On 27 Nov 2006 21:27:29 -0800, "
wrote:

There's a whole lot more to learn if you want to spin metal, I've done
some, have a look if you like, scroll down to almost the bottom for
copper spun ornament balls.

Nice stuff, Leo- I think those might have been part of what got the
idea in my head many months ago in the first place.

http://woodcentral.com/newforum/ornaments/

Also dish and candle cup in one of my albums,

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum28.html

I'm seeing that there is indeed a *lot* more that I need to learn
about it- tried a few things after work that made that pretty clear.

Luckily, I have a lot of metal availible to practice on- but do you
mind if I pick your brain a little on the subject? It's kind of an
obscure subject, and tough to find good info on. Any help shortening
the learning curve would be hugely appreciated.

A few of the more obvious things I'm struggling with:

What are the best gauges of various metals to learn to spin with? I
have stainless steel, cold-rolled steel, aluminum, brass, and copper
available without making a financial investment, but am willing to buy
others if I can find them. Practically, 20ga. (.063") is the thinnest
stuff that is easy for me to get, but there is occasionally thinner
metal that I can get my mitts on. I did try some very thin brass, but
it wanted to slide out, and got chewed up very quickly on the mandrel.

What is a good lubricant to use on the metal and the tooling? I've
tried paste wax, but it doesn't seem to be up to the task.

Do all metals need to be annealed before spinning, or just certain
ones like copper?

Have you tried spinning perforated metals? If so, is it worth the
effort?

When using a duck bill profiled tool for roughing into shape, is it
better to use the "tip" or the flatter edge? I'm guessing the flatter
edge is the thing for finish smoothing, but it doesn't seem to push
the disks against the mandrel very well.

I'll get this all figured out eventually, but any guidance you might
have would be very welcome- including answers to questions I don't
know enough to ask yet, of course!