small item turning

7/9/04, 12:56 AM #1

Jack Guzman from Maine
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small item turning

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Hello, I don't visit this forum much.I own a grizzly basic 36"lathe.I got it to make handles and such. I've turned a few crude bowls,a couple mallets and alot of tool handles. I use a few parting tools,a 3/4 in gouge for roughing in and a 1/4 in bowl gouge. Plus I have a few flea market skews,gouges and scrapers.

I need to know what I need to turn small knobs or spindles.Is there an accessory for holding a small item on one center that doesn't cost more than my lathe? When I make a knob now,I put a long piece between centers and turn the knob out of one end and then cut it off.But,I can't get tiny knobs that way.My setup is just too crude. Help anyone?---Crackerjack

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I am a carpenter by trade.Also a handyman/Jack -of-all-trades.I work around my neighborhood mostly helping people keep up their old houses.I have a fairly large woodworking shop in my house where I work with both hand and power tools. At the moment I'm focusing on Windsor chairs building.I will build most anything if needed. I'm always learning,adapting,changing trying to broaden my woodworking skills.I work mostly with hand tools in my shop but will use power if it is a better way to get the desired result. My wife,Donna,and I live in the woods of Maine with our dogs,cats,and birds. We have 5 grown kids and six grandchildren. Woodcentral has been central to my growth as a woodworker. I pass through this place every day.

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 1:20 AM #2

john lucas
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Re: small item turning

John Lucas

>Jack

These days I chuck up a small scrap in my 4 jaw chuck and true it up. then I drill a hole in the center . I remove the piece and run a screw the size that I need through the hole from the back side. Then I epoxy the screw in place. Now put this back in the chuck. drill my blank and screw it on the homemade chuck I just described. Then I turn the knob.

Before I had a chuck I would do the same thing by gluing a piece on a waste block. The only difference would be that I would use a longer screw. You do need a faceplate that has a hole in the center.

You can glue your knob material directly to the waste block and just turn the knob but then you have to drill the hole for the mounting screw after words.

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 2:03 AM #3

JamieDonaldson
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Re: small item turning

JamieDonaldson

>Try doing it the old fashioned way-turn a semblance of a Morse taper on one end and then drive it into the spindle nose for final turning of knobs, etc. It helps to use the tailstock as much as possible until you are ready to make the final shaping cuts on the end, then part or saw off the taper.

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 2:05 AM #4

Jack Guzman from Maine
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Re: small item turning

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Thanks John,I think I can do that.---Crackerjack

- - -

I am a carpenter by trade.Also a handyman/Jack -of-all-trades.I work around my neighborhood mostly helping people keep up their old houses.I have a fairly large woodworking shop in my house where I work with both hand and power tools. At the moment I'm focusing on Windsor chairs building.I will build most anything if needed. I'm always learning,adapting,changing trying to broaden my woodworking skills.I work mostly with hand tools in my shop but will use power if it is a better way to get the desired result. My wife,Donna,and I live in the woods of Maine with our dogs,cats,and birds. We have 5 grown kids and six grandchildren. Woodcentral has been central to my growth as a woodworker. I pass through this place every day.

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 11:01 AM #5

gtools
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Re: small item turning string out

gtools

>cherry shaker knobs...stringing-out gives the advantage of fine tuning the porfile.....gtools

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 11:36 AM #6

Richard Allen
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Re: small item turning *LINK*

Richard Allen

>Oneway has a small screw chuck that slides in your MT of your headstock spindle. It is designed to use the sanme screw you will be using for mounting you knobs and can acomadatem sloted, philips and square head screws.

The chuck works great. Use the tailstock for support for most the the turning. Move the tailstock out of the way to finish off the top of the knob.

Oneway small screw chuck

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I have been turning wood for about 12 years now. I consume about 20 hours a week in front of the lathe making primarly bowls and platters. I keep thinking about making other "stuff" on the lathe, and ocasionaly I even get beyond the thinking part. But I take the most pleasure in bowls and platters. I have most every tool availble for the lathe but I am always looking for a new tool. More than looking for a new tool I am looking for a new hunk of wood. While a corner woodworker (sometimes called flat woodworker) can never have enough clamps, I find most woodturners can never have enough turning stock. The woodturning club I belong to has a Christmas party each year and part of that party is a "grab bag". We bring in a turning, that is judged by the people who come to the party. The people who make the top three turnings get prizes (like sandpaper or a tool). The real prize though is the exchange of turnings that comes from this colection of turnings. Some of my most cherished turned objects are the ones I have recieved from these grab bags.

