tonydem Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 trying to turn my own drum sticks... very new to this.. having only turned 5 pieces to date.. i just succesfully launched my first piece off the prawls trying to make a drum stick i noticed the live center after tightening starts to make an upward turn rather than going straight into the workpiece... hasnt affected the legs I've made yet but with something as thin as a drum stick i got almost to my desired circumference and it broke and went flying..... thoughts? suggestions? curse words? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 If the live center isn't staying center, sounds like the bearing in it is bad. Your best bet would be to get a new live center. The range in prices vary with a cone shape live center at around $20, up to the Oneway at over $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 try placing one hand behind the wood while it spins it should help balance the moving wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris H Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 I think Duck's reccomendation is the most economical. If you are a drummer or have regular business selling them (large volume need), I would reccomend looking into a "Steadier". They are typically used for long delicate spindel work, but that is more or less all a drum stick is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 i made a few wands and drum sticks that my studients wanted to make for something long like a cane i used a steady but for something as short as this i just steadied with my bare hands to get rid of the chatter. tony look back at this guys other videos he shows how to do alot of different projects. i think he records and posts everything he makes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles11we Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 try placing one hand behind the wood while it spins it should help balance the moving wood. i agree, whenever i do thin stemmed objects like that, that is what i do. i have yet to make or buy a spindle steady, which probably would work best. often when i know the work will be way too thin to turn all at once without it vibrating and inevitably breaking, depending on what it is, i will turn say 2-3 inches (moving from the tailstock to the headstock) of the project while leaving the rest of it just rounded out but pretty much untouched and completely finish turning those 2-3 inches before moving on to the next section and do it in sections like that until i get to the end. Idk if anyone else used/uses this method or agrees with it but it seems to work relatively well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonydem Posted January 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 i got one made..... without the use of a steadyrest just took it slow... got a little chatter but after the sanding it came out near perfect..... the biggest problem was the lathe... the harbor freight one i was using was way off at the centers.... now i have the excelsior mini lathe and it worked just fine.. and yes.... that is mahogany ..... first one ive ever seen made from mahogany so forgive me if im a little proud... sounds great btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 might be a little soft for you depending on the type of mahogany. there is a reason why its usualy made from hard maple since you slaming it realy hard into a surface over and over. glad you realized that the harbor freight tools sucks keep it around and convert it intoa buffing wheel. the buffer can put a realy nice shine on your projects sad to say with the mini you will be stuck to rather small projects but you might still want to have a craftshow quality finish for your projects. i sugest you get 3 wheel mandrel put one type of coarser buffing compound on one wheel, smoother buffing compound on second and wax on the third. then you can quickly move from one wheel to the next and finish with the wax giving it a super glossy surface. penn state has a easy and cheap one. http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LBUFFSYS.html you can also convert the pen state lathe into a sharpening station for lathe and carving tools. easy to put a paper/lather/felt wheel on there for honing a tool to razor sharpness. http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/hendersonM/sharpDisk/sharpDisk-1.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonydem Posted January 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 might be a little soft for you depending on the type of mahogany. there is a reason why its usualy made from hard maple since you slaming it realy hard into a surface over and over. glad you realized that the harbor freight tools sucks keep it around and convert it intoa buffing wheel. the buffer can put a realy nice shine on your projects sad to say with the mini you will be stuck to rather small projects but you might still want to have a craftshow quality finish for your projects. i sugest you get 3 wheel mandrel put one type of coarser buffing compound on one wheel, smoother buffing compound on second and wax on the third. then you can quickly move from one wheel to the next and finish with the wax giving it a super glossy surface. penn state has a easy and cheap one. http://www.pennstate...e/LBUFFSYS.html you can also convert the pen state lathe into a sharpening station for lathe and carving tools. easy to put a paper/lather/felt wheel on there for honing a tool to razor sharpness. http://www.wkfinetoo...sharpDisk-1.asp i had a bunch of mahogany strips laying around... im friends with the owner of a mill here in town so i get free strips after projects they have... pretty much unlimited 1/2"-3/4"thick x 3"-4"wide mahogany and oak for me.... the last few i got were 12 ft strips... as for the links... thats fantastic..... ive been sharpening all of my tools by hand on a whetstone... and it doesn't seem like im getting any better at it.... this looks like it will make things a lot easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 oh hell man dont do it by hand.....here is what you do get a cheap grinder 25-45 dollers at any garage sale the slower the better you dont want to fry the metal. then you will need some jigs to make acurate grindings. you can buy wolverine systems http://www.woodturne...arpening-System here is video on how well it works fast and easy to sharpen. but you will end up paying too much for it and only get part of what you need. i would not go out and buy this but it should give you a idea of what you need to make. what i would do if i wanted everything to be home made(how i started but got sick of the swaping out sharpening jigs) is make my own grinding arm http://aroundthewood...arpening03.html you can make this system realy easily with scrap wood in the shop. you just need is a stable arm that you can slide in and out for different length tools and different angles. the arm also needs a v notch on the end to rest your tools in. what i did for a all incompasing sharpening system is this i bought a guide just because its a pain to have 3-4 different length and different sized shop made jigs. http://www.woodcraft...inding-jig.aspx and add some cross braces on you wood arm to rest your skew on. its just some arms that stick out from the right and left of the arm with v notches in it. and i would buy this it is realy flexible and handly to have http://www.leevalley...t=1,43072,45938 works for sharpening just about any tool at any length or angle but its only as acurate as you can grind the metal and i dont have these http://www.woodturne...tor-Set-Up-Tool but they looks prity handy if you have lots of different angled tools i just work with one basic 35 degree angle. if you dont want to bother making everything what i would buy are these but the arm is prity easy to make. http://www.woodcraft...inding-jig.aspx acurate bowl and gouges http://www.woodturne...arpening-System http://www.woodcraft...e-skew-jig.aspx handy for sharpening skews http://www.leevalley...t=1,43072,45938 this will give you a tool rest that is handy for any sharpening including planes, gouges, chisles, carving tools, skews ect..... http://www.woodturne...tor-Set-Up-Tool quicky tool angle set ups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 if you have any questions send me a pm i went throught all this nto that long ago so i can answer alot of you questions. remember with sharpening for turning you want sharp but for the most part it does not have to razor sharp like wood carving tools are. most of the time you are cuting off big chucks of wood fast and you end up cuting through green wood, bark, gravel, ect..... with the amount of force we use wit the lathe a realy sharp fine edge would snap to easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 also thought you might be able to use this its a string steady for realy tiny spindles http://www.hiltonhandcraft.com/Articles/String_Steady.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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