Shopsmith Forums

Does anyone have spindle experience with going from square (4 corners)to regular turned spindle without getting chip out? Could you help me with which cutter you use and how you use it on the wood to transition without tear out? I have 16 legs to do and need to do without tear out due to cost of the wood. Expensive.

qtndas01 wrote:Does anyone have spindle experience with going from square (4 corners)to regular turned spindle without getting chip out? Could you help me with which cutter you use and how you use it on the wood to transition without tear out? I have 16 legs to do and need to do without tear out due to cost of the wood. Expensive.

If you have a jointer, the late R.J. DeCristoforo years ago illustrated how to get started on that by doing a 45 degree bevel cut to turn the 4 sided stock into a more lathe friendly 8 sided stock.

I didn't have access to one, so I tilted the table and did it on my bandsaw when I made some repetitive spindles for a stairway. Now had I owned a lathe duplicator, it would have been easier to match, but you do it with good measurements, and calipers to verify layout and symmetry.

Practice on some similar sized cheaper stock you have cut down to get your technique spot on before moving to the more expensive stock if you aren't comfortable at first.

Also check out http://www.woodcraft.com/articles/390/t ... -look.aspx

The roughing gouge will get you round, then use your lathe duplicator instructions to duplicate your 'final creation'


Everett

I do what Everette does which is bevel the corners off. You can use the band saw, table saw or the jointer. As far as cutters I use a circular carbide cutter on the duplicator that I buy at Woodcraft. It is about 5/8 inch in diameter and it works extremely well. The hole in the cutter is larger than the SS ones so I use a washer to hold it onto the cutter arm. The SS ones work well but you have to sharpen them more often especially if you are doing very hard wood.
Paul

I cut off the four corners on the bandsaw, use a roughing gouge to turn the spindle round, then use the duplicator cutters to turn the profile.

If you are trying to cut a pommel, as Allan Batty, calls it, try using the skew chisel. I recommend watching the whole video, as he is a great teacher, but the cut you want is about five minutes in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfeLAHQSbqk

Mike

masonsailor2 wrote:I do what Everette does which is bevel the corners off. You can use the band saw, table saw or the jointer. As far as cutters I use a circular carbide cutter on the duplicator that I buy at Woodcraft. It is about 5/8 inch in diameter and it works extremely well. The hole in the cutter is larger than the SS ones so I use a washer to hold it onto the cutter arm. The SS ones work well but you have to sharpen them more often especially if you are doing very hard wood.
Paul

I was talking to sales from tablelegs.com and he said they cut the corners on the band saw and have a jig made for it. I have used Easy Wood Tool cutters I purchased from Woodcraft. To handle the hole difference, I bought #6/32 by 3/8" course thread screws with a tapered head at Ace for .16". The round C13 is 7/16" which comes to only 1/32" difference all the way around from Shopsmith. Not enough to matter to me. Or you could make the follower a lttle smaller by sanding or filing. The detailer is almost the same also. They are on sale now also and I saved almost $17.00 ON THE 2 and didn't have to pay shipping.