"Jakes452" wrote in message
news:KOu5c.25207$m4.5958@okepread03...
I want to make several small turnings, on the order of 5" tall by 3/4 w
and
I want each one to be exactly the same.
I dont have a lathe but willing to buy one.
What would I need to be able to duplicate a pattern without a lot of
measuring and fuss once the pattern is set. Is there a device or
something
to use in conjunction with lathe?

thanks for any advise

Yes, a lathe duplicator.
Heres a start:
http://www.vegawoodworking.com/

--
Regards,

Dean Bielanowski
Editor,
Online Tool Reviews
http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com
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I want to make several small turnings, on the order of 5" tall by 3/4 w and
I want each one to be exactly the same.
I dont have a lathe but willing to buy one.
What would I need to be able to duplicate a pattern without a lot of
measuring and fuss once the pattern is set. Is there a device or something
to use in conjunction with lathe?

thanks for any advise

Lath and Vega duplicator

John

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 19:51:56 -0800, "Jakes452"
wrote:

I want to make several small turnings, on the order of 5" tall by 3/4 w and
I want each one to be exactly the same.
I dont have a lathe but willing to buy one.
What would I need to be able to duplicate a pattern without a lot of
measuring and fuss once the pattern is set. Is there a device or something
to use in conjunction with lathe?

thanks for any advise

Since you don't own a lathe, it is apparent that you have never tried. (It's
easier than you think)

I only do a little bit of turning, but I am always amazed at how easy it is
to turn nearly identical pieces just by measuring.

1.First, turn your blank into a cylinder.
2. put a pencil line to laterally mark each of the "edges" of shape (cove,
bead, etc)
3. spin up the lathe and touch your pencil to each of these marks to draw
each line all the way around the stock
4. Transfer these marks to a "measuring stick" so that they can be quickly
transfered to subsequent pieces without remeasuring
5. Mill a narrow flat spot at the appropriate side of each reverence line to
the proper depth. You can use a caliper, or cut various H-shaped feeler
gauges to "remember" certain thicknesses.
6. Connect the dots and find a pleasing profile on your first piece.
7. Repeat, and use the first piece to eyeball the contours between the
reference points.
8. Rinse, lather, repeat.

I am NOT an ace at turning, and I have always gotten acceptable results with
this technique. Almost invariably, I have shown sets of work to people
(granted not woodworkers) and they say "how do yo make them all the same".
Of course, my wife says ... "but that one's different" just to tease me.

It *will* yeild slight inaccuracies, however, I believe that these are the
tell-tale markes of hand craftsmanship and appear more organic.

Why is it that plaster walls look better than sheerock? It is the subtle
undulation that looks more organic. IMHO dead-on mathematical accuracy often
looks sterile. That's why I choose to ease the corners on finished pieces,
and often mill profiles with a hand plane for a more or less parabolic curve
rather than routing a "quater round".

A lathe duplicator will be faster, and probably more accurate, but it is
cetainly not necessary. And I am proof, that a tremendous amount of skill is
not required for decent results.

Cheers,

Steve





"Jakes452" wrote in message
news:KOu5c.25207$m4.5958@okepread03...
I want to make several small turnings, on the order of 5" tall by 3/4 w
and
I want each one to be exactly the same.
I dont have a lathe but willing to buy one.
What would I need to be able to duplicate a pattern without a lot of
measuring and fuss once the pattern is set. Is there a device or
something
to use in conjunction with lathe?

thanks for any advise

On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 12:25:38 -0600, John Crea
wrote:

Lath and Vega duplicator

Ha, ha. I assume a lath is a tool used to turn a dup.

Silly me. I would have used a lathe and turned a dupe.

This isn't a spelling flame, per se. The original subject title
tickled me initially, but the above cracked me up. Of course there's
always the chance that it was a subtle poke in the same vein my ham
handed one is...or something.


- -
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 14:45:19 +0000, LRod
wrote:

On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 12:25:38 -0600, John Crea
wrote:

Lath and Vega duplicator

Ha, ha. I assume a lath is a tool used to turn a dup.

Silly me. I would have used a lathe and turned a dupe.

This isn't a spelling flame, per se. The original subject title
tickled me initially, but the above cracked me up. Of course there's
always the chance that it was a subtle poke in the same vein my ham
handed one is...or something.


- -
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net



IIRC it wasn't that long ago that lath WAS the correct spelling for a
tool that shapes stuff while it's spinning around...

Bridger wrote:

IIRC it wasn't that long ago that lath WAS the correct
spelling for a tool that shapes stuff while it's spinning
around...

Your tempus fugit'd. Now days, we call 'em lathes, saws, drills,
routers,...
....and we tie thatch to the laths.

;-)
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 15:32:51 -0600, Morris Dovey
wrote:

Bridger wrote:

IIRC it wasn't that long ago that lath WAS the correct
spelling for a tool that shapes stuff while it's spinning
around...

Your tempus fugit'd. Now days, we call 'em lathes, saws, drills,
routers,...
...and we tie thatch to the laths.

Not to mention plaster.

- -
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:41:56 -0700, Bridger wrote:

IIRC it wasn't that long ago that lath WAS the correct spelling for a
tool that shapes stuff while it's spinning around...

Near as I can find it's been lathe at least since middle english, so
"not that long ago" takes in a bit of territory.

Tim Douglass

http://www.DouglassClan.com

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 15:32:51 -0600, Morris Dovey
wrote:

Bridger wrote:

IIRC it wasn't that long ago that lath WAS the correct
spelling for a tool that shapes stuff while it's spinning
around...

Your tempus fugit'd. Now days, we call 'em lathes, saws, drills,
routers,...
...and we tie thatch to the laths.

;-)



there was some connection between those two meanings of lath... can't
remember what it was.
I think lath meant any tool with a rotating shaft, and the thin strips
of flat wood were cut with one, kind of loke the word ripping for a
thin slat today.

anybody out there with better knowledge/memory?

On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 09:55:34 -0800, Tim Douglass
wrote:

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:41:56 -0700, Bridger wrote:

IIRC it wasn't that long ago that lath WAS the correct spelling for a
tool that shapes stuff while it's spinning around...

Near as I can find it's been lathe at least since middle english, so
"not that long ago" takes in a bit of territory.

Tim Douglass

http://www.DouglassClan.com



and it seems like just yesterday....

Bridger wrote:
On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 15:32:51 -0600, Morris Dovey
wrote:


Bridger wrote:


IIRC it wasn't that long ago that lath WAS the correct
spelling for a tool that shapes stuff while it's spinning
around...

Your tempus fugit'd. Now days, we call 'em lathes, saws, drills,
routers,...
...and we tie thatch to the laths.

;-)

there was some connection between those two meanings of lath... can't
remember what it was.
I think lath meant any tool with a rotating shaft, and the thin strips
of flat wood were cut with one, kind of loke the word ripping for a
thin slat today.

anybody out there with better knowledge/memory?

I'm not /that/ old!
:-
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA