25-05-2011, 07:42 PM
Hi,
Whilst I was attending the recent Golborne meeting I was pleased to give a number of my miniature wire winders away and all were warmly received. I made these winders on impulse just before the meeting and very quickly tested them.
At the meeting as I was demonstrating how the winders worked I found I had undercut the twister too much allowing the coil to deform; if anyone has this problem with one of the winders please let me know and I’ll be happy to replace the twister as they should produce perfect coils every time.
http://golbornevintageradio.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=102&highlight=wire+winder
One recipient told me he had trouble gripping small parts between his finger tips and told me not to worry because he would experiment with something the shape of a file handle.
At last I could get into the garage today as the week long high wind had finally dropped. I enjoyed a bit of quality time playing with my toys and hope the following is of interest. I had already turned a metal insert for fitting into a wooden handle using my engineering lathe so today I wanted to make the handle and epoxy the insert in.
I quickly mounted a short length of Meranti hardwood between centers and used my oval skew chisel to rough it down and then refine the finish. This was easy but then I found as I tried to bore the hole to accept the insert the brad point bit began to smoke and wander off center so next up was a lump of oak; the oak was cut roughly to size on my large Wadkin chop saw yielding two good pieces and again I went through the routine.
[attachment=1639][attachment=1640][attachment=1641]
Oval skew chisel. Burning rings. Ready for parting off.
I re-sharpened the 10mm brad point bit and was not at all happy to see the bit still deviate from center although now it was certainly cutting. I have a good stock of hardwood and was enjoying myself and two reject handles was no big deal.
This time I used my big drill press fitted with a 10mm HSS bit and bored the oak blank plenty deep enough to accept the insert which was tried for fit and found just right as I had turned it slightly undersize so that it wouldn’t be glue starved when fitted.
Next I turned a small wooden dowel giving a friction fit into the hole just bored and as this had been turned on the lathe it was already centered. For the third time I used the skew and turned the handle; removing the dowel it was now near enough and the insert was glued in using Poundland epoxy.
I didn’t want to turn a fancy shape in case it caused further gripping problems so settled on a sausage shape with well rounded ends. To add visual detail I wire burned a pair of rings. Please note how the lathe is set up for adding such rings; I use thick resistance wire which was used at work for cutting polythene and it is ideal for this job. One end is hooked around the lathe bed allowing it to be positioned anywhere along the bed and the other end has a scrap wood handle. Under no circumstances must either end of this wire be wrapped around a hand or fingers or serious injury is sure to follow; fingers are quickly removed if this warning is ignored. The wire is located at the position the ring is to be burnt and the wooden handle is pulled towards me and down giving good contact with the revolving timber the more contact the more smoke and deeper the ring; the wire will glow red hot so this also commands respect if a skin burn is to be avoided; burning such rings takes seconds and is so easily done.
[attachment=1642][attachment=1643][attachment=1644]
Short dowel. Dowel in place. Third time lucky.
After using the skew chisel I sanded then used a short length of common dowel to burnish the handle by simply applying the dowel to the revolving handle applying moderate pressure; this alone will bring up a nice shine and to finish I applied dark oak coloured wax polish buffing with a clean cloth. The waste at each end was removed with a hacksaw and finished on the belt sander touching in with wax polish completed the job.
This is a very simple woodturning project but even such a project gives immense satisfaction; I get high on the smell of freshly cut timber; the smell of smoke from the burning and the wax as it is applied.
This handle was not meant to be a showpiece and certainly isn’t up to David’s (Yorkie) gallery standards but nonetheless is acceptable and gave me the pleasure of making it. It is a bespoke handle that cost nothing in material and is meant to demonstrate just one use such a lathe can be put to. I don’t recommend a novice try using a skew chisel without first practicing with gouges or there is a risk of losing a front tooth or two. This handle was completely turned from square section to finish using the oval skew chisel but the small turned dowel was made using a spindle gouge as the skew was much too wide.
[attachment=1645][attachment=1646]
Metal insert added. Some of my turning tools.
The epoxy has now set and I found the handle to work perfectly whilst making a number of test coils. Hopefully; I’ll post the handle to the new owner tomorrow and hope he finds it satisfactory in use.
