Shaping Masts and Spars

[Harry DunnParticipant @harrydunn86428]

Being a pensioner I couldn’t afford a dedicated wood-turning lathe to turn the masts on my ‘Granado’ model boat, so, using a tip picked up from a book by Keith Julier, I was utilising my electric drill to act as a lathe. This exercise soon evolved into the adapted version which follows:

My variable speed drill is held in a drill clamp which is fixed to the bench. The dowel is held in the jaws of the drill chuck at one end, whilst the ‘free’ end revolves in one of three holes, (in my case 4mm, 6mm and 8mm diameters), which have been pre-drilled in a scrap piece of laminate flooring. The laminate was screwed to a batten to enable the jig to be clamped to the bench. The drill on/off and speed is controlled by a miniature bar clamp.

In operation the dowel is pencil marked to length, allowing an extra 15mm for holding in the chuck. The other end is fed through the appropriate hole in the laminate. Excess wood is taken off by holding a miniature razor plane flat against the dowel. Pressure is applied to the plane until a fine shaving is continually removed from the dowel. Outside calipers are pre-set to size and used to monitor the diameter. Continue until the calipers are a tight fit then finish off with fine, then finishing, sandpaper. Finally hold a craft knife blade or fine saw against the cut-off point and allow the spin to cut through the dowel. This has been so successful I wouldn’t now buy a lathe even if I could afford to.

Thank you for listening

Aitch.

ps. 2 photographs are attached

[Harry DunnParticipant @harrydunn86428]

Cheap Wood-Turning Lathe

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Thanks for the interesting post Harry, a lot of people never think of that option and it does make life a lot easier.

 

With regard to your photos, the Forum software dopesn’t permit direct insertions i’m afraid. You need to put them into an album or an online hosting service such as Photobucket first. Have a look at the Frequently Asked Questions link at the foot of the left hand column which explains how to do it. Send me a PM if you have any problems.

 

Colin (Website Editor)

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