Thread: any ideas on cutting these fence post pommels ?

Belt sander????

chainsaw? sanding disks on the grinder?

Jake, I'd be disappointed if you didn't use some type of modified hand plane...you know, regrind a blade or two, add a V-base and a couple of outriggers!
If I was doing it I'd burn electrons, first choice being an abrasive disc on a grinder as I don't have a portable belt sander. Maybe mark each face with a ply template and work to the line...x4 x 40...

Cheers,

yeh, your probably right. try and be too clever, and sometimes its just as quick just to scribe a line and do by eye.

just had another idea though.......use a 45degree chamfer bit, with a bearing on the shank....lay a template over the end ...orientated so the blades cutting with the grain,,, and just run the bearing on the template after clamping it on...do each corner...no, bugger, I'll just scribe it and use the grinder...roll the shoulders.

Better to have the tenon on the post. Otherwise, pockets will allow water intrusion, to the post's detriment. A makeshift tailstock needn't be rocket science. A plank, with two bolts to engage the bed (flat bar and nut below), a right-angle affair holding a pointed piece of all-thread, two hex nuts with washers, and your cousin's Dad would be called Robert. (How many ways can we say that?) Make the tenon at the headstock end, with about an inch extra length for cutoff buggered by the drive spur.

Joe

Ta Joe. I probably should have thought it all out more. Bit too late to fix since I've turned all the knobs already. Can see what your saying. Probably should have put a tenon on the post.

thinking ...since to do that means , rigging up a makeshift tailstock further away, then I probably should have just turned the whole thing in one go to begin with and not have two seperate pieces.

she'll be right.just shove some epoxy in the hole, and have some silicon squeezeout going on. Heaps of paint. (where I live the things going to be knocked down anyway from a backing out truck no doubt)

I would go with a sanding disk on an angle grinder, if you already have an angle grinder then all you need is the rubber backing pad and a couple of disks.
I did some end-grain on large lumps of jarrah last weekend with a 125mm bosch and 60grit pad and very pleased with the speed and controllability.

Just mark it out and freehand it.

Originally Posted by apricotripper

Ta Joe. I probably should have thought it all out more. Bit too late to fix since I've turned all the knobs already. Can see what your saying. Probably should have put a tenon on the post.

thinking ...since to do that means , rigging up a makeshift tailstock further away, then I probably should have just turned the whole thing in one go to begin with and not have two seperate pieces.

she'll be right.just shove some epoxy in the hole, and have some silicon squeezeout going on. Heaps of paint. (where I live the things going to be knocked down anyway from a backing out truck no doubt)

Yup. The epoxy and silicone will probably outlast the timber.

But, for future reference for others, doing the whole thing in one turning could be an adventure. Turning the finials separately would have better control - less flex of the workpiece. And such finials could have more delicate detail if desired.

Better practise your truck-backing skills. A neighbour borrowed a boat and trailer from a friend. Backing up his driveway, the outboard motor punched out one of the panels of his wood garage door. A few months later, I had a trailer parked in my down-sloping driveway, with wedges at its wheels. I backed in ever so slightly too far, and knocked the trailer off the wedges. The metal door was opening via remote control when the trailer hit it. Luckily, I was able to beat most of the dent into alignment from inside the garage. I could not make up a story like these.

Joe

with a steady hand and a keen eye you can shape the corners with the tip of the blade on a 71/4 powersaw...I have done similar posts this way .....and cheated using an old coffee can to mark out the corners quick and simple ....fine trim with a spokeshave ..and its done .....dunno about forty of them though ....good luck to ya , and do wear safety goggles wont you .