On Sat, 20 May 2006 22:53:50 GMT, "george" wrote:

Hi,

I am not quite even a novice turner. I've bought a lathe, had one lesson,
and I'm playing. I've successfully made a couple of very small vases, 1-2"
tall.

Now I'm trying to work with a tagua nut following the instructions in the
article in the FWW compilation, Lathes and Turning Techniques, and which was
originally published in the July 1990 FWW. The article suggests sanding
down flat one end of the nut and gluing it to a 1" dowel with Super Glue.
I've tried this with old glue, new glue, waiting an hour, or clamping it
overnight. In all cases, the glue joint has failed as I begin trying to
rough the nut into round, no matter how gently I try to work with the gouge.

All further suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

George


Hi George,

I turn a waste block mandrel about 6 inches long with a taper near the
end. I turn the small end a bit larger than the end of the nut I'm
going to glue to it. I make concave indentation in the end a little
larger than the end of the nut that will fit in it.

My mandrels are mounted on homemade faceplates but before I made them
I used a scroll chuck to hold the waste blocks. Except for the short
taper on the end, I make the mandrels a large diameter to prevent
flexing (2 to 3 inches).

I use 5 min epoxy glue to glue the nuts on. After mixing the glue, I
fill up the concave end with glue and stick in the nut. I use the
tail stock to apply just enough pressure to keep it from falling off
until the glue sets.

Rotating the waste block by hand until the glue reaches the gel stage
prevents drips but just in case I cover the lathe ways with a piece of
cardboard to catch any accidents.

Once the glue has set, I remove the mandrel & nut from the lathe and
allow the glue to cure fully. I usually wait overnight but I have
turned some after a few hours. I use the tail stock for support as
long as possible.

I've used this method for a while and so far I haven't had any
failures do to the glue joint.

Bertie