Lathe cutting top window blocks

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:59 am

Hi Gang;
Some time ago my son and I were at Disney here in Fl and watched a guy turning baseball bats. He had a very interesting technique. He used a parting tool to make the sizing cuts on the bat blank and the marked the bottom of the sizing cuts with a carpenter's pencil. Then he used a modified gouge to size the bat down to the pencil lines but did not remove the lines. The gouge had a swept back grind on one side of the flute and he could move right and left and keep a shearing cut. After cutting he used sandpaper to sand to the lines. I think he started with 60 grit. I think that by using this technique you will get very close to the desired dimension very consistently.
Chisel grinds are a very personal thing and one turner may not be comfortable with another's tools.
While the demo was going on my son and I were pointing through the window and having our own conversation. I guess the demonstrator noticed us and at the finish he came out with the bat and asked if we wanted a close up look. We both said "yes" but not at the bat, " we want to see your lathe chisel". Then my son showed him a couple of pens he turned and we had a really nice conversation for awhile.
Stair ballisters are nice but you may want to get some experience first.
Bill V

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:53 pm

[quote="SDSSmith"]Come on Chuck, show off your 'dancers'!]

Aw Shucks! I would have been glad to throw the lathe dancers into the mix, but they are designed to work on the long axis (spindles). These rosettes are being turned on the face of a block. somewhat like turning the inside of a bowl. 90 degrees to a spindle.

Thanks for remembering, Rob:) !!!

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:42 am

The OP did later mention stair spindles (Post 25) and the requirement for duplication.

Here is an option for duplication courtesy of Charlese
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=5819

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:01 pm

charlese wrote:Aw Shucks! I would have been glad to throw the lathe dancers into the mix, but they are designed to work on the long axis (spindles). These rosettes are being turned on the face of a block. somewhat like turning the inside of a bowl. 90 degrees to a spindle.

Thanks for remembering, Rob:) !!!

It sounds like mountaindon has the rosettes going in the right direction. I thought in this post he was looking for options on duplicating multiple spindles. I apologize for taking the thread off topic.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:49 pm

[quote="SDSSmith"]It sounds like mountaindon has the rosettes going in the right direction. I thought in this post he was looking for options on duplicating multiple spindles. I apologize for taking the thread off topic.]

Mountaindon injected spindles into this 'conversation' in post 25!;)

mountain4don · Post by **mountain4don** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:51 pm

I am working on a 1905 farm house that we are restoring, and thats why the original post on this thread was for turning the rosettes for the window and door trim top and bottom corner blocks. And I have that all figured out and half of the 30 or so of them cut already. And I used the ShopSmith table saw to shape all of the matching wood trim for around the doors and baseboards already. The last woodworking piece of the puzzle is reproducing the three existing railing spindles for the stairway to the second story, to also match the railing at the top of the stairs that has been refinished and is in place. And also to replace the spindles that were originally around the front porch. All total I probably need 25 of them for the stairs and another 30 or 40 of them for the front porch. So I am looking to try turning spindles (not very complex) and finding a way to make copies without spending all the money to purchase the ShopSmith lathe duplicator.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:22 pm

O.K. Since you are on to spindles and want to save money - I'll throw "Lather Dancers" into the mix. You could make a set of dancers for only a few bucks. Here's the thread where I tried to explain them. For more info search "lathe dancers in the serch block above.
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=5819&highlight=Lathe+Dancers

If you are interested - for a ful explanation of how to make the jig - - find a copy of "Popular Woodworking" Magazine - Volume #153 (Feb. 2006) page 30 -

You might be able to order a copy by going to the Poular Woodworking web site.

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Lathe cutting top window blocks

Stair Spindles