And I got a day more to go. The things I do.Well point is I bloody well didn't want to buy 2" diameter dowels but I needed 'em,

For most of the day it was not going as well as I'd hoped. I was getting a horrible surface finish - - all choppy.

I was getting inconsistency of about 0.020" from end to end but I dialed that in to about 0.010" error

I'm using a router on a lathe.

On my lathe I built a very stout rig from 1.125" maple that supports a wide board about the same thickness above the drive and and tail stock center much like the guy has in this video

 

only doing it in the lathe better because it's on bearings and I can adjust the height and location of the board.

But my router cutter is not giving me a nice finish it's all choppy.

I built two different slow speed rigs one gave me about 60 RPM and the other 20 and neither improved the result. They let me product a finer finish but there were other problems. The slow speed produced a very coarse threaded-like surface unless I moved the router at the speed of a clock's hour hand.

I had been in the middle to lower range of lathe speeds before so I decided to crank it to ELEVEN and see what transpired..

Success~!! A pretty good surface that a little 80 grit paper was able to fettle up nice as a baby's bum.

I got to make three of these dowels

They are going to be split down the middle and put in the planer on a jig just for them then glued back together to produce a shape ( seen from the end) like this:

That is the inside part of a tripod leg.

My lathe is a little Walker Turner Driver line. The motor that came with was the original. I couldn't stand it because it was weak, so I replaced that with a 1HP 1750 Baldor. Now nothing stops it. It's a sweet little lathe, but I yen for bigger & badder.

Interesting process, Looking forward to seeing the completed tripod.

I've all but given up on the lathe duplicator I was building- using the router as the cutter- because of the very rough surface it produced.

Never tried a router with a lathe myself but it sounds interesting.

Actually, it was Alex Harris' videos that I used to develop my duplicator. Maybe my problem is that I used my trim router in place of a full sized router. Without the mass, maybe there is more vibration. Anyway, It is hanging in the shop. When I get a chance, I'll get back to it.

Thanks, for the thoughts and information.

 

here is the 32" x 2" dia cylinder I thus far have produced

Just between us girls: I could have spent the $50 on commercially made cylinders but I hate the very idea and being stubborn and bull headed I wasn't going unless I was completely defeated.

Makes perfect sense to me.

3X the cost

 

well, the effort was substantial. but the cost was minimal. The maple is from a tree I harvested on the property a couple years back.

I loath and despise spending money on lumber when there is so much of it just poking out of the ground.

I did spend $30 on a 2" dia' core box box cutter from MLCS. darn thin  was dull out of the box. had to spend 20 minutes honing it. Looked at Whiteside and weighed the cost verses the number of times I was likely to use it and went with the chinese crud. I've bought a fair number of whiteside cutters and nothing comes close to their quality, not amana, not bosch and certainly not mlcs. But this might possibly be the only time I will need a 2" core box cutter so it made no sense to spend the $80 for the fine whiskey.

I did have to spend another 20 minutes rehoning the cutter before making the fixture in which I ran the cut-up halves through the planer.

The glue is setting overnight on the split and planed down pieces. They sure are smaller than the 2" cylinders

I had routed the edges of the First version ( and failed version I might add) outer legs with a 3/8 round over. I ordered a 5/16 and will try that as it's a tad smaller and may look better. The round over is necessary because I tig welded the clamp brackets with inside corner welds.

I gotta say I like this incarnation and design way far much a' more a' better-ah 'n the first version.

Another cool topic brought up from the archives!