| Gallery, Projects and General > How do I?? |
| Question for the PRE-CNC machinists |
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| SPiN Racing:
Morning all, I have a project I am working on. And I need to be able to turn a shape on my lathe. Picture a candlestick shape, or a table leg. Any quasi complex shape like that for example. I need to turn it on a piece of stainless steel appx 3-4 inches long. In the past I would make a drawing with all the curves and dips in the shape.. fire up the lathe, spin it up nice and quick.. then with a very sharp indexable turning bit, would cut in the profiles by hand... around a 20 minute process if I was quick. Then part it off.. slide out another 3 or 4 inche length and TRY to duplicate what I had just made. SO if I need to fabricate 4 ornate small stainless table legs, or candle holders, or fan pulls... that are 1/4 to 3/8 inch in diameter.. Is there even a way to make a repeatable pattern or something? If I need to make say... 20 of them... were talking a LOT of work to get them done. And very hard to duplicate what I made. I was trying to think of some sort of duplication tool like they use on wood lathes... or possibly a piece of tool steel profiled, and hardened to make the entire part in one plunge.. but I think I would get chatter. If there are links and or ideas.. I would love to hear them.. I have b een wrangling with this for a long time percolating trying to figure how people did it before CNC. Thanks! Scott |
| David Jupp:
Sounds like you need a copying attachment - the cross slide lead screw is disconnected, a follower protruding from back of cross slide rests on a template positioned behind the bed. A spring pulls the cross slide towards the template. As the saddle is moved along the bed, the shape of the template is reproduced. There is a bit more detail to it than that. I've seen plans for this in a magazine (for a Myford I think), but should be possible for most lathes. I've never used one - am sure others can add more detail. |
| kvom:
One way to get pretty close is to use one of the pattern measuring tools; there are a large number of fine wires that slide independently in a locking holder to mold to a profile shape. You'd hold it against eash part to gauge where to cut; you'd likely then need to file/sand to the finish shape. |
| 75Plus:
Could you possibly use a ball turned as Ralph did in this thread? http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=284.0 Joe |
| SPiN Racing:
--- Quote from: 75Plus on July 13, 2011, 03:55:24 PM ---Could you possibly use a ball turned as Ralph did in this thread? http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=284.0 Joe --- End quote --- :D Been there got that :ddb: Made one of those a good while back.... here is the thread for it: http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=548 Im interested in some sort of pattern follower.. that might work well.. coming off the tailstock. |
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