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Turning Ball Knobs on A Mill

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75Plus:
As I stated in my introductory post I wanted to explore the possibility of using my X-2 mill to turn ball knobs. This thread is a report on my findings.

The first thing I did was make a ball turner similar to the ones found on this forum. I then mounted it on a piece of heavy, 1/2", angle iron that I had on hand. What I have now I consider a prototype. It works well with wood, which I intended it for, but is prone to chatter badly with brass or aluminum. Here is what it looks like:





I found out after I had completed assembling the turner that some changes had to be made. First there was on room to operate a control lever that was in the conventional location. The control point had to be moved to the base of the main body. Since I was stuck with the short spigot I drilled and tapped the retaining nut and put in a soft pointed, long, grub screw. I was able to slip a piece of brass tube over the grub and it operated the turner smoothly. A bonus feature is that your hand is safely away from the spinning parts.

Now I will try to explain my how I completed the project. I started with a piece of 1 1/4" dowel rod 3 1/2" long in my lathe.



I turned 2 1/4" of it down to fit in a 3/4" R-8 collet.



After that was done I went to the mill to see if my idea really worked.



It DID!!



I took the blank back to the lathe for sanding and drilling the hole to make it into a knob. I did not make pictures of that operation but this is where it ended up. The contraption it is on is a tool to service the mainsprings in old, and some new, 8 day, wind up clocks. These springs can be difficult to work with without special tools.



What do you think? I know the entire project could be done on a lathe but then I would not know if it could be done on a mill.

And... did I post enough pictures? 
Joe

bogstandard:
Joe,

As far as I am concerned, you have done a great job there.

If you don't want to do it on a lathe, try something else, and you have come up with your own solution that works great.

A very nice post indeed. Informative with a good explanation and piccies.


Bogs

sbwhart:
hi Joe

A nice bit of thinking out of the box, just goes to show what you can do with a little bit of imagination, lovely work  :thumbup:

Thanks for showing and sharing

 :beer:
Stew

dsquire:
Joe

Great job with that ball turner. Nice also to see it done on the mill. I like your tool to service the mainsprings. It goes to show that some good tools can be built out of wood and be quite serviceable. The pictures are great. :ddb: :ddb:

cheers  :beer:

Don

Baldrocker:
Joe.
What a great combination of wood and metal your special tool is.  :clap:
Like the idea of the ball turner too.
BR

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