Mucking About with the Lathe Duplicator; Fixing Gramp's Feet

[algale]

I have no business starting a new project while I've still got to finish a frame for the wife and get the canoe done, but...

A couple of months ago I bought a "used" lathe duplicator. As far as I can tell, it was never used. I wanted it for a specific project I've been thinking about for years.

My Grandfather was in the furniture business. He wasn't a cabinetmaker himself, but his company, The Old Colony Furniture Company of Boston, made very high end reproductions of 18th Century American and English antiques from about 1925 until 1964. He personally purchased all the lumber and veneer and maintained and set up all the machinery. Here's the cover of one of the old catalogs.

FullSizeRender(9).jpg (158.28 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

Over the years I have collected a number of the pieces, including this chest.

FullSizeRender(8).jpg (124.5 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

One problem with this piece, which dates to about 1933, is that someone cut off the bottom inch and a half of the legs/feet. Here's what the chest with its feet intact should look like (again from the catalog).

FullSizeRender(6).jpg (92.62 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

Luckily, another family member owns one of these chest and its feet are fully intact. Years ago I took a profile and measurements of the feet with the hope of someday restoring mine.

So, with the lathe duplicator and a pattern made from my drawing, I set up the lathe duplicator and had at it. In this photo I had just finished making a copy of one foot:

FullSizeRender(5).jpg (131.35 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

But my set up was off; my centerline was not quite where it should have been and as a consequence the foot was a little too narrow. In the photo I've got some measurement tools out to make sure the set up was spot on (the Wixey hanging off the bottom of the bracket was to make sure it and the attached pattern was perfectly parallel to the turning).

After checking my set up, I made four more feet and these were much closer to the correct diameter, within a hundreth of an inch, so I decided to call it a job.

I forgot to take photos of all four of the feet (five with the bad one) all in a row sitting on the lathe. But here they are initial finishing (with Trans Tint dyes and shellac) sitting on top of the chest for a color comparison:

FullSizeRender(7).jpg (127.68 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

FullSizeRender(2).jpg (134.18 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

They are a little too red at the moment, but I will correct that once I install them by padding on more shellac together with some tinted touch up powders.

I haven't mounted them yet and it may take a while before I get up the guts to take a drill to the legs to accept the dowel on the ends of the turnings. Stay tuned.

As for the lathe duplicator, what can I say? I am impressed. While it is a little tedious to get all your alignments done correctly, once you are properly setup set up it is very easy to use to make exact duplicate turnings. I am not a turner by any means, but you would have to be completely incompetent not to get acceptable results. You just try to keep the pointer at a tangent to your pattern and take small cuts. I'm already thinking about some projects with turned legs that this accessory will make possible.

[nuhobby]

Great save-type work! I love seeing jobs like this well-done.

Chris

[pieceseeker]

That's pretty cool. Looks like if a person can fabricate any 2 dimensional profile, then that profile can be turned! Thats a "duh" moment for me, hadn't really thought about doing that. Don't have a duplicator, but maybe someday.