Shopsmith Forums

I'm thinking about turning a flute but I don't know how I would go about boring it out. I've seen videos of flute-making on ordinary lathes where a hollow tailstock was used but that doesn't seem to be an option with SS.

How would you approach it?

Thanks!

I would assume you could do it with a Forstner bit mounted in the tailstock. I have done salt & pepper mills this way, so I don't see why you couldn't also make a flute hollow in the same manner. The video below shows at around the 5:45 time mark. Sounds like a fun project.

Based on some minimal knowledge of turning wood and machining metal I think you would need a steady-rest device to hold the piece so you can mount a boring device in the tail stock. You could chuck up a drill bit and use extensions or rig up something like a rifle bore that passes through the tail stock mount.

However, what I would most likely do since I have no experience in turning is drill out that piece of wood using the Shopsmith as a horizontal borer when it was still square, before I even began to turn the piece. I'd start small and use progressively wider drill bits so I wasn't stressing whatever extensions I might need. Not sure how deep you have to go, at some point you may need to lathe bore it anyway. Not sure what kind of flute construction you are talking about but if you have to drill all the way through you could glue in a piece of dowel afterwards to hold in the lathe chuck, then you'd be centered on that hole when you start to turn. I think I'd make it in multiple sections so I didn't have to bore all that far. Maybe two body sections and a separate mouthpiece.

Seeing RFGuy's post above makes me realize that chucking a drill bit in the tail stock would limit the length of the piece because you have to add the drill bit length plus the lathe chuck length plus the tailstock chuck length to get the total distance needed between headstock and tailstock. However, when boring like that the bit could be clamped down on an extension table much further away from the headstock. The OP has a Greenie so he can't add floating tables to extend the distance but he can clamp a board onto the extension table to mount something further away.

Shouldn't need a steady rest for this. All you need is the Shopsmith Tailstock Arbor (link below) to mount the drill press chuck. Then with a Forstner bit and a shaft extender you should be able to drill all the way through the blank. Alternatively you can drill half way using the lathe and flip it around to finish it. Another option is to drill it either vertically or horizontally as Ed mentions, but keep in mind you may not be able to maintain concentricity doing it that way. Drilling it on the lathe is more likely to have concentric alignment ensuring the wall thickness of the flute is uniform all the way around.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... karbor.htm

RFGuy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:42 am but keep in mind you may not be able to maintain concentricity doing it that way. Drilling it on the lathe is more likely to have concentric alignment ensuring the wall thickness of the flute is uniform all the way around.

That's why I mentioned inserting a dowel to mount it on the lathe after drilling. That insures you are centered on the hole when turning.

edma194 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:48 am
That's why I mentioned inserting a dowel to mount it on the lathe after drilling. That insures you are centered on the hole when turning.

Only if the lathe chuck jaws are perfectly concentric. Keep in mind only the face of the turning is the reference and the flute will be parted off, so the dowel trick you mentioned may work fine, but then again it could be off a bit if you have a poorly machined lathe chuck.

Keep in mind, just removing the turning and re-chucking can cause concentric errors because the chuck jaws aren't perfect resulting in one side being high and the other low on a rounded turning. I learned this one the hard way on a salt & pepper mill in the past. This is why I expressed caution with doing it that way.

Thanks for the suggestions! Sounds like several ways to approach it. I'll have to do some experimenting.

I'm hoping to be able to do drillings ca. 12" deep

HopefulSSer wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 11:32 am Thanks for the suggestions! Sounds like several ways to approach it. I'll have to do some experimenting.

I'm hoping to be able to do drillings ca. 12" deep

Yeah, I have drilled (on the lathe) nearly 12" deep in salt/pepper mills using a Forstner bit with an extension. Depending on the size of the opening in the flute, you'll need either an extra long brad point bit or an extension small enough in diameter to fit in the opening with a Forstner bit. Good luck!

I'm thinking to ensure concentricity to bore it out first, (maybe after first roughing it round or maybe easier to hold it for this while it's still square), then using conical centers to hold it by the bore while turning the outer profile? Or would the tailstock be too flexy to get a good grip?