I have this friend in art school, and he wants to make a sculpture. He asked me
today how to make a 2X-sized copy of a large plastic chopstick, but in steel,
which he then wants to either chrome or nickel plate. Basically, it's a very
long skinny part, 1/2" square at one end, about 1/4" round at the other,
somewhere in the middle a long uniform taper begins which effects the transition
from square to round, the whole thing about 24" long, the taper being about 18"
of that length.

Even if the piece were round, I don't think a follower rest is practical on a
long taper. It's conceivable that a CNC lathe might have a CNC follower rest
which could follow the profile, but I sure as heck don't have one of those.

I suggested he find a beater lathe somewhere, chuck up the part between centers,
spin it at high speed, and have at it with an angle grinder, figuring after
awhile he'd either get the hang of it or get sick of it, and either way he'd be
out of my hair. But he didn't go for it. Unfortunately, this guy has a lot of
money and wants me to make him 18 of these.

Anybody have an idea how to go about it? I thought about hacking a prototype out
of wood and trying to have a part cast, dunno.

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington