Lathe Alternative

[LimitedReality]

Hello All,

I've been searching all over for an alternative way to perfectly round a block of wood without the use of a lathe. This is a one off project for me and unfortunately I do not know anyone with a lathe I could use.

I've seen numerous posts regarding using a drill press, but most rigs look a bit dangerous and I'm not sure what I could use to attach the wood I'm using without damaging it. The problem is I can't really spare any of the height of the wood, it's 1 7/8th in. tall and needs to stay that size. Most means of attachment would mar the surface of this overly expensive wood I've purchased on both ends.

Any insight or suggestions as to how to round this piece as symmetrically as possible would be appreciated. If I'm not clear, I apologize as it's much easier to show than it is to describe what I'm talking about. If you think this would be better in the general forum as well please feel free to move it.

Thank you.

[artme]

There are very good woodworking Groups in the USA. Try Googling to find local chapters in your area. Woodies are pretty friendly and helpful so you should get lucky.

[munruben]

:whs:

[Texian]

Google Sawmill Creek woodworking forums. They have various forums on many aspects of woodworking.

[LimitedReality]

Thank you Texian for the forum link.

I think I found a possible alternative I skipped right over... I think I could use a hole saw without the pilot bit and just clamp the piece in place on my drill press to get a perfect circle. I skipped over this because of the pilot hole issue.

[Poloris]

I downloaded this article from Wood magazine, and it works.
I use the technique to flute turnings made my lathe.

It may be what you are looking for.

Unfortunatly I lost the PDF but I have a hard copy.



http://www.woodstore.net/routtabturfa.html

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

You could add sacrificial pieces to the top/bottom for mounting purposes. These could be fastened with hot-melt glue, double-sided carpet tape or eve just PVA & brown paper. (The last method is fairly easily separated with a sharp knife being tapped into the joint as a wedge.)

They mean more work when it comes time to separate them off again, when it comes to cleaning up the surfaces afterwards, but it means you can use screws, drive-spurs or whatever mounting method takes your fancy without damaging the important piece of wood.

If you've already pre-shaped the piece on a bandsaw or by hand, and simply want to dress it perfectly round, there's really no need to spin it under power. You could make a wooden jig to hold it, much like a bicycle's front forks hold a wheel, then set it at a fixed distance from a linisher, belt-sander, power plane or whatever and slowly spin the piece by hand.

Really, there's a whole heap of different methods available once you start thinking outside of the box. :;

[Manuka Jock]

I downloaded this article from Wood magazine, and it works.
I use the technique to flute turnings made my lathe.

It may be what you are looking for.

Unfortunatly I lost the PDF but I have a hard copy.



http://www.woodstore.net/routtabturfa.html

I like that one :2tsup: ...... now all I have to get is a table router :D