Here's some info
start with material that is easy to learn with, deadsoft aluminium, or
pewter, it does not get work hardened.
If you use copper or brass, soften it up before you start and keep re
annealing as you workharden it, also your tools should be hard steel
and super smooth, Murphy's soap jell works for lubrication, or else get
the industrial wax stick for it, I use the back of a hook to roll the
metal to the form and keep a back stick to keep the metal up straight,
SS is not really for hand forming, can be done with a torch while
spinning, but I never attempted that.
You do need high pressure to move the metal,(so thinner is better, to a
point) and not to high rpm speeds, like 1000 rpm or less.
Most banjos wont stay in place while forcing the metal, so C clamps can
be used to help it, your aluminium fulcrum pin holder is probably not
going to last very long, but you'll find out, I welded a half inch
thick bar on a post with holes for half inch hard metal fulcrum pins,
stood up for me so far.

Being a turner there should be lots of firewood to use, and I have used
a wood fire successfully for heating up metal, a 5 gallon metal can
with several 1" holes drilled around it couple of inches from the
bottom for air holes, bigger hole in the center for the metal bar to be
stuck through, copper or brass sheet can be just placed in the top,
you'll be surprised at how well this works.
I've got some links here, there are things to be learned from, also a
CD or DVD would be very helpful or one on one lessons, there are some
books also, I happen to have "Turn a Bowl" by Ernie Conover, and it has
several pages on metal spinning in it.
http://iweb.tntech.edu/cventura/metalspinning.htm
http://www.franjometal.com/
http://www.jamesriser.com/CD_Preview/Intro.html
http://www.metalspinningworkshop.com/
http://www.paulwileyspinning.com/
http://www.crucibleservice.com/esele...abletitle.html
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/i...ROD&ProdID=311

This will keep you busy for a while :-))

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo


Prometheus wrote:
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!