Been awhile since I've posted here but now that the economy has gone
belly-up, my job followed and I now have some free time to catch up on
all those little projects I've been meaning to do.

One is a broken chair from a dining room set my sister asked me to
repair. There are 3 broken rungs about 14" long which I need to make.
Long story short - I'm not good at making duplicate spindles freehand.

Using a Delta mini with the extended bed. I've looked at a number of
duplicators on the web but really can't justify the expense for a
one-time use. Googled for how to make a duplicator and found several
shop made units that would require a master machinist to make. Nice -
but way overkill for what I need.

Looking for a basic design that will work for these short, decorative
chair rungs. I have a fairly well equipped wood working shop and
access to a friends metal lathe and welding station - if needed. I
tried convincing him he needed a CNC but he saw right through that....

Anyone make a duplicator that they would care to share their design
ideas ?

Thanks,

Bob S.

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:25:00 -0600, Bob S. wrote
(in message ):

Been awhile since I've posted here but now that the economy has gone
belly-up, my job followed and I now have some free time to catch up on
all those little projects I've been meaning to do.

One is a broken chair from a dining room set my sister asked me to
repair. There are 3 broken rungs about 14" long which I need to make.
Long story short - I'm not good at making duplicate spindles freehand.

Using a Delta mini with the extended bed. I've looked at a number of
duplicators on the web but really can't justify the expense for a
one-time use. Googled for how to make a duplicator and found several
shop made units that would require a master machinist to make. Nice -
but way overkill for what I need.

Looking for a basic design that will work for these short, decorative
chair rungs. I have a fairly well equipped wood working shop and
access to a friends metal lathe and welding station - if needed. I
tried convincing him he needed a CNC but he saw right through that....

Anyone make a duplicator that they would care to share their design
ideas ?

Thanks,

Bob S.



A kind of a poor man's duplicator is just a template or pattern of the
spindle you want to make, mounted opposite the spindle . What you will have
is your tool rest on one side of the spindle - nearest you... and on the
other side of the spindle is your pattern. Actually, it is the "negative" of
your pattern. Call it a template, if you like. A peak in the pattern is a
groove in your spindle, and a low area in your pattern corresponds to a high
point on the spindle.
The pattern shows you where to cut and where not to cut, and how deep.
Use an outside caliper and your parting tool to cut reference points on your
spindle at various places like the end tenons and a couple of places near the
middle.

Your pattern is mounted just fractions of an inch from your spindle, and you
now have some target-depth grooves cut with your parting tool, corresponding
to certain points on the pattern.
I am not skilled enough to use just a skew to do all my spindle shaping, so I
must resort to the use of various scrapers for the fine shaping work.
Watching the spindle as wood is removed from it, and observing the gap
between the spindle and the pattern as I work, I just sort of cut away
anything that does not look like the pattern.

You need to make the pattern of something durable like sheet metal - maybe
bash out a piece of stovepipe or a section of your neighbor's roof gutter.
Then the pattern needs to be mounted on a stand which will hold the pattern
clode to the target spindle. You need to be able to move the stand around, to
see how the pattern fits the target spindle from time to time. I learned that
the best time to try fitting the template to the target spindle is when the
spindle is not turning. The stand has to be mounted in such a way that the
lathe vibration does not make the pattern dance around.

I hope this helps a little. Further, I hope the Turners here do not think me
daft. (in this matter, anyway)

tom koehler

--
I will find a way or make one.

snipe of an outstanding explanation.......

Tom,

That is certainly a clear explanation of "How to do it". I could
visualize what you were saying and I will give that a try. I made up
enough blanks to practice with but the method you describe sounds like
I won't need all of them.

I appreciate you taking the time and effort to explain the procedure.

Happy Holidays,

Bob S,

Also, remember that the new spindles do not have to be exact. When they are
in place, no one will be able to hold one up to another for comparison.

Now let me tell you how I do this kind of job. I have a laser pointer
mounted to my headstock on a parallelogram linkage. The laser beam is
vertical, and can be moved over various parts of the spindle I am doing. I
start by mounting a good spindle between centers, I point the laser at a
spot that I want to reproduce, i.e. the botom of a "V" or cove, or the top
of a curve. I then mount each of my new pieces between centers, one at a
time, of course, and turn the feature to match the laser setting. Then,
back to the sample spindle, select another salient point, and gop through
the sequence again.

After you've got all the main diameters and positions established, it is
very easy to go back and fair in the joining curves.

I think this is faster than working from a template--you don't have to keep
checking. You can cut directly to the size and position indicated by the
laser.

