Woodturning A-Z

Danish Oil.
A mixture of Tung oil - possibly other oils plus solvents and drying agents. My favourite finish. It looks good years after it is applied unlike many other finishes.

Dead Centre.
This fits in the tailstock barrel. It supports the wood and acts as a bearing. It does not rotate with the wood as a "live" centre does. As it is fixed and does not rotate, lubrication is required to prevent burning. They are given away free with most lathes.

Devil Stone.
A hard block of abrasive used to dress grindstones.

Diamond section parting tool.
Has clearance at top and bottom the full length of the blade.

Dig-in. A catch.
Caused by instability in the cut with the tool getting out of control. Generally spoils the work during the final cut.

Dog chuck.
A kind of drive centre with projections which prevent the workpiece from slipping.

Domed Scraper.
One of the shapes in the original Peter Child bowl set.

Double ended spindle.
A spindle with two usable ends - usually with an additional left handed spindle thread at the left of the headstock which is used for bowl turning. The diameter of the bowl is not restricted by the bed.

Dovetail jaws.
Most chucks for woodturning use these. They lock onto the wood (which has to be shaped to fit the jaws) in a similar fashion to a dovetail joint.

Drawbar.
Retains something in the taper socket by means of a threaded rod which goes through the hole in the spindle.

Drill chuck.
Holds engineers twist drills, sawtooth bits etc for drilling holes. Generally fits into the morse taper socket in head or tailstock.

Drill jig.
A device which guides the drill and provides precise location of a pattern of holes.

Drive centre.
Drive spur, 2-prong centre, 4 prong centre etc. This supports the wood at the spindle end. It has a point to centre the work and blades which drive the work around.