DIYbanter - View Single Post - Musing about little things that take inordinate time.and effort.

Ecnerwal

In article ,
(Arch) wrote:

My son plays in a pipe & drum band and recently asked me to turn a pair
of drumsticks for him. The tips are sure not as easy as they look, even
turning one and as for two alike ...drats! I wonder if I could buy a
used form tool from one of the robots or does anyone here know a source
or could make one? If I can't make a decent wooden tip, I probably
couldn't make a form tool. (:

As you probably know Arch, you'll find my name pronounces easier when
you look at my email address (full of lowercase filler in case you want
to use it), or turn the "handle" around.

The ones I make actually don't have those tips. The local drummer buys
those, I turn rounded end slightly larger sticks for hitting a type of
bass drum (not your felt-knob style bass drum - more like a 30 gallon
oil drum with heads.) They apparently work better than using the back
end of the commercial sort with tips.

I could probably grind Arch a tool for the tips, though the main problem
is that they are so tiny, and normally the spindle is between centers -
to cut the form you end up breaking the spindle off. I think the best
way to make that type of tip would be with a collet hold and a headstock
with a large headstock bore (with most of the stick down inside the
headstock). For most of us the closest approximation is likely a chuck
hold and a steady rest for the free end. It's still going to be tricky
since the surface speed is so low at that small diameter.

One also gets good (or doesn't) at parting off to a nubbin and doing
finish work on a belt or disk sander, spinning the stick. With a collet
or steady-rest setup, you could do that while still on the lathe with a
hand-held disk sander.

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