On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 20:30:02 GMT, (Bart V) wrote:

Hi folks,
I need to make a short length of spindle, approx 2" long & 1/4"
diameter (does not have to be exact), out of ebony (hard & dense). I
do not have a chuck on my lathe, all I got is a face plate (yup, Santa
is aware of that...). Any down & dirty tricks, do it on my drill press
perhaps?
Bart.
P.S. no pics yet, but been playing up a storm on that banjo I just
made ))
-
Check my most up to date email address at:
www.haruteq.com/contact.htm
banjo bridges, tabs, stained glass:
www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**


I've "turned" things before on the DP.. you could chuck up 1/4" stuff
or start with a 3/8" or 1/2" dowel..

If the spindles don't have to be solid, you can drill square stock and
run those long, thin screws from wall anchors through them, then chuck
the end with the excess screw at the end with the nut on it..

Hi Bart
Bart I assume that your ebony is square, without a chuck I can think of
a couple of ways to do the turning.

1) screw a block of wood to your face plate, drill a hole the size of
your ebony, then square up the hole so you can hammer or press the ebony
in, then use your tail center to steady the end and turn to size.

2) If you have a drill chuck with a morse taper you could hack or
whittle, sand or whatever, to make a short end fit into the chuck and
then again use your tail center to steady, and then turn your dowel

If you don't have a drill chuck with a morse taper arbor Busy Bee has a
morse taper #2 with a Jacob's taper #3 and a Econo Chuck (cheap
chuckG) that goes 1/8" to 5/8", the arbor is on sale for $5.99 and the
drill chuck is $14.99, something to think about, and you should get one
anyway I think.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo


Bart V wrote:

Hi folks,
I need to make a short length of spindle, approx 2" long & 1/4"
diameter (does not have to be exact), out of ebony (hard & dense). I
do not have a chuck on my lathe, all I got is a face plate (yup, Santa
is aware of that...). Any down & dirty tricks, do it on my drill press
perhaps?
Bart.
P.S. no pics yet, but been playing up a storm on that banjo I just
made ))
-
Check my most up to date email address at:
www.haruteq.com/contact.htm
banjo bridges, tabs, stained glass:
www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**

Bart,

I need to make a short length of spindle, approx 2" long & 1/4"
diameter (does not have to be exact), out of ebony (hard & dense). I
do not have a chuck on my lathe, all I got is a face plate (yup, Santa
is aware of that...).

On his skew video Alan Lacer turns a piece of really soft wood about 8" long
down to 1/4" using just a skew chisel. He has the wood mounted between
centers. Without going into all the details he is basically pushing the skew
towards the head stock. There is very little force trying to bend the wood.
I should also mention, his skew is very sharp! But 1/4" should be quite
doable. I don't consider myself a good turner but I regularly turn round
toothpicks down to a smaller diameter to use as perches in little acorn
ornaments.

Hope this helps,

Harry

Turn it between centers. You'll waste a little wood (length), but it should
work just fine.

Barry


"Bart V" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,
I need to make a short length of spindle, approx 2" long & 1/4"
diameter (does not have to be exact), out of ebony (hard & dense). I
do not have a chuck on my lathe, all I got is a face plate (yup, Santa
is aware of that...). Any down & dirty tricks, do it on my drill press
perhaps?
Bart.
P.S. no pics yet, but been playing up a storm on that banjo I just
made ))
-
Check my most up to date email address at:
www.haruteq.com/contact.htm
banjo bridges, tabs, stained glass:
www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**

Bart, Greetings!

Could you trim one end of your blanks to fit the head-stock morse taper?
And hold it in with the tail-stock centre. Friction will do the rest.

Malcolm Cobb

Bart V wrote in message ...
Hi folks,
I need to make a short length of spindle, approx 2" long & 1/4"
diameter (does not have to be exact), out of ebony (hard & dense). I
do not have a chuck on my lathe, all I got is a face plate (yup, Santa
is aware of that...). Any down & dirty tricks, do it on my drill press
perhaps?
Bart.
P.S. no pics yet, but been playing up a storm on that banjo I just
made ))
-
Check my most up to date email address at:
www.haruteq.com/contact.htm
banjo bridges, tabs, stained glass:
www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**

if you want to hold it by one end only, then attach waste block to faceplate
and drill hole, then mount ebony between centers and turn to the size of the
hole, glue into hole, and finish as you see fit. 1/4 is pretty thick,
should have no problem with ebony, I've turned little pieces to 1/32 or so
with no problem

"Bart V" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,
I need to make a short length of spindle, approx 2" long & 1/4"
diameter (does not have to be exact), out of ebony (hard & dense). I
do not have a chuck on my lathe, all I got is a face plate (yup, Santa
is aware of that...). Any down & dirty tricks, do it on my drill press
perhaps?
Bart.
P.S. no pics yet, but been playing up a storm on that banjo I just
made ))
-
Check my most up to date email address at:
www.haruteq.com/contact.htm
banjo bridges, tabs, stained glass:
www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**

Thanks for all the hints folks, they'll get me going no prob.
By the way, I just posted about my completed project, take a peek as a
lot of you have been, pardon the pun, instrumental in making this
dream come true for me.
Bart.
-
Check my most up to date email address at:
www.haruteq.com/contact.htm
banjo bridges, tabs, stained glass:
www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**