On Thu, 18 Jul 2013 08:37:34 -0400, Ecnerwal
wrote:

In article ,
Roy wrote:

Anybody have experience turning down brass nuts on a wood lathe? I'm making
some replacement handles for some socket chisels and am using a 3/4 nut on the
impact end. I want to turn the nut down smooth and shiny. Using a spindle
gouge and a skew was not very successful.

Lay a cloth on the bed to catch the crud.

If you want to cut it, you (imho) need to mimic a metal lathe toolpost
so the cutter can't move. Brass, copper etcetera is cut with no rake or
negative rake (top of the cutter is flat or pointed down into the work)
and your best bet in a wood-lathe kit is either an Oland tool or a
parting tool held with the top bevel flat to down (not a normal
wood-cutting position) If you can't do that...

With the lathe stopped, file each point to make 12 roughly equal sides.
If you have a fancy curved-tooth soft-metal file, it will help,
otherwise the largest, coarsest file you own, chalked (file a piece of
chalk, literally, to help keep the filings from sticking) and cleaned
regularly. At 12-sides, try tuning the lathe on (slow) and taking slow
file strokes as it turns - if too horrible, file those points off to
make 24 and try it again. Once it's round, sand it through a progression
of grits.

What he said, but definitely not an ideal situation.

You can do such stuff with all sorts of crazy contraptions, such as my
RedNeck lathe he
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater

It should be noted, however, that the item no longer exists, it was
replaced by a better arrangement. I do ask myself often: How did I
ever exist without a metal lathe?

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC