  I always kept in mind it wasn't a race and, after all, pole lathe turners turn out some nice work at a slow speed.  I now don't look at the speed dial very often, mostly only when I'm about to abrade, but just run the speed up while watching the wood spin and stop when I feel 'it's fast enough'. 

Excuse the above puns.

Enjoy safe turning.

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