Is this the best way to set up a lathe for turning small parts ?

[Balsabasher]

Now I need some advice from you chaps who are savy with a lathe,I know nothing about them but have been experimenting making simple items for solid models that have previously been fabricated by hand.
What I want to know is am I tackling say making this basic radial engine correctly ? I started by marking out a block of wood to get the centre position for the chuck,to do this I used one of those very clever gizmo's that automatically gets the exact centre,then I knocked the edges off with a chisel before attempting to cut any wood away on the lathe,next I mounted the block between the head and tailstock,set up the rest carefully so that I could rest the chisel safely whilst turning the part,next I set up a pair of calipers for the diameter and kept going until it was close before a final sand with some garnet paper,now I was confronted with a problem which I want you to tell me if I tackled it correctly,I wanted to work the front of the cowl with the obvious recess,so next I removed the part that I had made and cut off two correct length cowlings,next I changed the headstock for the circular metal disc and made a circular piece of this ply that screwed from the rear of it into the disc,now how to fix the colwling so I could work on that on the lathe ? my method was to carefully centre it onto the disc and glue it into place leaving it overnight to cure,next day I set up the tool holder as shown at slight right angle to the cowl and removed the centre portion of the engine cowling as shown,this is where I am not sure if there is a better way to tackle this ? the tool holder would have been better if the rest was perfectly at
right angles rather than on a skew but I cannot get it to fit any other way.
Would I have been better to have made the cowl from scratch centred onto the headstock as shown from the beginning ? if so how do I hold the block of wood in place,is it best to have a larger block and whittle down to size from that position.
Over to you lathe experts,can you offer me any advice as to a better solution to this please.

There is probably a good book on lathes but I am a great believer in getting in at the deep end and picking up any obvious things as I have done here without a book.

Barry.



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_TURN_UP_A_COWLING.JPG

[Mark Braunlich]

Barry,
How about a trepanning tool in a drill press? http://www.rebenda.cz/english/trepan/trepan.htm
I don't own a proper lathe but I've turned cowlings with wood bolted onto a bench grinder spindle.  I've jury-rigged various tool rests for trepanning the cowl front.

Be CAREFUL! The worst work injury I've ever seen was from a tool rest rotating into a wooden work piece.  The large piece of wood came off the lathe and hit the operator in the head resulting in a broken skull. 

Mark

[cliff strachan]

Good Grief, Mark! Guess there's something to be said for balsa and the old fashioned X-acto knives afterall.

Cliff.

[Balsabasher]

Yes Mark I have one of those devices and used it with some success,you can build up the wooden rings and laminate bread and butter fashion.
After what you have said I think in future all wood will have to be firmly screwed to the headstock disc,even a chisel snatch could dislodge the glued part sending it into space,my father once experienced something similar in a factory,the only difference being a lump of metal that had come loose threw itself some distance across the factory floor ending up in a vat of suds and missing an operator by a foot !
Good sound advice,like everythin whirling away you need to exercise caution.
Barry.