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 11:45 AM #7

gtools
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Re: small turning better string

gtools

>new at resizing pics, another try......gtools...

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 1:42 PM #8

John U - Charlotte, NC
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Re: small item turning *LINK*

John U - Charlotte, NC

>A small screw center might work well -- here's one for under $10 you can pick up from your local Sears store, or try www.craftsman.com and search for item #00929846000.

Craftsman Screw Center

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 2:01 PM #9

Arch
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Re: small turning better string

Arch

>Where in Maine,Jack? Anywhere near Bucksport?

Most machine shops will give you broken drill bits with Morse tapers. Cut off the twist leaving a short stub of the shank. Grind a flat on the stub so that a piece of small nail lying on it lengthwise just reaches the circumference. Voila! a cheap small pin chuck.

Or grind off the shank flush with the taper, If it's too hard, heat red hot & let cool slowly to soften. Drill and tap for a small hanger bolt. Viola! a oneway screwchuck knockoff!

For very small knobs etc screw a Phillips head into the small blank, (could be the screw that will be used to attach the knobs) Turn by driving with a phillips bit held in a Jacobs chuck. Secure with the tail center.

There's no need for me to use one word when too many will do. :) Good luck. Arch

Re: small item turning

7/9/04, 7:24 PM #10

Loose Tenon
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Re: small item turning

Loose Tenon

>Another method that will work well is to make a compression chuck out of some scrap hard wood with a morse taper on one end. The other end has a taper to it also and the center is drilled out to accept the doweled end of the knob, slightly undersized. Saw across the drilled end in two places so that when you make a ring to slide on the chuck it can compress and hold your work. You could prepare your knobs to rough shape between centers, in the string fashion, but make the dowels accurate. Cut off at the dowels and insert them in the chuck, tap up the ring to tighten and finish the shaping. If you have access to Ernie Conover's lathe book there's a good diagram of it in there. I make napkin rings this way, only I use the external part of the chuck and bring up the tail center to expand the chuck.

HTH Loose Tenon

Re: small item turning

7/10/04, 2:15 AM #11

Jack Guzman from Maine
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Re: small turning better string

Jack Guzman from Maine

>I'm in Newfield. It's a small town on the NH border in northern york county.The top of the bottom.---Jack

- - -

I am a carpenter by trade.Also a handyman/Jack -of-all-trades.I work around my neighborhood mostly helping people keep up their old houses.I have a fairly large woodworking shop in my house where I work with both hand and power tools. At the moment I'm focusing on Windsor chairs building.I will build most anything if needed. I'm always learning,adapting,changing trying to broaden my woodworking skills.I work mostly with hand tools in my shop but will use power if it is a better way to get the desired result. My wife,Donna,and I live in the woods of Maine with our dogs,cats,and birds. We have 5 grown kids and six grandchildren. Woodcentral has been central to my growth as a woodworker. I pass through this place every day.

Re: small item turning

7/10/04, 2:21 AM #12

Jack Guzman from Maine
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Thanks everyone

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Wow! I should visit more often. You people are very accomodating. I hang out on the hand tools forum because that's what I'm mainly into.

Your responses answered my question quite well. Thanks---Crackerjack

- - -

I am a carpenter by trade.Also a handyman/Jack -of-all-trades.I work around my neighborhood mostly helping people keep up their old houses.I have a fairly large woodworking shop in my house where I work with both hand and power tools. At the moment I'm focusing on Windsor chairs building.I will build most anything if needed. I'm always learning,adapting,changing trying to broaden my woodworking skills.I work mostly with hand tools in my shop but will use power if it is a better way to get the desired result. My wife,Donna,and I live in the woods of Maine with our dogs,cats,and birds. We have 5 grown kids and six grandchildren. Woodcentral has been central to my growth as a woodworker. I pass through this place every day.

small item turning

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