BTW, if you go this route, keep the laser pointer around. You will find
many uses for it, which I will not go into here. This idea got me "Tip of
the Year" award from AAW a few years back. I won a cap.

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...
Also, remember that the new spindles do not have to be exact. When
they are in place, no one will be able to hold one up to another for
comparison.

Now let me tell you how I do this kind of job. I have a laser
pointer mounted to my headstock on a parallelogram linkage. The
laser beam is vertical, and can be moved over various parts of the
spindle I am doing. I start by mounting a good spindle between
centers, I point the laser at a spot that I want to reproduce, i.e.
the botom of a "V" or cove, or the top of a curve. I then mount each
of my new pieces between centers, one at a time, of course, and turn
the feature to match the laser setting. Then, back to the sample
spindle, select another salient point, and gop through the sequence
again.

After you've got all the main diameters and positions established, it
is very easy to go back and fair in the joining curves.

I think this is faster than working from a template--you don't have
to keep checking. You can cut directly to the size and position
indicated by the laser.

BTW, if you go this route, keep the laser pointer around. You will
find many uses for it, which I will not go into here. This idea got
me "Tip of the Year" award from AAW a few years back. I won a cap.


Leo,

That's one helluva of an idea... I just checked the AAW site trying to
find a reference to this (and maybe a picture) but apparently they
don't have an archive for Tips that I could find. Do you know of any
site that may have a picture or a drawing of your "parallelogram
linkage" ? I just can't get my mind wrapped around how this works.

Bob S.

"Bob S." wrote: (clip) I just checked the AAW site trying to
find a reference to this (and maybe a picture) but apparently they don't
have an archive for Tips that I could find. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bob, I don't recall sending them any pictures--I don't think I even owned a
digital camera back then. I'll be happy to send a couple of shots that I
have in my file--is the e-mail address in your post good?

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Bob S." wrote: (clip) I just checked the AAW site trying to
find a reference to this (and maybe a picture) but apparently they
don't have an archive for Tips that I could find. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bob, I don't recall sending them any pictures--I don't think I even
owned a digital camera back then. I'll be happy to send a couple of
shots that I have in my file--is the e-mail address in your post
good?


Leo,

Just sent you an email.

Thank you,

Bob S.

"Bob S." wrote: Just sent you an email.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Got it, and the pictures are in the mail, along with a wordy explanation.
If anyone else wants to see them, just ask, and make sure I have a valid
e-mail address to send to.

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:52:53 -0600, Leo Lichtman wrote
(in message ):


"Bob S." wrote: Just sent you an email.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Got it, and the pictures are in the mail, along with a wordy explanation.
If anyone else wants to see them, just ask, and make sure I have a valid
e-mail address to send to.



Please include me, for a set of pictures.
Thank you.
my address is good, just remove nospam two times, and remove invalid once.
What is left is a conventional address.
tvkoehler
at
frontiernet
net

--
I will find a way or make one.

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Bob S." wrote: Just sent you an email.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Got it, and the pictures are in the mail, along with a wordy
explanation. If anyone else wants to see them, just ask, and make
sure I have a valid e-mail address to send to.


Leo,

Thanks for the pictures and the explanation. That is a great idea.

Bob S.

"tom koehler" wrote: Please include me, for a set of pictures.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Done. I think I decoded your address properly.

Please include me, Leo. in particular any details of your linkage setup.

My email address is ok as is. Lots of spam gets through, but maybe if I
live long enough, some happy day one of those fifty million dollar deals
from Nigeria will be legitimate and they will just send me my share.

I wish you could include a pic of you wearing that expensive AAW cap
while turning on your expensive lathe.

Thanks for all you do for us on rcw. Happy holidays and I hope all goes
well at your house.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 0:35:09 -0600, Leo Lichtman wrote
(in message ):


"tom koehler" wrote: Please include me, for a set of pictures.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Done. I think I decoded your address properly.



you did. got it. Thank you very much.
tom koehler

--
I will find a way or make one.

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:52:53 -0800, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:

If anyone else wants to see them, just ask, and make sure I have a valid
e-mail address to send to.

Hi,
Would like a copy.
Address is:
skilphil at zweb dot co dot za
Thanks


******

Phil

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:29:11 -0800, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:


"Bob S." wrote: (clip) I just checked the AAW site trying to
find a reference to this (and maybe a picture) but apparently they don't
have an archive for Tips that I could find. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bob, I don't recall sending them any pictures--I don't think I even owned a
digital camera back then. I'll be happy to send a couple of shots that I
have in my file--is the e-mail address in your post good?

Would you mind adding me to the list? Just delete (REMOVE) from the
email and it's good. Thanks.