Today is Veteran's Day. I was thinking about the brave young men and women, who have unselfishly gone to war so that we might have the freedoms we enjoy today.  We all know that "freedom isn't free". So many have willingly sacrificed and continue to sacrifice, knowing they act for the greater good.  Thank You to all my military brothers and sisters. I miss you Ed, Mark, Paul and Spark.

I also fear that our society no longer instills the values of our forefathers.  Respect for the flag and the nation. A willingness to work rather than ask for a handout. The value of hard work and dirty hands. The importance of family.  An awareness of the certainty that no one owes us anything- you earn what you get.  Are we, as a country, on a dangerous and slippery slope?

Thanks for permitting me to vent, putting the soapbox away.

We are still making preparations for relatives- they arrive tomorrow- so I didn't get much turning done. I thought I had a pretty good handle on a Butternut bowl- until I repositioned my light over the lathe. I was finishing up the bottom

It is actually concave-

I moved the overhead light and saw this-

Because the bottom recess was already removed, I couldn't re-chuck the bowl and re-sand. Looks like  some hand sanding is in order.

Then I saw the same thing on the inside-

I really need to improve my sanding techniques. Especially since  a lot of my bowls get oil/wax finishes. There's no film buildup to "fill" these sanding faux pas. 

Tim Yoder has another turning video posted. This time, he is turning some drink covers. Watch it here -

 

I know some of our members like to turn Christmas Ornaments. I saw that Mr. David Reed Smith has a bunch  of ornaments on his web page. His ideas are always cool and his explanations are easy to follow-

http://davidreedsmith.com/Articles.htm#Projects

 

Safe Turning!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 201510 yr by lew

Sanding~!!

I know the feeling~!!

 

 Do you have a rotary sanding gizmo? 

I've made some sanding balls that fit on an electric drill. They help but as you can see....

What really works well is the random orbital sander on a spinning piece- I need to create one about 3" in diameter. Maybe one that spins from contact with the  turning piece. hhhmmmmmmm

 

Maybe one that spins from contact with the  turning piece. hhhmmmmmmm

That's easy.

You will need two  1/4" ID  Bronze bushings  one of which must have a flange   ( you can use other bearing materials too).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRONZE-FLANGED-BUSHING-1-4-ID-X-3-8-OD-X-1-2-L-FLANGE-1-16-X-1-2-OD-NOS-/151876053420

You can, of course , use any Diameter you just need to match it to the shaft you'll end up using (below)

and

A hunk of hardwood  a bit larger than the bearings with enough room to mount a handle

A way to drill the hardwood to get a jam fit for the bushings ( failing that you can soak them in acetone or naptha  for a while to get the oil out so they can  be glued in to a slip fit hole.   You can always re oil them is you want.

Drill that hunk of wood in one operation.

Cross drill it for the handle

Shove the bearings in either end of the hole. and glue with epoxy if needed

Mount a handle

Then

 

Make the spinning part   get a 1/4" shaft long enough to go through the bearings and give you some more to mount a little wood disk just a scosh under the diameter for which you want  to glue some foam pads

Drill and mount the wood disk onto the shaft  - use epoxy

 

 

Shape the disk however you please  conical flat whatever - - make more than one if you want.

Apply some craft foam to the disk

put H&L or to use PSA on that  use weldwood to mount some  leather or plastic shiny side out.

Shove that sucker  with some abrasive on it into your  work as it spins on the lathe and grin from ear to ear.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the idea, Cliff! I'll give it a try. I think I'll offset the disk- just a tad- to get an off center circular motion that will mimic the oscillating spindle sander operation. I'll let you know how it goes. 

It'll still pivot around the centerline of the shaft/bearing interface
The most you can hope for is an egg shaped disk

To get anything like an oscilating centerline you'd need two sets of bearings one off center from the other and some how balance the loading between them so that neither was consistently handling the majority of the loading thus enabling the two to rotate around each other. while also allowing the shaft to rotate in one set of bearings

I think it's be a real Feat of engineering. to get that in a DIY rig. But I will happily copy you in every detail if you manage to Get 'r Dun.
I've taken my porter cable ROS apart and it operates sort of - kind of - in a manner reminding me - like that.
It's really just an Orbital sander and there's nothing Random about it. The word doesn't belong, but we woodworkers love using it so - - - - we call it an ROS when it's really just an OS

There are the bearings of the motor shaft, Those are the primary bearings
Then there's a little drive link ( a disk with an off center hole in it) the amount of off-center is the arc of the orbital arc the sander generates when it oscillates in it's false Random Action( it is in fact anything but Random).
Then there are little rubber pads that are attached to the machine body and the sanding pad that keep the things from flying apart. while allowing the oscillating motion.
The motor has all it can do to get the thing whizzing around given all the forces holding it together are also restricting the motion.
It's sort of like a donkey cart with an anchor always out

Without taking anything apart ( just by feel) I can tell that my MIRKA CEROS uses an entirely different mechanism but I ain't taking that apart.

Without taking anything apart ( just by feel) I can tell that my MIRKA CEROS uses an entirely different mechanism but I ain't taking that apart.

At that price, I don't blame you!

I have never taken either of my sanders apart (PC and Dewalt) to look at the mechanisms. Thanks for the explanation! I'll stick with your first description and make a simple one.

Awesome vent Lew. We need more venting.

I have both an air sander and one one that turns just by putting it too the bowl.