How to make tapered rounded slot

[Dengue]

I have a 100 year old 500mm long music conductors baton that I would like to make a case for. Max diameter at one end is 20mm, at the other end is 10mm

One suggestion is to make a tapered slot in the lower half of a piece of wood as the base of the box, and the hinged lid would have a matching slot, such that the centreline of the baton would be level with the base surface at all times

Basically, I have to make a tapered slot which tapers in both the vertical and the horizontal planes

Can anyone please suggest any way of doing this, and preferably have a rounded slot like that made with a rounded nose router bit ?

[China]

For a one off I would just cut it by hand using gouges, riffler files and sand paper.

[elanjacobs]

Short of a CNC, doing it by hand is the only way. Even if you were to set up a router on a tapered sled, the diameter of the bit is fixed so the slot will only properly match the baton at the deep end.

[havabeer69]

Wouldn't it be alot easier to just have it supported at 2 or 3 spots


Basically measure it at 3 spots
Drill 3 corresponding holes in some wood about 10mm thick
Cut the wood in half
You know have 3 cradles
Attach these to your hinged box to hold the baton

Will draw an ms paint pic tomorrow if needed. But i dont think you need it held the whole way. Can line the rest with nice felt etc

[elanjacobs]

Definitely easier, not as elegant.

[russ57]

What about starting with a straight routed groove. It could get progressively deeper if you angled the block.
Then make it wider by hand.

[Old Hilly]

If you used a half-round router bit with the router running on a tapered ramp with a slope that matches the baton's taper and length, would the groove be narrower (and shallower) at the high end of the ramp and consequently deeper and wider at the shallow end? The router bit would need to be slightly larger than the baton to allow for lining the groove with felt or some sort of lining but it's the best I can come up with and I don't have a half-round router bit to try it out.

[elanjacobs]

If you used a half-round router bit with the router running on a tapered ramp with a slope that matches the baton's taper and length, would the groove be narrower (and shallower) at the high end of the ramp and consequently deeper and wider at the shallow end?
Yes, but the radius of the groove would still be the same so it still wouldn't really sit nicely.

[Old Hilly]

Yes, point taken, back to the drawing board.

[China]

Sometimes by the time you work out some complicated way to achieve something by machine, you could have had it done and dusted by hand.

[clear out]

Re doing it by hand.
Mark out the shape on the top.
Using suitable gouges scoop it out.
Any set square can be used to check using the 90 degree angle.
If the stuff is gouged away carefully to split your knifed lines then resting the square against them and rotating it will show you what needs removing to form a true semi circular shape at any point.
Thats how we checked coreboxes for true.
Probably need cranked and spoon gouges to make life easy.
H.