Kind regards, Col.
Whilst I was attending the recent Golborne meeting I was pleased to give a number of my miniature wire winders away and all were warmly received. I made these winders on impulse just before the meeting and very quickly tested them.
At the meeting as I was demonstrating how the winders worked I found I had undercut the twister too much allowing the coil to deform; if anyone has this problem with one of the winders please let me know and I’ll be happy to replace the twister as they should produce perfect coils every time.
http://golbornevintageradio.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=102&highlight=wire+winder
One recipient told me he had trouble gripping small parts between his finger tips and told me not to worry because he would experiment with something the shape of a file handle.
At last I could get into the garage today as the week long high wind had finally dropped. I enjoyed a bit of quality time playing with my toys and hope the following is of interest. I had already turned a metal insert for fitting into a wooden handle using my engineering lathe so today I wanted to make the handle and epoxy the insert in.
I quickly mounted a short length of Meranti hardwood between centers and used my oval skew chisel to rough it down and then refine the finish. This was easy but then I found as I tried to bore the hole to accept the insert the brad point bit began to smoke and wander off center so next up was a lump of oak; the oak was cut roughly to size on my large Wadkin chop saw yielding two good pieces and again I went through the routine.
[attachment=1639][attachment=1640][attachment=1641]
Oval skew chisel. Burning rings. Ready for parting off.
I re-sharpened the 10mm brad point bit and was not at all happy to see the bit still deviate from center although now it was certainly cutting. I have a good stock of hardwood and was enjoying myself and two reject handles was no big deal.
This time I used my big drill press fitted with a 10mm HSS bit and bored the oak blank plenty deep enough to accept the insert which was tried for fit and found just right as I had turned it slightly undersize so that it wouldn’t be glue starved when fitted.
Next I turned a small wooden dowel giving a friction fit into the hole just bored and as this had been turned on the lathe it was already centered. For the third time I used the skew and turned the handle; removing the dowel it was now near enough and the insert was glued in using Poundland epoxy.
I didn’t want to turn a fancy shape in case it caused further gripping problems so settled on a sausage shape with well rounded ends. To add visual detail I wire burned a pair of rings. Please note how the lathe is set up for adding such rings; I use thick resistance wire which was used at work for cutting polythene and it is ideal for this job. One end is hooked around the lathe bed allowing it to be positioned anywhere along the bed and the other end has a scrap wood handle. Under no circumstances must either end of this wire be wrapped around a hand or fingers or serious injury is sure to follow; fingers are quickly removed if this warning is ignored. The wire is located at the position the ring is to be burnt and the wooden handle is pulled towards me and down giving good contact with the revolving timber the more contact the more smoke and deeper the ring; the wire will glow red hot so this also commands respect if a skin burn is to be avoided; burning such rings takes seconds and is so easily done.
[attachment=1642][attachment=1643][attachment=1644]
Short dowel. Dowel in place. Third time lucky.
After using the skew chisel I sanded then used a short length of common dowel to burnish the handle by simply applying the dowel to the revolving handle applying moderate pressure; this alone will bring up a nice shine and to finish I applied dark oak coloured wax polish buffing with a clean cloth. The waste at each end was removed with a hacksaw and finished on the belt sander touching in with wax polish completed the job.
This is a very simple woodturning project but even such a project gives immense satisfaction; I get high on the smell of freshly cut timber; the smell of smoke from the burning and the wax as it is applied.
This handle was not meant to be a showpiece and certainly isn’t up to David’s (Yorkie) gallery standards but nonetheless is acceptable and gave me the pleasure of making it. It is a bespoke handle that cost nothing in material and is meant to demonstrate just one use such a lathe can be put to. I don’t recommend a novice try using a skew chisel without first practicing with gouges or there is a risk of losing a front tooth or two. This handle was completely turned from square section to finish using the oval skew chisel but the small turned dowel was made using a spindle gouge as the skew was much too wide.
[attachment=1645][attachment=1646]
Metal insert added. Some of my turning tools.
The epoxy has now set and I found the handle to work perfectly whilst making a number of test coils. Hopefully; I’ll post the handle to the new owner tomorrow and hope he finds it satisfactory in use.
Kind regards, Col.
