Turning bottle stoppers

rdewinter · Post by **rdewinter** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:16 am

Would like to try turning some bottle stoppers. Is there a special shopsmith capable mandrel or chuck that is used for the bottle stopper blank? If anyone has turned these stoppers, I would appreciate any tips or advise.

Bob
San Diego

tom_k/mo · Post by **tom_k/mo** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:50 am

Bob, PSI sells THIS mandrel, or... if you already have a Oneway or Barracuda chuck you could just chuck a 3/8x16 threaded rod in the chuck and screw the wood to that. The advantage of the mandrel is the built-in shoulder indicating the correct diameter to turn the bottom of the wood to, to match the stopper. If you get that mandrel, you'll also need an adaptor (ShopSmith to 1x8 thread) which PSI also sells.

rdewinter · Post by **rdewinter** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:30 am

Tom
Being new to this type of turning (although I've turned some pens) please confirm if I'm understanding this correctly.
The mandrel you reference comes with a drill bit that you drill into the bottle wood blank and then screw it on to the mandrel. Then turn the bottom of the blank to the mandrel which is the correct size of the stopper.
Questions:
1) do the stoppers have the same thread pattern as the mandrel?
2) can you insert and remove the stopper several times or does the thread pattern in the blank start to get sloppy?
3) do you also glue the stopper into the blank?
4) you reference a SS adapter. Unclear as to what that is for.
5) in your opinion, is the mandrel a better way to go than a chuck?

Thanks for your help.

Bob
San Diego

tom_k/mo · Post by **tom_k/mo** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:33 am

Bob, although I haven't turned many stoppers (yet) I'll try to answer what I can...

rdewinter wrote: Questions:
1) do the stoppers have the same thread pattern as the mandrel?

Yes, that's the point. The description of the mandrel says "Specifically designed to turn the PSI Bottle Stopper projects. The chucks' threaded insert matches the BS1 thread." (BS1 is the Bottle Stopper kit they sell). Although the drill bit that comes with the mandrel is for the pilot hole, you'll need to have a tap to tap the threads out to match.

2) can you insert and remove the stopper several times or does the thread pattern in the blank start to get sloppy?

I haven't had that problem, although I haven't seen a need to install/remove the stopper from the mandrel a number of times.

3) do you also glue the stopper into the blank?

You can, but the ones I've done are tight enough it didn't seem necessary.

4) you reference a SS adapter. Unclear as to what that is for.

The mandrel has a 1" x 8 internal thread on the back. In order to attach it to the ShopSmith, you'll need THIS adaptor to fit it to the quill.

5) in your opinion, is the mandrel a better way to go than a chuck?

If you put a threaded rod in a chuck and attach the blank to that the only advantage the mandrel has is the shoulder similar to a pen bushing which would be an easy indication on what size to turn the bottom to. Either method would be a better solution than just chucking the block of wood in the jaws of a chuck IMHO.

rdewinter · Post by **rdewinter** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:22 am

Tom
Thank you for the information and tips. I'm ordering the PSI mandrel and adapter as suggested.

Do you have any insight or tips for "tapping" the stopper blank? Is this a hand operation or something done on the SS?

Bob
San Diego

tom_k/mo · Post by **tom_k/mo** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:45 am

Bob, I'm just using a hand tap. Be sure to back it out often to clear the chips.