Thanks guys. When I tried gluing the adapter in there where a ton of bubbles. I removed the adapter and stuck a bunch of brass shavings to it then reglued it. If I look really close in really good light I can see some tiny air bubbles, but it's hard to distinguish from the brass shavings. I rather like the visual effect.
Here is my first attempt at turning a metal brush handle. 3 inches of 6061 aluminum drilled out for a 24mm knot. Nice heavy brush. Still need to glue a knot in it. Not sure I want to use the badger.
That looks fantastic. I have wanted to do some metal turning but only have access to a wood lathe. So other than a little light work on the brass adapters I've had to pretty much stick to acrylic and wood.
Thanks! I would be worthless on a wood lathe. Take away my carriage, tool post, and lead screw and I can't turn down a roll of toilet paper. I'm looking forward to learning from you guys.
Our first metal turner on this thread! Can you post a few pics showing how you do that awesome knurling, Evan?
Thanks Jason! I'll share what I am experimenting with. I just got a decent knurling tool for Christmas and I did one practice pass which was a total failure, and my second try worked so I finished the brush. We'll see if I can get repeatable results. Right now I'm more lucky than good. Sorry if it's already been discussed, but I'm curious about the wood lathes people are using. Mostly bench top models or something bigger? What's the minimum kit someone would need to get started turning wood? It's a little ambitious at this point but is there any interest in combined projects? I'm sure I could make some metal bases, sleeves, or inserts.
Types of lathes, necessary accessories, etc., have been discussed earlier in this thread, Evan. I’ll try to summarize a bit, but I would recommend reading through it when you get some time. In general, a good tabletop lathe would be sufficient for turnings 8 inches round or so and smaller. Spindles would be 12 inches max or so. Forget the baseball bat for sure. For shaving brushes, bowls, etc, it would be more than fine. Expect to pay about $500 US for a good one. High Speed turning tools are expensive. However, with your metalworking ability, you could make some scrapers and a parting tool very easily. On this thread, @9nein9 detailed making nice turned handles for tools as well. If you want, you can get away without any special chucks, but I am a huge fan of a 4 jawed chuck, as well as a collet chuck to hold a brush by the hole. Without a chuck, you will be drilling and finishing off of the lathe. There was a discussion of chucks on here as well. As for a collaboration, I’d be game!
Thanks Jason! I will go back and read the thread from the beginning. I did watch a few YouTube videos. I do think I'll be able to fabricate some of my own tools, but I think there is less overlap than I thought. Turning wood seems to be more of an art and turning metal is much more about calculation and setting up the machine for each process. Threading for example is about running through a prescribed process adjusting each dial by the correct amount in the right order until you've cut the threads to the correct dimensions. I'm not starting over completely, but pretty close.
Thanks Patrick! Making tools is as much fun as making stuff with tools, maybe even more fun. I've ground my own lathe bits. We'll see what I can do. I may have to start on my existing lathe. I'll have no problems turning the spindle and rigging a tool rest on top of my carriage, but I won't be able to get up close for leverage, too much metal lathe stuff in the way... I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions.
I made a couple more brush handles tonight. Took a few pictures. I'm afraid it's not all that exciting. Knurling is all about sizing the piece within a few thousandths of an inch so the teeth on the knurling tool land in the same groove as it cuts the piece. These knurling wheels have a .01770" pitch. After making a referance cut my piece has a diameter of 1.226". The math is simple. 1.226/.0177=69.27. Round down to whole number and miltiply. 69x.0177=1.2213. So I cut the diameter to 1.221" The notches on the cross slide are in .001" increaments, but metal is somewhat elastic so I have to make a big enough cut or the tool will just rub on the surface. I set my calipers to 1.2215 and zero ut out so the calibers just tell me how much to remove. Perfect. Now all I have to do is center the knurling tool, tighten it down, use plenty of oil, and let it run.
Once it's knurled then we just drill and ream out the end. You guys ever see smoke when drilling? This bit is dull... The cleanup is less fun. The chips are razor sharp. Mayham maybe...
Very cool seeing some of the process in turning on a metal lathe. It's simultaneously similar to and different than wood turning. I'd like to see the process for barber pole knurl. I can't remember if anyone asked if you can do barber pole knurl.
The crossed knurl uses two wheels, one with a left hand angle and one with a right hand angle. Barber pole or angled knurling just uses two right or two left handed wheels. The rest of the process is the same, but I imagine it's more temperamental as the cross pattern tends to cover small issues a little better. Perhaps I will get a set of wheels for it and see what I can do.
I’m finding this very fascinating, Evan. So much more technical than woodturning, with very precise tolerances.
I wouldn't need to be so precise if I wasn't knurling, but if the circumference isn't right the teeth don't land in the same groove on each pass and you end up with a mess. It is facilitating to compare the tools and techniques. I have no feel for cutting anything by hand. The feedback I get is tool noise and resistance and vibration in the dials. I'll have a much harder time when it comes to turning curves. My options are either, make a fixture for guiding the lathebit around a curved cut, making custom shaped bits, or turning on my CNC mill. We'll see. Interesting! I guess it makes sense because the wood itself will burn. No way I should see smoke while drilling aluminum. That bit is dull.
Interest in these seems pretty high. Multiple requests from people at work and on TSD. I may have offered one to a few people too. Knurling produces a gray paste that flings everywhere, but I kinda like the look of a dirty lathe.
If you could duplicate the handle to a Ronson razor or a Wilkinson 7 day razor for a DE that would be cool!
I like the barber pole knurl that has deeper groves for the barber pole twist but still has cross hatching for grip. To me the best looking knurl I've seen is on the Gillette Bulldog. This is a pic from Google images. Unfortunately I do not own a Bulldog.
